Scarsdale is a town and village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The Town of Scarsdale is coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate with a village government, one of several villages in the state that have a similar governmental situation; as of the 2010 census, Scarsdale's population was 17,166. Caleb Heathcote purchased land that would become Scarsdale at the end of the 17th century and, on March 21, 1701, had it elevated to a royal manor, he named the lands after his ancestral home in England. The first local census of 1712 counted twelve inhabitants, including seven African slaves; when Caleb died in 1721, his daughters inherited the property. The estate was broken up in 1774, the town was founded on March 7, 1788; the town saw fighting during the American Revolution when the Continental and British armies clashed at what is now the junction of Garden Road and Mamaroneck Road. The British commander, Sir William Howe, lodged at a farmhouse on Garden Road.

Scarsdale's wartime history formed the basis for James Fenimore Cooper's novel, The Spy, written while the author lived at the Angevine Farm in the present-day Heathcote section of town. According to the first federal census in 1790, the town's population was 281. By 1840, that number had declined to 255—the vast majority farmers and farm workers. In 1846, the New York and Harlem Railroad connected Scarsdale to New York City, leading to an influx of commuters; the Arthur Suburban Home Company purchased a 150-acre farm in 1891 and converted it into a subdevelopment of one-family dwellings, starting a transformation of the community from rural to suburban. Civil institutions soon appeared: the Heathcote Association, the Town Club, the Scarsdale Woman's Club and the Scarsdale League of Women Voters. Scarsdale High School and Greenacres Elementary School were built in 1912, the Edgewood Elementary School opened in 1918; the first store in Scarsdale opened on the corner of Popham Road and Garth Road in 1912.

By 1915, the population approached 3000. By 1930, that number approached 10,000. In 1940, German agent Gerhardt Alois Westrick secretly met with American business leaders at his Scarsdale home until public pressure—a reaction to articles in the New York Herald Tribune produced by British Security Coordination in New York—drove his family from the community, he was subsequently deported for pursuing activities unfriendly to the United States. Scarsdale became the subject of national controversy in the 1950s when a "Committee of Ten" led by Otto Dohrenwend alleged "Communist infiltration" in the public schools. A thorough investigation by the town rejected these claims; this same group, known as the Scarsdale Citizens Committee, sued to prevent a benefit for the Freedom Riders from taking place at the public high school in 1963 because some of the performers were "communist sympathizers and subversives."Another controversy enveloped the town in 1961, when the Scarsdale Country Club, headed by Charles S. McCallister, refused to allow a young man who had converted from Judaism into the Episcopal Church, Michael Cunningham Hernstadt, to escort a young woman, Pamela Nottage, to her debut at the club.

At the time, it was the club's policy to prohibit Jews from the premises. In response, the Rev. George French Kempsell of the Church of Saint James the Less announced that he would ban any supporters of the club's decision from receiving Holy Communion; the event marked a turning point toward the decline of anti-Semitism in the town. Scarsdale's public library, housed in historic Wayside Cottage since 1928, moved to its present structure on the White Plains Post Road in 1951; the driving force behind the library was New York City publisher S. Spencer Scott, who raised $100,000 for the project after the village rejected a bond issue to fund the building in 1938; the new library opened with 27,000 books and Sylvia C. Hilton serving as the first librarian; the last of the town's five elementary schools, Heathcote School, opened in September 1953. The $1,000,000 architectural landmark was designed by Will of Chicago. Walter B. Cocking, the president of the New York State Committee for the Public Schools, delivered the dedication address.

In 1967, U. S. Secretary of State and former longtime resident Dean Rusk returned to Scarsdale at the height of the Vietnam War to receive the town's Man of the Year Award and was greeted with a silent protest. Scarsdale was the subject of a landmark United States Supreme Court decision, ACLU v. Scarsdale, that established the so-called "reindeer rule" regarding public nativity scenes and upheld the right of local religious groups to place crèches on public property. Scarsdale was involved in another United States Supreme Court case in 1985, Board of Trustees of Scarsdale v. McCreary, concerning the display of sponsored nativity scenes on public property; the Caleb Hyatt House, Scarsdale Railroad Station, Scarsdale Woman's Club, United States Post Office, Wayside Cottage are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Scarsdale selects its Board of Trustees using a nonpartisan system that dates back to 1911. Candidates for office are interviewed by a diversely composed committee and nominated for office.

New York State law mandates that these nominees must be democratically elected, nominated candidates are contested in the general election. The coordinating Scarsdale Citizens' Non-Partisan Party states "The Scarsdale Citizens' Non-Partisan Party promotes the election of non-partisan candidates for village mayor, village trustees and village justice. Our local non-partisan system encourages cooperative and open civic

Delfina de la Cruz Zañartu was a Chilean pianist and First Lady of Chile. She was the only child of General José María de la Cruz and his wife Josefa Zañartu, granddaughter of Chilean revolutionary Luis de la Cruz. De la Cruz became engaged to Aníbal Pinto after he returned from a long trip in Europe, they married on 24 November 1855 in Concepción; the marriage had political undertones. Animosity had arisen between the cities as a result of the 1851 Chilean Revolution, during which uprisings had taken place in Concepción against the central government based in Santiago; the marriage would create a familial link between de la Cruz's father, José Maria de la Cruz and Pinto's brother-in-law, Manuel Bulnes, who had fought against each other in the Battle of Loncomilla. Pinto was elected President of Chile in 1876, de la Cruz accompanied him to all government ceremonies inspecting the troops in his company during the War of the Pacific. De la Cruz was related by marriage to two other First Ladies of Chile: Enriqueta Pinto, Pinto's sister and wife of Manuel Bulnes, Luisa Garmendia, Pinto's mother and wife of Fransico Antonio Pinto.

De la Cruz was composer. Under the pseudonym Delfina Perez, de la Cruz published 12 works throughout the 19th century, surpassed in volume only by Isidora Zegers, her work was praised by local press in Valparaíso and Santiago, where she sometimes performed benefit concerts. Several of her pieces attained international recognition, including The Star of Night, a polka for piano, played in Paris, as well as Armando the Gondolier, a waltz for piano performed in Germany, she is the first Chilean woman to venture into the composition of choral music, at the time a male-dominated sphere

"Magical" is a song written by American musician Meat Loaf and British musician John Parr, it was released as a 1985 single by Parr as a part of his self-titled debut album. A few months an alternative version of the song was released in the U. K. as a single by pop group Bucks Fizz. It entered the charts by both artists in the U. S. and U. K. but was not a big hit for either, although Parr's version managed to rise into the top 40 of Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. John Parr began working with Meat Loaf for the latter's 1984 album Bad Attitude. Together they composed some songs, including "Magical", which became the opening track for Parr's debut album. Parr scored a US hit with the song "Naughty Naughty" in late 1984 and was followed up in April 1985 by "Magical" which entered the Billboard Hot 100 that month but stalled at No.73. It reached No.28 on the Mainstream Rock chart. In Parr's native UK the single made no impression, although he did go on to achieve success a few months with the song "St. Elmo's Fire", prompting his album to enter the UK charts.

"Magical" remains the only song written by Meat Loaf. "Magical" 3:53 "Treat Me Like an Animal" 4:27 Following the success of the rock-orientated track "Talking in Your Sleep", Bucks Fizz were keen to replicate it with the release of this similar-themed song. This was the heaviest sound the group adopted. With the public still familiar with their clean-cut pop image, the move was unsuccessful and "Magical" became the group's lowest charting single. Released in September 1985, the song spent only three weeks on the chart; the single was significant in that it was the first release with new member Shelley Preston, who had joined a few months earlier, although she didn't perform on the recording. It was the group's last release with label RCA before their move to Polydor early the following year. Due to the failure of the single, plans for an album release at this time were shelved for a year; the song featured on their fifth album Writing on the Wall, released in 1986. An alternative edit of the song, featuring vocals by departed member Jay Aston was uncovered during production for the album The Lost Masters 2 - The Final Cut.

The song was included on the 2008 album. The B-side of the single was "Oh Suzanne", written by Warren Bacall; this song had been released two years on the group's Greatest Hits album. At the time of original release, it caused controversy within the group as it had featured lead vocals by Jay Aston, but they were removed and replaced by a lead vocal by other female member Cheryl Baker. Years Aston commented on the incident and was angered by the time and money, spent re-recording it. In 2006, this original version was included on the compilation. 7" vinyl"Magical" 4:04 "Oh Suzanne" 4:4412" vinyl"Magical" 4:04 "Oh Suzanne" 4:44 "You and Your Heart So Blue" 6:04