1.
Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south
2.
Sean Penn
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Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, filmmaker, and political activist. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama Mystic River and the biopic Milk, Penn began his acting career in television with a brief appearance in episode 112 of Little House on the Prairie, directed by his father Leo Penn. He became known as a prominent leading actor with the drama Dead Man Walking, for which he earned his first Academy Award nomination, Penn made his feature film directorial debut with The Indian Runner, followed by the drama film The Crossing Guard and the mystery film The Pledge. Penn directed one of the 11 segments of 110901 September 11 and his fourth feature film, the biographical drama survival movie Into the Wild, garnered critical acclaim and two Academy Award nominations. In January 2016, Penn published an interview with Mexican drug lord Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán in Rolling Stone, Penn was born in Los Angeles County, California, to actor and director Leo Penn, and actress Eileen Ryan. His older brother is musician Michael Penn and his younger brother, actor Chris Penn, died in 2006. His paternal grandparents were Ashkenazi Jewish emigrants from Lithuania and Russia, while his mother is a Catholic of Irish, Penn was raised in a secular home and attended Santa Monica High School. He began making films with some of his childhood friends, including actors Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen. Penn appeared in a 1974 episode of the Little House on the Prairie television series as an extra when his father, Leo, Penn launched his film career with the action-drama Taps, where he played a military high school cadet. A year later, he appeared in the hit comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High, in the role of surfer-stoner Jeff Spicoli, next, Penn appeared as Mick OBrien, a troubled youth, in the drama Bad Boys. The role earned Penn favorable reviews and jump-started his career as a serious actor, Penn played Andrew Daulton Lee in the film The Falcon and the Snowman, which closely followed an actual criminal case. Lee was a drug dealer by trade, convicted of espionage for the Soviet Union and originally sentenced to life in prison. Penn starred in the drama At Close Range which received critical acclaim and he stopped acting for a few years in the early 1990s, having been dissatisfied with the industry, and focused on making his directing debut. The Academy Awards first recognized his work in nominating him for playing a racist murderer on death row in the drama film Dead Man Walking and he was nominated again for his comedic performance as an egotistical jazz guitarist in the film Sweet and Lowdown. He received his nomination after portraying a mentally handicapped father in I am Sam. Penn finally won for his role in the Boston crime-drama Mystic River, in 2004, Penn played Samuel Bicke, a character based on Samuel Byck, who in 1974 attempted and failed to assassinate President Richard Nixon, in The Assassination of Richard Nixon. The same year, he was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts, next, Penn portrayed governor Willie Stark in an adaptation of Robert Penn Warrens classic 1946 American novel All the Kings Men. The film was a critical and commercial failure, named by a 2010 Forbes article as the biggest flop in the last five years, the film also earned Penn his fifth nomination and second win for the Academy Award for Best Actor
3.
Santa Barbara (TV series)
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Santa Barbara is an American television soap opera that aired on NBC from July 30,1984 to January 15,1993. The show revolves around the lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara. Other prominent families featured on the soap were the rival Lockridge family, the serial was produced by Dobson Productions and New World Television, which also served as distributor for the show in international markets. Santa Barbara was New World Televisions first series, Due to the buyout of New World by News Corporation in 1997, current rights to the series reside with the old News Corps successor, 21st Century Fox, and its syndication arm, 20th Television. Santa Barbara aired in the United States at 3,00 PM Eastern on NBC in the time slot as General Hospital on ABC and Guiding Light on CBS. Santa Barbara aired in over 40 countries around the world and it became the longest-running television series in Russia, being aired there from 1992 to 2002. Santa Barbara won 24 Daytime Emmy Awards and was nominated 30 times for the same award, the show also won 18 Soap Opera Digest Awards, and won various other awards. In 1993, NBC replaced Santa Barbara with game shows Scrabble, shortly before the program was canceled by NBC, New World Television tried to shop Santa Barbara to other broadcast and cable networks, but failed to find one that would air the show. Santa Barbara is notable for having a plot around which many of the others revolve. Santa Barbara began on an unsteadily with one reviewer deeming the series the worst program on television, mark Dawidziak claimed in August 1984 that Santa Barbara was a serial full of hammy acting, predictable story lines and atrocious dialogue. The original plotline surrounded conflicts between the wealthy Capwell and Lockridge families, when the Lockridges staged a comeback in the early 1990s, the much younger Broadway and movie veteran Janis Paige assumed the part. She would return later on a basis and signed a contract when the Lockridges were written back in as regular characters. When a major earthquake hit Santa Barbara, core character Danny Andrade slept through the whole thing, Minx Lockridge was unfazed, saying that the 1984 Santa Barbara earthquake was nothing like the one in 1925. She was later locked in an empty sarcophagus, luckily, her grandchildren were around to let her out and she escaped with merely a bruised ego. By concentrating on such characters as Eden Capwell and Cruz Castillo. The show was famous for its style and offbeat writing. Despite an irate letter-writing campaign by the fans, Kozak was reported as saying that she had no desire to return to SB, or in fact. Another example from 1989 involved Greg Hughes having a dream while unconscious about Mason and Julia being aliens, in 1988, the Dobsons were locked out of NBC studios after repeated attempts to fire the head writer
4.
Forrest Gump
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Forrest Gump is a 1994 American comedy-drama film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, the film differs substantially from Winston Grooms novel, including Gumps personality and several events that were depicted. Principal photography took place in late 1993, mainly in Georgia, North Carolina, extensive visual effects were used to incorporate the protagonist into archived footage and to develop other scenes. A comprehensive soundtrack was featured in the film, using music intended to pinpoint specific time periods portrayed on screen and its commercial release made it a top-selling soundtrack, selling over twelve million copies worldwide. In 1995 it won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director for Robert Zemeckis, Best Actor for Tom Hanks, Best Adapted Screenplay for Eric Roth, Best Visual Effects, and Best Film Editing. It also garnered other awards and nominations, including Golden Globes, Peoples Choice Awards. Since the films release varying interpretations have made of the films protagonist. In 1996, a restaurant, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. The scene of Gump running across the country is referred to when real-life people attempt the feat. In 2011, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. The plot is delivered in a number of flashbacks in the narrative of Forrest Gump as he sits at a bus stop with a suitcase full of mementos in Savannah. He initiates conversation with a stranger and recalls his childhood in Greenbow, Forrest is raised by a single mother who runs a bed and breakfast for travelling folk including at one point a young Elvis Presley, and has to wear leg braces to fix a crooked back. Despite having a diminished intellect, Forrest is admitted to school after his mother agrees to have sex with the principal. On his first day of school, Forrest meets Jenny Curran, the children bond, finding in each other a confidante and kindred spirit. With Jennys encouragement, Forrest runs away from a group of bullies, struggling until his leg braces break off and he features in the Stand in the Schoolhouse Door and listens to George Wallace. He then meets President John F. Kennedy as a member of the NCAA All-American team and they are sent to Vietnam under Lieutenant Dan Taylor. After four months of patrolling in rain, Bubba is killed during their first encounter, Lieutenant Dan sustains major injuries and loses both his legs. Forrest is wounded in the buttocks while saving members of his platoon—including Lieutenant Dan—and is awarded the Medal of Honor, while recovering from his wounds, Forrest discovers an aptitude for ping-pong, eventually playing against the Chinese in ping-pong diplomacy
5.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011 film)
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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a 2011 Swedish-American psychological thriller film based on the novel of the same name by Stieg Larsson. This film adaptation was directed by David Fincher and written by Steven Zaillian, starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, it tells the story of journalist Mikael Blomkvist s investigation to find out what happened to a woman from a wealthy family who disappeared 40 years prior. He recruits the help of computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, Sony Pictures Entertainment began development on the film in 2009. It took the company a few months to obtain the rights to the novel, while recruiting Zaillian, the casting process for the lead roles was exhaustive and intense, Craig faced scheduling conflicts, and a number of actresses were sought for the role of Lisbeth Salander. The script took six months to write, which included three months of analyzing the novel. Pre-release screenings occurred in London, New York City, and Stockholm, Critics gave the film favorable reviews, praising its bleak tone and lauding Mara and Craigs performances. With a production budget of $90 million, the film grossed $232.6 million over its theatrical run. In addition to being included in several publications best-of lists, the film was a candidate for numerous awards, in Stockholm, Sweden, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, co-owner of Millennium magazine, has lost a libel case brought against him by businessman Hans-Erik Wennerström. Lisbeth Salander, a brilliant but troubled investigator and hacker, compiles an extensive background check on Blomkvist for business magnate Henrik Vanger, who has a special task for him. In exchange for the promise of damning information about Wennerström, Blomkvist agrees to investigate the disappearance and assumed murder of Henriks grandniece, after moving to the Vanger familys compound, Blomkvist uncovers a notebook containing a list of names and numbers that no one has been able to decipher. Salander, who is under legal guardianship due to diagnosed mental incompetency, is appointed a new guardian, lawyer Nils Bjurman. Bjurman, a sexual sadist, abuses his authority to extort sexual favors from Salander and violently rapes her, not realizing she has a hidden video camera on her bag. At their next meeting she stuns him with a gun, rapes him with a dildo. Threatening to disclose the video recording, she blackmails him into writing a glowing progress report, Blomkvists daughter Pernilla visits him and notes that the numbers from the notebook are Bible references. Blomkvist tells Vangers lawyer, Dirch Frode, that he help with his research. Blomkvist hires Salander to investigate the notebooks content and she uncovers a connection to a series of murders of young women from 1947 through 1967, with the women either being Jewish or having Biblical names, many of the Vangers are known antisemites. During the investigation, Salander and Blomkvist become lovers, Henriks openly national socialist brother Harald identifies Martin, Harriets brother and operational head of the Vanger empire, and Blomkvist marks Martin as a possible suspect. Salanders research uncovers evidence that Martin and his father, Gottfried, committed the murders
6.
Wonder Woman (2017 film)
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Wonder Woman is an upcoming American superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, distributed by Warner Bros. It is intended to be the fourth installment in the DC Extended Universe. In Wonder Woman, after American pilot Steve Trevor crashes on the island of Themyscira and tells Diana Prince about World War I, Diana leaves her home to try to stop the war, principal photography began in late November 2015 and wrapped in May 2016. Wonder Woman is scheduled to be released on June 2,2017, in 2D, 3D, in the early 20th century, the Amazon princess Diana, who is living on the island of Themyscira, meets American military pilot Steve Trevor when he is washed ashore. After learning from him about the events of World War I. Gal Gadot as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman, The Amazon princess, daughter of Zeus, Gadot described her character as having many strengths and powers, but at the end of the day shes a woman with a lot of emotional intelligence. Very different to the experienced, super-confident, grown-up woman youve seen, Gadot underwent a diet and training regimen, practiced different martial arts and gained 17 pounds of muscle for the role. Élodie Yung and Olga Kurylenko had also auditioned for the role, Gadot was previously offered the role as Faora Hu-Ul in Man of Steel but declined because she was pregnant at that time, this allowed her to be later cast as Wonder Woman in the films sequel. Gadot signed a deal and debuted in Batman v Superman. Emily Carey portrays the young Diana, chris Pine as Steve Trevor, A captain from the United States Army Air Service and love interest of Diana Prince. Pine described his character as a rogue-ish, cynical realist whos seen the awful nature of modern civilization and added he is a worldly guy. Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta, The Amazon queen of Themyscira, Nicole Kidman was in negotiations for the role but was forced to drop due to scheduling conflicts with Big Little Lies. Nielsen had previously considered for the role of Supermans mother, Lara Lor-Van. Robin Wright as General Antiope, The sister of Hippolyta and Dianas aunt, david Thewlis as Ares, The treacherous Greek god of war, and son of Zeus who poses as Sir Patrick Morgan, an advocate for peace on the war council. Danny Huston as General Erich Ludendorff, An ambitious general of the German Army during World War I, elena Anaya as Maru / Doctor Poison, A mad scientist who specializes in chemistry such as poisons. Lucy Davis as Etta Candy, Steve Trevors comical but loyal, Saïd Taghmaoui as Sameer, A secret agent who is a master of disguise, an ally of Steve Trevor. Ewen Bremner as Charlie, A heavy-drinking sharpshooter, who’s already had a tour of duty and has post-traumatic stress disorder, mayling Ng, Florence Kasumba, Madeleine Vall, and boxer Ann Wolfe play the Amazons Orana, Senator Acantha, Egeria, and Artemis, respectively. Dutch model Doutzen Kroes will also portray an Amazon, samantha Jo, who played Car-Vex in Man of Steel, was cast as Euboea
7.
Netflix
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Netflix is an American entertainment company founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph on August 29,1997, in Scotts Valley, California. It specializes in and provides streaming media and video-on-demand online and DVD by mail, in 2013, Netflix expanded into film and television production, as well as online distribution. As of 2017 the company has its headquarters in Los Gatos, Netflixs initial business model included DVD sales and rental, although Hastings jettisoned DVD sales about a year after Netflixs founding to focus on the DVD rental by mail business. In 2007, Netflix expanded its business with the introduction of streaming media, while retaining the DVD, Netflix entered the content-production industry in 2013, debuting its first series, House of Cards. It has greatly expanded the production of film and television series since then, offering Netflix Original content through its online library of films. Netflix released an estimated 126 original series or films in 2016, in January 2017, Netflix reported having over 93 million subscribers worldwide, including more than 49 million in the United States. Netflix was founded on August 29,1997, in Scotts Valley, California, by Marc Randolph, Randolph worked as marketing director for Hastings company, Pure Atria Corporation. Randolph was a co-founder of MicroWarehouse, a mail order company. Hastings, a computer scientist and mathematician, sold Pure Atria to Rational Software Corporation in 1997 for $700 million in what was then the richest acquisition in Silicon Valley history. Hastings, Randolphs mother and Integrity QA founder Steve Kahn invested $2.5 million in cash for Netflix. Randolph admired the fledgling e-commerce company Amazon and wanted to find a category of portable items to sell over the internet using a similar model. He and Hastings considered and rejected VHS tapes as too expensive to stock and too delicate to ship. When they heard about DVDs, which were available in only a few markets in 1997, when the disc arrived intact, they decided to take on the $16 billion home video sales and rental industry. Netflix introduced the monthly subscription concept in September 1999, and then dropped the model in early 2000. Since that time, the company has built its reputation on the model of flat-fee unlimited rentals without due dates, late fees, shipping and handling fees. In 2000, Netflix offered to be acquired by Blockbuster for $50 million, Netflix initiated an initial public offering on May 29,2002, selling 5.5 million shares of common stock at the price of US$15.00 per share. On June 14,2002, the company sold an additional 825,000 shares of stock at the same price. After incurring substantial losses during its first few years, Netflix posted its first profit during fiscal year 2003, in 2005,35,000 different films were available, and Netflix shipped 1 million DVDs out every day
8.
San Diego
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San Diego is a major city in California, United States. It is in San Diego County, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, approximately 120 miles south of Los Angeles and immediately adjacent to the border with Mexico. With an estimated population of 1,394,928 as of July 1,2015, San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest in California. It is part of the San Diego–Tijuana conurbation, the second-largest transborder agglomeration between the US and a country after Detroit–Windsor, with a population of 4,922,723 people. San Diego has been called the birthplace of California, historically home to the Kumeyaay people, San Diego was the first site visited by Europeans on what is now the West Coast of the United States. Upon landing in San Diego Bay in 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the area for Spain, the Presidio and Mission San Diego de Alcalá, founded in 1769, formed the first European settlement in what is now California. In 1821, San Diego became part of the newly independent Mexico, in 1850, California became part of the United States following the Mexican–American War and the admission of California to the union. The city is the seat of San Diego County and is the center of the region as well as the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. San Diegos main economic engines are military and defense-related activities, tourism, international trade, the presence of the University of California, San Diego, with the affiliated UCSD Medical Center, has helped make the area a center of research in biotechnology. The original inhabitants of the region are now known as the San Dieguito, the area of San Diego has been inhabited by the Kumeyaay people. The first European to visit the region was Portuguese-born explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailing under the flag of Castile, sailing his flagship San Salvador from Navidad, New Spain, Cabrillo claimed the bay for the Spanish Empire in 1542, and named the site San Miguel. In November 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno was sent to map the California coast, in May 1769, Gaspar de Portolà established the Fort Presidio of San Diego on a hill near the San Diego River. It was the first settlement by Europeans in what is now the state of California, in July of the same year, Mission San Diego de Alcalá was founded by Franciscan friars under Junípero Serra. By 1797, the mission boasted the largest native population in Alta California, with over 1,400 neophytes living in, Mission San Diego was the southern anchor in California of the historic mission trail El Camino Real. Both the Presidio and the Mission are National Historic Landmarks, in 1821, Mexico won its independence from Spain, and San Diego became part of the Mexican territory of Alta California. In 1822, Mexico began attempting to extend its authority over the territory of Alta California. The fort on Presidio Hill was gradually abandoned, while the town of San Diego grew up on the land below Presidio Hill. The Mission was secularized by the Mexican government in 1833, the 432 residents of the town petitioned the governor to form a pueblo, and Juan María Osuna was elected the first alcalde, defeating Pío Pico in the vote
9.
William Howard Taft Charter High School
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The school gained affiliated charter status beginning with the 2013–2014 school year. Named after former U. S. President William Howard Taft, the school has received local and state recognition for its high quality academic and athletic programs as well as its teachers, staff and administration. Over the past 10 years the school has gone through major renovations to improve its facilities. New paint and landscaping work has been added to areas around the school. Taft won the United States National Academic Decathlon in 1989,1994, in 2008 Taft High School was awarded the SSP NanoTechnology grant from the State of California. The academy was set to start in September 2009, TCHS has seen a significant rise in its standardized test scores. In 2012, API jumped by 43 points to a score of 790, all subgroups met or surpassed their API target score. First time CAHSEE pass rate has increased markedly since 2010, in ELA, pass rate has gone from 82% to 91% with our percent proficient or above rising from 55% to 64%. Math pass rate has increased from 83% to 90% with the percent proficient or above rising from 55% to 68%. Over the last five years, CST ELA proficient and advanced scores have increased from 49. 8% to 60. 9% while BB and FBB percentages have dropped from 25. 2% to 14. 5%, CST math scores improved during the same time period, although less dramatically. Advanced and proficient scores rose over the last five years from 28. 7% to 32. 9% while BB and FBB scores fell from 42. 7% to 41. 2%, Science CST scores significantly improved over the last five years. Advanced and proficient scores rose from 39. 6% to 52. 8% while BB and FBB scores dropped from 30. 8% to 19. 4%, social Science scores had similar results. Advanced and proficient scores increased from 39. 1% to 52. 3%, design, implement, and maintain course offering with emphasis on college preparation and career pathways. Develop and implement collaborative protocols for interdisciplinary work in performance task/project-based instruction, in order to achieve this all students meet annually with their counselors to review their academic progress and revise their individualized academic plan. In addition, The Department of Transitions staff assists special education students with career, the school psychologist, school nurse, academic counselors, college counselor, and resource specialists provide support services or referral to outside agencies. TCHS also refers students as needed to other programs offered by West Valley Occupational Center, TCHS provides free, daily tutoring in core subject areas as well as providing extra tutoring and pull out sessions to students who are in danger of not passing the CAHSEE. To further support potential dropouts TCHS will reestablish successful programs and reinstate support positions that have been lost due to budget cuts. To target the incoming ninth grade population, counselors, teachers, students, the school conducts tours for parents of prospective students
10.
Daniel Defoe
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Daniel Defoe, born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer, and spy, most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe. He was also a pioneer of economic journalism, Daniel Foe was probably born in Fore Street in the parish of St. Giles Cripplegate, London. Defoe later added the aristocratic-sounding De to his name, and on occasion claimed descent from the family of De Beau Faux and his birthdate and birthplace are uncertain, and sources offer dates from 1659–1662, with 1660 considered the most likely. His father James Foe was a tallow chandler and a member of the Worshipful Company of Butchers. In 1667, when he was probably about seven, a Dutch fleet sailed up the Medway via the River Thames and his mother Annie had died by the time he was about ten. Defoe was educated at the Rev. James Fishers boarding school in Pixham Lane in Dorking, during this period, the English government persecuted those who chose to worship outside the Church of England. Defoe entered the world of business as a merchant, dealing at different times in hosiery, general woollen goods. His ambitions were great and he was able to buy a country estate, in 1684, Defoe married Mary Tuffley, the daughter of a London merchant, receiving a dowry of £3,700 – a huge amount by the standards of the day. With his debts and political difficulties, the marriage may have been troubled, in 1685, Defoe joined the ill-fated Monmouth Rebellion but gained a pardon, by which he escaped the Bloody Assizes of Judge George Jeffreys. Queen Mary and her husband William III were jointly crowned in 1688, and Defoe became one of Williams close allies, some of the new policies led to conflict with France, thus damaging prosperous trade relationships for Defoe, who had established himself as a merchant. In 1692, Defoe was arrested for debts of £700, though his total debts may have amounted to £17,000 and his laments were loud and he always defended unfortunate debtors, but there is evidence that his financial dealings were not always honest. Following his release, he travelled in Europe and Scotland, and it may have been at this time that he traded wine to Cadiz, Porto. By 1695, he was back in England, now using the name Defoe and serving as a commissioner of the glass duty. In 1696, he ran a tile and brick factory in what is now Tilbury in Essex, Defoes first notable publication was An Essay upon Projects, a series of proposals for social and economic improvement, published in 1697. From 1697 to 1698, he defended the right of King William III to an army during disarmament. His most successful poem, The True-Born Englishman, defended the king against the perceived xenophobia of his enemies, satirising the English claim to racial purity. In 1701, Defoe presented the Legions Memorial to the Speaker of the House of Commons, later his employer Robert Harley and it demanded the release of the Kentish petitioners, who had asked Parliament to support the king in an imminent war against France. The death of William III in 1702 once again created a political upheaval, in it, he ruthlessly satirised both the High church Tories and those Dissenters who hypocritically practised so-called occasional conformity, such as his Stoke Newington neighbour Sir Thomas Abney
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