A top hat, high hat, cylinder hat or topper is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress or frock coat. Traditionally made of black silk or sometimes grey, the top hat emerged in Western fashion by the end of 18th century. Although it declined by the counterculture of the 1960s, it remains a formal fashion accessory. A collapsible variant of a top hat, developed in the 19th century, is known as an opera hat. Inspired by the Early Modern era capotain, higher crowned dark felt hats with wide brims emerged as a country leisurewear fashion along with the Age of Revolution around the 1770s. Around the 1780s, the justaucorps was replaced by the casual frocks and dress coats. At the same time, the tricorne and bicorne hats where replaced by what became known as the top hat. By the 1790s, the directoire style dress coat with top hat was introduced as citywear for the upper and middle classes in all urban areas of the Western world.

The justaucorps was replaced in all but the most formal court affairs. Around the turn of the 19th century, although for a few decades beaver hats where popular, black silk became the standard, sometimes varied by grey ones. While the dress coats where replaced by the frock coat from the 1840s as conventional formal daywear, top hats continued to be worn with frock coats as well as with what became known as formal evening wear white tie. Towards the end of the 19th century, whereas the white tie with black dress coat remained fixed, frock coats where replaced by morning dress, along with top hats. After World War I, the 1920s saw widespread introduction of semi-formal black tie and informal wear suits that where worn with less formal hats such as bowler hats, homburg hats, boater hats, fedoras in established society. After World War II, white tie, morning dress and frock coats along with their counterpart the top hat started to become confined to high society and international diplomacy; the last United States presidential inaugurations with top hat was the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961.

Following the counterculture of the 1960s, its use declined further along with the disuse of daily informal hats by men. Yet, along with traditional formal wear, the top hat continues to be applicable for the most formal occasions, including weddings, funerals, in addition to certain audiences and horse racing events, such as the Royal Enclosure of Royal Ascot the Queen's Stand of Epsom Derby, it remains part of the formal dress by those occupying prominent positions of certain traditional British institutions, such as the Bank of England, certain City stock exchange officials at the Law Courts and Lincoln's Inn, by judges of the Chancery Division and Queen's Counsel, by boy-choristers of King's College Choir, as well as dressage horseback riders, in addition to servants' or doormen's livery. As part of traditional formal wear, in popular culture the top hat has sometimes been associated with the upper class, used by satirists and social critics as a symbol of capitalism or the world of business, such as the Monopoly Man or Scrooge McDuck.

The top hat forms part of the traditional dress of Uncle Sam, a symbol of the United States striped in red and blue. Furthermore since the famous "Pulling a Rabbit out of a Hat" of Louis Comte in 1814, the top hat remains associated with hat tricks and stage magic costumes; the top hat is known as a beaver hat or silk hat, in reference to its material, as well as casually as chimney pot hat or stove pipe hat. According to fashion historians, the top hat may have descended directly from the sugarloaf hat. Gentlemen began to replace the tricorne with the top hat at the end of the 18th century; the first silk top hat in England is credited to George Dunnage, a hatter from Middlesex, in 1793. The invention of the top hat is erroneously credited to a haberdasher named John Hetherington. Within 30 years top hats had become popular with all social classes, with workmen wearing them. At that time those worn by members of the upper classes were made of felted beaver fur; the hats became part of the uniforms worn by postmen.

Between the latter part of 18th century and the early part of the 19th century, felted beaver fur was replaced by silk "hatter's plush", though the silk topper met with resistance from those who preferred the beaver hat. The 1840s and the 1850s saw it reach its most extreme form, with ever-higher crowns and narrow brims; the stovepipe hat was a variety with straight sides, while one with convex sides was called the "chimney pot". The style most referred to as the stovepipe was popularized in the United States by Abraham Lincoln during his presidency, it is said. One of Lincoln's top hats is kept on display at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. During the 19th century, the top hat developed from a fashion into a symbol of urban respectability, this was assured when Prince Albert started wearing them in 1850.

The Pau-Brasil Ecological Station (Portuguese: Estação Ecológica do Pau-Brasil is an ecological station in state of Paraíba, Brazil. It protects a stand of the endangered Pau Brazil trees, is home to the endangered blond capuchin. Pau-Brasil Ecological Station was created by state decree 22,881 of 25 March 2002, it is on the north coast of Paraíba. It contains a remnant of about 82 hectares of Atlantic Forest, with characteristic semi-deciduous seasonal forest; the soils are sandy or clay, with low fertility. The climate is humid tropical, with a dry rainy winter. Average annual rainfall is 1,512 millimetres and average annual temperature ranges from 24 to 27 °C, it is one of two conservation units in the municipality, the other being the Guaribas Biological Reserve. The Pau-Brazil is a native species of the Atlantic Forest, exploited since the European discovery of Brazil; the tree has disappeared due to the devastation of coastal forests, is listed as being threatened with extinction. A 2006 study of the trees of this species in the conservation unit indicated that over time mortality was exceeding replacement.

The station holds the endangered blond capuchin. Sudema plans to create a headquarters office to support management, sustainable tourism, environmental education and scientific research, to create a nursery for Brazil wood seedlings

Theodore J. "Ted" Daley is a Minnesota politician and a former member of the Minnesota Senate who represented District 38, which included most of Eagan and a small portion of Burnsville in Dakota County, in the southeastern Twin Cities metropolitan area. A Republican, he is a member of the United States Army Reserve. Daley was first elected in 2010, he lost reelection in 2012 to Jim Carlson. He was a member of the Education, the Jobs and Economic Growth, the State Government Innovation and Veterans committees, his special legislative concerns were education reform, an improved business climate, less government spending, veterans affairs. Daley graduated from Preston-Fountain High School in southeastern Minnesota went on to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, graduating with a double language major in Russian and German and a minor in Engineering, he was assigned to Korea to the 101st Airborne Division, serving in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm in 1990-1991 during the Gulf War.

In 1996, after leaving active duty and joining the U. S. Army Reserve, he earned his M. B. A. from the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul. Daley returned to active military duty in 2001, serving until 2009. During this time, he was deployed to Israel, serving in the Strategic Liaison Cell, to Cuba, serving as the U. S. European Command Liaison Officer, to Iraq, serving as Senior Economics Advisor on the Provincial Reconstruction Team; when not deployed, he worked at Fort Snelling as the Chief of Joint Operations, an active duty military leadership position with U. S. Navy, U. S. Army, U. S. Air Force and U. S. National Guard members. Active in his community, Daley served on the Eagan Planning Commission from 2009 to 2010, is Cubmaster for Boy Scouts Pack 446, an active lector at his church, he has coached soccer and track for the Eagan Athletic Association. Ted Daley at Minnesota Legislators Past & Present Senator Ted Daley Web Page Project Vote Smart - Senator Ted Daley Profile Ted Daley Campaign Web Site