Heart

Heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system including all vertebrates, that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions. The term cardiac (as in cardiology) means "related to the heart" and comes from the Greek καρδιά, kardia, for "heart".

The vertebrate heart is composed of cardiac muscle, which is an involuntary striated muscle tissue found only in this organ, and connective tissue. The average human heart, beating at 72 beats per minute, will beat approximately 2.5 billion times during an average 66 year lifespan. It weighs approximately 250 to 300 grams (9 to 11 oz) in females and 300 to 350 grams (11 to 12 oz) in males.

In invertebrates that possess a circulatory system, the heart is typically a tube or small sac and pumps fluid that contains water and nutrients such as proteins, fats, and sugars. In insects, the "heart" is often called the dorsal tube and insect "blood" is almost always not oxygenated since they usually respirate (breathe) directly from their body surfaces (internal and external) to air. However, the hearts of some other arthropods (including spiders and crustaceans such as crabs and shrimp) and some other animals pump hemolymph, which contains the copper-based protein hemocyanin as an oxygen transporter similar to the iron-based hemoglobin in red blood cells found in vertebrates.

The fully divided heart

Archosaurs, (crocodilians, birds), and mammals show complete separation of the heart into two pumps for a total of four heart chambers; it is thought that the four-chambered heart of archosaurs evolved independently from that of mammals. In crocodilians, there is a small opening, the foramen of Panizza, at the base of the arterial trunks and there is some degree of mixing between the blood in each side of the heart; thus, only in birds and mammals are the two streams of blood - those to the pulmonary and systemic circulations - kept entirely separate by a physical barrier.

In the human body, the heart is usually situated in the middle of the thorax with the largest part of the heart slightly offset to the left, although sometimes it is on the right (see dextrocardia), underneath the sternum. The heart is usually felt to be on the left side because the left heart (left ventricle) is stronger (it pumps to all body parts). The left lung is smaller than the right lung because the heart occupies more of the left hemithorax. The heart is fed by the coronary circulation and is enclosed by a sac known as the pericardium; it is also surrounded by the lungs. The pericardium comprises two parts: the fibrous pericardium, made of dense fibrous connective tissue, and a double membrane structure (parietal and visceral pericardium) containing a serous fluid to reduce friction during heart contractions. The heart is located in the mediastinum, which is the central sub-division of the thoracic cavity. The mediastinum also contains other structures, such as the esophagus and trachea, and is flanked on either side by the right and left pulmonary cavities; these cavities house the lungs.

The apex is the blunt point situated in an inferior (pointing down and left) direction. A stethoscope can be placed directly over the apex so that the beats can be counted. It is located posterior to the 5th intercostal space just medial of the left mid-clavicular line. In normal adults, the mass of the heart is 250-350 g (9-12 oz), or about twice the size of a clenched fist (it is about the size of a clenched fist in children), but an extremely diseased heart can be up to 1000 g (2 lb) in mass due to hypertrophy. It consists of four chambers, the two upper atria and the two lower ventricles.

Functioning

In mammals, the function of the right side of the heart (see right heart) is to collect de-oxygenated blood, in the right atrium, from the body (via superior and inferior vena cavae) and pump it, through the tricuspid valve, via the right ventricle, into the lungs (pulmonary circulation) so that carbon dioxide can be dropped off and oxygen picked up (gas exchange). This happens through the passive process of diffusion. The left side (see left heart) collects oxygenated blood from the lungs into the left atrium. From the left atrium the blood moves to the left ventricle, through the bicuspid valve, which pumps it out to the body (via the aorta). On both sides, the lower ventricles are thicker and stronger than the upper atria. The muscle wall surrounding the left ventricle is thicker than the wall surrounding the right ventricle due to the higher force needed to pump the blood through the systemic circulation.

Starting in the right atrium, the blood flows through the tricuspid valve to the right ventricle. Here, it is pumped out the pulmonary semilunar valve and travels through the pulmonary artery to the lungs. From there, oxygenated blood flows back through the pulmonary vein to the left atrium. It then travels through the mitral valve to the left ventricle, from where it is pumped through the aortic semilunar valve to the aorta. The aorta forks and the blood is divided between major arteries which supply the upper and lower body. The blood travels in the arteries to the smaller arterioles and then, finally, to the tiny capillaries which feed each cell. The (relatively) deoxygenated blood then travels to the venules, which coalesce into veins, then to the inferior and superior venae cavae and finally back to the right atrium where the process began.

The heart is effectively a syncytium, a meshwork of cardiac muscle cells interconnected by contiguous cytoplasmic bridges. This relates to electrical stimulation of one cell spreading to neighboring cells.

Some cardiac cells are self-excitable, contracting without any signal from the nervous system, even if removed from the heart and placed in culture. Each of these cells have their own intrinsic contraction rhythm. A region of the human heart called the sinoatrial node, or pacemaker, sets the rate and timing at which all cardiac muscle cells contract. The SA node generates electrical impulses, much like those produced by nerve cells. Because cardiac muscle cells are electrically coupled by inter-calated disks between adjacent cells, impulses from the SA node spread rapidly through the walls of the artria, causing both artria to contract in unison. The impulses also pass to another region of specialized cardiac muscle tissue, a relay point called the atrioventricular node, located in the wall between the right atrium and the right ventricle. Here, the impulses are delayed for about 0.1s before spreading to the walls of the ventricle. The delay ensures that the artria empty completely before the ventricles contract. Specialized muscle fibers called Purkinje fibers then conduct the signals to the apex of the heart along and throughout the ventricular walls. The Purkinje fibres form conducting pathways called bundle branches. This entire cycle, a single heart beat, lasts about 0.8 seconds. The impulses generated during the heart cycle produce electrical currents, which are conducted through body fluids to the skin, where they can be detected by electrodes and recorded as an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG). The events related to the flow or blood pressure that occurs from the beginning of one heartbeat to the beginning of the next can be referred to a cardiac cycle.

The SA node is found in all amniotes but not in more primitive vertebrates. In these animals, the muscles of the heart are relatively continuous and the sinus venosus coordinates the beat which passes in a wave through the remaining chambers. Indeed, since the sinus venosus is incorporated into the right atrium in amniotes, it is likely homologous with the SA node. In teleosts, with their vestigial sinus venosus, the main centre of coordination is, instead, in the atrium. The rate of heartbeat varies enormously between different species, ranging from around 20 beats per minute in codfish to around 600 in hummingbirds.

Cardiac arrest is the sudden cessation of normal heart rhythm which can include a number of pathologies such as tachycardia, an extremely rapid heart beat which prevents the heart from effectively pumping blood, which is an irregular and ineffective heart rhythm, and asystole, which is the cessation of heart rhythm entirely.

Cardiac tamponade is a condition in which the fibrous sac surrounding the heart fills with excess fluid or blood, suppressing the heart's ability to beat properly. Tamponade is treated by pericardiocentesis, the gentle insertion of the needle of a syringe into the pericardial sac (avoiding the heart itself) on an angle, usually from just below the sternum, and gently withdrawing the tamponading fluids.

Structure

The structure of the heart varies among the different branches of the animal kingdom. Cephalopods have two "gill hearts" and one "systemic heart". In vertebrates, the heart lies in the anterior part of the body cavity, dorsal to the gut. It is always surrounded by a pericardium, which is usually a distinct structure, but may be continuous with the peritoneum in jawless and cartilaginous fish. Hagfishes, uniquely among vertebrates, also possess a second heart-like structure in the tail.

Casey Anthony

Casey Marie Anthony, born March 19, 1986, Caylee's mother, has been charged with the first degree murder of her daughter.

She was first arrested on July 16, 2008, for giving false statements, neglect of a child, and obstruction of a criminal investigation with a request that she be held on a no bond status until Caylee Anthony was located.

On August 21, 2008, Casey Anthony was released after one month of incarceration. She was released from the Orange County jail after her $500,200 bond was posted by California bail bondsman Leonard Padilla.

She was arrested again on August 29, 2008, on charges of forgery, fraudulent use of personal information, and petty theft for forging $700 worth of checks and using her friend's credit cards without permission. Leonard Padilla subsequently rescinded the $500,200 in bail due to a lack of cooperation from Casey Anthony.

On September 5, 2008, Casey Anthony was released again on bail after being fitted with an electronic tracking device. Her $500,000 bond was posted anonymously, and it was later revealed that her parents, Cindy and George Anthony, signed a promissory note for the bond.

On October 14, 2008, Casey Anthony was indicted by a grand jury on charges of first-degree murder and was arrested for the fourth time. She is currently in the Orange County Jail awaiting her expected May 16, 2011, trial date, jury selection will start on May 9, 2011, in an undisclosed location. The Florida state attorney's office in April 2009 announced that it intended to seek the death penalty.

The case is detailed in a 2009 book by true crime author and novelist Diane Fanning titled Mommy's Little Girl] According to a jail source she spends her days reading the Bible and writing letters. She is housed in a 12 X 7 cell in the Protective Custody wing of the Orange County jail, only emerging to take a shower and exercise. She has weekly meetings with her lawyers and apparently has had no visitors since 2008.The Florida law is that all inmates visits and phone calls are videotaped and is public record.

Anthony Weiner

Anthony David Weiner,  born September 4, 1964  is the U.S. Representative for New York's 9th congressional district, which includes parts of southern Brooklyn and south and central Queens. Weiner is a Democrat, and has held the office since 1999. He was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1998 mid-term elections, filling the seat previously occupied by Democrat Charles Schumer who successfully ran for the U.S. Senate that year. Weiner defeated his Republican opponent, Louis Telano, by a margin of 66 percent to 23 percent. He was re-elected handily for six additional terms, receiving 59 percent of the vote in 2010. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of New York City in the 2005 election.

Previously, Weiner was a member of the New York City Council from 1992 to 1998, and an aide to former U.S. Representative Schumer from 1985 to 1991. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Plattsburgh.

In June 2011, after having first denied doing so, Congressman Weiner admitted having sent sexually explicit photographs of himself to several women "followers" on Twitter, both before and since his marriage.House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called for an ethics investigation. On June 11, Pelosi and DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz called for Weiner's resignation. Weiner requested a leave of absence from the House of Representatives in order to obtain treatment of an unspecified nature. Pelosi removed Weiner from working on any House committees.

Early life, education, and family

Weiner was born in Brooklyn, New York, one of three sons of Mort Weiner, a lawyer, and Fran Weiner, a mathematics teacher at Midwood High School. The family lived for a time in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. Weiner was raised Jewish: he told Moment Magazine in 2011, "We weren't a very religious household, but we had a very strong sense of our Judaism. Weiner's 39-year-old brother Seth was killed in a pedestrian–car accident in May 2000.

Weiner took the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT), and entered Brooklyn Technical High School. He says he had missed admission to Stuyvesant High School by one point. After graduating from Brooklyn Tech in 1981, he attended the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, where he played hockey. He sought to become a television weatherman, but his interests turned towards politics, and he became active in student government.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1985, Weiner worked on the staff of then-Congressman and current Senator Chuck Schumer (1985–91). First working in Schumer's office in Washington, D.C., he was sent to the District Office in Brooklyn in 1988 when Schumer encouraged him to become involved in local politics.

Personal life

Weiner married Huma Abedin, a longtime personal aide of Hillary Clinton, on July 10, 2010. Former president Bill Clinton officiated the wedding. Weiner proposed to Abedin on May 23, 2009.Abedin is now pregnant with their first child.

Weiner is a friend of actor Ben Affleck, whom he met while Affleck was researching his role for the film State of Play, in 2008. "We got into a chest-to-chest shouting match over Obama–Clinton within about four minutes. Literally, people were outside the office wondering if they should go in and separate us," Weiner has said about one of their first encounters.

Weiner has been friends with Jon Stewart since Weiner and some of Stewart's college friends rented a summer house in Dewey Beach, Delaware, in the 1980s.

Sexting scandal

On May 27, 2011, Weiner sent a link via Twitter to a photograph on yfrog showing his erect penis concealed by briefs to a 21-year-old woman in Bellingham, Washington, who was "following" him on the social media website. He initially said he had not posted the image, and that his account had been "hacked."

On June 6, 2011, conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart posted a cropped shirtless picture Weiner had sent to another woman on his BigGovernment.com blog, and indicated that there were more. That afternoon, Weiner held a press conference at which he apologized, saying "I have not been honest with myself, my family, my constituents, my friends and supporters, and the media" and that, "to be clear, the pictures were of me, and I sent them." He further said that he had been involved in "six inappropriate relationships over the past three years" using Twitter and other media. Answering questions, he said that he had his wife's continuing support, and that he did not intend to resign his congressional seat. After Weiner's press conference, House Minority Leader Pelosi announced that she had requested an investigation by the House Ethics Committee to determine "whether any official resources were used or any other violation of House rules occurred". On June 8, 2011, Weiner's spokeswoman commented, concerning an explicit nude picture of erect genitalia leaked through the The Opie & Anthony Show: "As Representative Weiner said on Monday when he took responsibility for his actions, he has sent explicit photos". On June 9, a NY1-Marist Poll showed that 56% of registered voters in Weiner's Congressional District wanted him to stay in Congress, and 33% thought he should resign, with 12% uncertain. Another survey of New York City adults conducted by WABC-TV and SurveyUSA finds the city largely divided, with 46 percent who think Weiner should resign and 41 percent who think Weiner should stay in office. On June 11, 2011, following several Democrats in Congress calling for Weiner's resignation, Pelosi, DCCC Steve Israel, and DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz also called for his resignation.

See also: Anthony Weiner scandal

New York City Councilman: 1992–98

In 1991, after a three-way primary and a four-way general election, Weiner was elected to the New York City Council. At 27, he was the youngest person to serve on the Council to that date.

Over the next seven years on the City Council, Weiner initiated programs to tackle quality of life concerns. He started a program to put at-risk and troubled teens to work cleaning up graffiti. He spearheaded development plans for historic Sheepshead Bay that led to a revival of the area; and, when supermarkets started leaving the neighborhood, Weiner worked to reverse the trend.

As Chairman of the Subcommittee on public housing, he fought to increase federal funding, to ban dangerous dogs, and to add more police officers to the beat. His investigation into the cause of sudden, fatal stairwell fires made headlines; he exposed dangerous practices that eventually led the city to replace the paint in developments citywide.

U.S. Congressman: 1999–present

In 1998, Congressman Chuck Schumer opted to try to unseat Senator Al D'Amato. In the Democratic primary election, Schumer won the right to face D'Amato, whom he defeated in the General Election.

Weiner won the Democratic nomination to succeed Schumer, which was tantamount to election in the heavily Democratic 9th District. The district includes parts of southern Brooklyn and south and central Queens. In Queens, it includes the neighborhoods of Forest Hills, Maspeth, Fresh Meadows, Glendale, Howard Beach, Kew Gardens, Kew Gardens Hills, Middle Village, Ozone Park, Rego Park, Rockaway Beach, and Woodhaven. In Brooklyn, it includes the neighborhoods Gerritsen Beach, Marine Park, Midwood, Mill Basin, and Sheepshead Bay.

Weiner is only the fifth person to represent the District since its creation in 1920. Because of the redistricting required by the U.S. Census every ten years, the 9th has been numbered the 10th (1920–45), the 15th (1945–53), the 11th (1953–63), the 10th again (1963–73), the 16th (1973–83), the 10th again 

(1983–93); and the 9th (1993–present).

In April 2008, Weiner created the bi-partisan Congressional Middle Class Caucus. Weiner received an "A" on the Drum Major Institute's 2005 Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues.

In late July 2009, Weiner succeeded in securing a full House floor vote for single payer health care when Congress returned from its August recess, in exchange for not amending America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (AAHCA) in Committee mark-up with a single-payer plan.

Weiner is known to be one of the most intense and demanding members of Congress. He often works long hours with his staff fact-checking documents, resulting in one of the highest staff turn-over rates of any member of Congress, including, at one point, three chiefs of staff in 18 months. Weiner admitted, "I push people pretty hard... I have nothing but love for people who endured it, even if they endured it for a short period of time."

Committees

Committee on Energy and Commerce

Subcommittee on Health

Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Domestic policy

Weiner is an advocate of the United States National Health Care Act, which expands Medicare to all Americans. He has remarked that while Medicare has a 4% overhead rate, private insurers put 30% of their customer's money into profits and overhead instead of into health care.

Weiner has said that a public option “gets you some of the way” towards reducing costs, and set up a website to push for the public option in HR 3200. Weiner has derided the Republican Party as "a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry, teaming up with a small group of Democrats to try to protect that industry". Weiner attracted wide attention when, on February 24, 2010, he proclaimed in front of Congress: "Make no mistake about it, every single Republican I have ever met in my entire life is a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry."

In 2003, he received a 100% rating from the National Abortion Rights Action League and a 0% rating from National Right to Life Committee (NRLC). He voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which made it a crime for a doctor to perform intact dilation and extractions. He was critical of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, which places limits on taxpayer-funded abortions in the context of the November 2009 Affordable Health Care for America Act.

The Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (PACT) of 2009, sponsored by Weiner, was signed into law in March 2010. The bill makes it a felony to sell tobacco in violation of any state tax law, and effectively ends Internet tobacco smuggling by stopping shipments of cigarettes through the United States Postal Service. Weiner said:

This new law will give states and localities a major revenue boost by cracking down on the illegal sale of tobacco and close a major source of finances for international terrorists and criminals. Every day we delay is another day that New York loses significant amounts of tax revenue and kids have easy access to tobacco products sold over the internet.

On July 29, 2010, Weiner criticized Republicans for opposing the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. This act would provide for funds for sick first responders to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, many of whom reside in Weiner's district. In a speech on the floor of the House, he accused Republicans of hiding behind procedural questions as an excuse to vote against the bill.

In October 2010, Weiner urged YouTube to take down Anwar al-Awlaki's videos from its website, saying that by hosting al-Awlaki's messages, "We are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror. In November 2010, YouTube removed from its site some of the hundreds of videos featuring al-Awlaki's calls to jihad.

Foreign policy

Weiner voted for the authorization to use force in Iraq in 2002, which he later said he regretted. In a conversation with talk show host Bill O'Reilly on The O'Reilly Factor, Weiner proposed a withdrawal from Iraq.

In May 2006, Weiner attempted to bar entry by the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations. He claimed that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas did not represent the PLO, and implied that this was because the group is listed as a terrorist organization by the US State Department. Weiner further stated that the delegation "should start packing their little Palestinian terrorist bags." Weiner went on to claim that Human Rights Watch, The New York Times, and, in particular, Amnesty International are biased against Israel.

On July 29, 2007, Weiner and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) announced that they would seek to stop a $20 billion arms deal that the Bush Administration had negotiated with Saudi Arabia. The lawmakers objected to the deal because they do not want to provide "sophisticated weapons to a country that they believe has not done enough to stop terrorism," also noting that 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. Weiner made the announcement outside of the Saudi Arabian consulate in Washington, stating that "We need to send a crystal clear message to the Saudi Arabian government that their tacit approval of terrorism can't go unpunished." Weiner and Nadler intend to use a provision of the Arms Export Control Act to review the deal and pass a Joint Resolution of Disapproval.

Weiner, along with several other members of Congress, have criticized the Obama administration proposal to sell over $60 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia. Weiner said:

"Saudi Arabia is not deserving of our aid, and by arming them with advanced American weaponry we are sending the wrong message"

He described Saudi Arabia as having a "history of financing terrorism" and teaching "hatred of Christians and Jews" to their schoolchildren.

The Tax Relief Bill 2010

Weiner voted against the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. He said the Republicans turned out to be "better poker players" than Obama.

Local NYC issues

In June 2008, Weiner sponsored a bill that would increase the number of O-visas available to foreign models. Weiner argued that increasing the number of visas would help boost the fashion industry in New York City.

Mayoral run

Weiner sought the Democratic nomination to run for New York City mayor in 2005, vying against three other candidates. He had a three-part pitch to voters that included criticising sitting Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his top-down style of management and promising a more democratic approach; against "passivity in City Hall" and for getting more federal money for the city; and a series of ideas on how to get the city to work better. He presented a book of 50 "Real Solutions" and among his policy proposals were fixes for the health care and educational systems. One idea already in play was a neighborhood scrubbing-up program he dubbed "Weiners Cleaners". Weiner started out last in many polls, but gained ground in the final weeks of the campaign, coming in second. Initial election returns had Fernando Ferrer with 39.95 percent of the vote, just shy of the 40% required to avoid a runoff against Weiner who had 28.82 percent, but Weiner conceded, citing the need for party unity and denying rumors that various high-ranking New York Democrats, such as Senator Chuck Schumer and then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, had urged him to concede. Ultimately, absentee ballots put Ferrer over the 40% mark in the official primary election returns.

Weiner appeared to be a candidate for mayor again in 2009. However, in May 2009, after the New York City Council voted to extend term limits for Mayor Bloomberg, Weiner announced his decision not to run against the popular Independent.

André Lotterer

André Lotterer, born 19 November 1981 in Duisburg  is a German auto racing driver.

Lotterer succeeded in both German and British Formula 3 championships en route to being named Jaguar Racing's Formula One test driver in 2002. He was passed up for a race seat in 2003 with Eddie Irvine retiring and Pedro de la Rosa leaving, as the team chose Mark Webber and Antônio Pizzonia instead.

Lotterer contested a one-off Champ Car event at the end of 2002 for Dale Coyne and scored a point. Since then he moved to Japan doing very well in both Formula Nippon and the Japanese Super GT Championship for Lexus, winning the latter in 2006 and 2009. He had also tested Toyota TF108 in 2009.

Lotterer also made his debut in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans, as a race week fill-in driver for the Kolles privateer Audi team. Lotterer and co-driver Charles Zwolsman, also a Le Mans rookie, drove the entire race themselves after third driver Narain Karthikeyan dislocated his shoulder in a non-racing related injury. Driving an Audi R10, the car that won the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Le Mans races, Lotterer and Zwolsman finished 7th overall and in the LMP1 class.

His impressive performance that year earned him a drive with the works Audi Sport team in the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving the new Audi R15 TDI plus. Along with Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer, he finished 2nd overall and in the LMP1 class, despite the rival Peugeot 908s dominating for the first part of the race.

He remained with Audi Sport to compete in the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans, co-driving the newly designed Audi R18 with Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer. After the Audi works team lost two out of three cars due to accidents, Lotterer and his co-drivers held off three works Peugeots 908s to claim both 1st place in the LMP1 class and the overall victory, beating the 2nd place Peugeot by a mere 13 seconds. This win gave Audi 10 overall victories at Le Mans and Lotterer his first overall win at Le Mans.

Marcel Fässler (racing driver)

Marcel Fässler, born 27 May 1976 in Einsiedeln, Switzerland  is a auto racing driver.

He began competing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for Mercedes-Benz when it resumed in 2000. He finished 4th with no wins in 2000, 4th with one win in 2001 and in 2002 and 3rd with one win in 2003, all four seasons with a Mercedes-Benz CLK. He moved to Opel and an Opel Vectra GTS V8 for 2004 and 2005, where he finished 9th and 12th with no wins after which the brand retired from the DTM.

Marcel also drove the F1 Mercedes-Benz safety car for one event in Canada, while regular driver Bernd Mayländer was off due to an injury. He was on track for three laps after a crash involving Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya and Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello.

Fässler switched to sports cars in 2006, finishing second at the Spa 24 Hours in a Phoenix Aston Martin DBR9 and collecting two overall podiums at the Le Mans Series for Swiss Spirit. In 2007, he returned to open-wheel racing for A1 Team Switzerland in the 6th round of the A1 Grand Prix series held in Taupo, New Zealand, and in the 9th round at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico. He also won the Spa 24 Hours on a Chevrolet Corvette C6.R for Phoenix Carsport.

For 2008, Fässler joined the team for the full FIA GT Championship season. Sharing a GT1 class Corvette with Jean-Denis Délétraz, he won two races, finished 7th in the standings and helped the team finish 2nd at the teams championship. The same year he finished 2nd at the American Le Mans Series Road America race on a works Audi R10 TDI for Audi Sport North America. LMP1 team Sebah hired Fässler for the 2009 Le Mans Series season, having a 2nd place finish as best result. In addition, he and were crowned International GT Open overall and Super GT class champions Joël Camathias in a Trottet-fielded Ferrari F430. He also retired at the 2 Hours of Le Mans driving a works GT1 class Corvette and finished 4th in the GT2 class of the petit Le Mans, also for Corvette Racing.

Audi works team Joest hired Fässler to drive the Audi R15 TDI plus at three 2010 races: Spa (12th), Le Mans (2nd) and Petit Le Mans (6th). He also retired at the 24 Hours of Spa running a Phoenix Audi R8 LMS.

Tim Tebow

Timothy Richard "Tim" Tebow,  born August 14, 1987) is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos. He was drafted by the Broncos in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Florida, where he won a Heisman Trophy.

He was the first college football player to both rush and pass for twenty or more touchdowns in a single season and was the first college sophomore to win the Heisman.

Tebow played quarterback for Nease High School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, where he became a Division I-A recruit ranked among the top quarterback prospects in the nation as a high school senior.After a tight recruiting battle, he chose the University of Florida over the University of Alabama. Tebow was a dual threat quarterback adept at rushing and passing the football. He was used his freshman season largely as a change of pace to the Gators' more traditional passing quarterback, Chris Leak.Tebow's contribution to the Gators' 2006 college football season was as a key back-up who helped the Gators win college football's national championship game for the first time since 1996.

As a college sophomore during the 2007 season, he became the Gators' starting quarterback and broke the Southeastern Conference (SEC) records for both rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns accounted for in a single season. In addition to winning the Heisman Trophy, his 2007 performance also earned the Maxwell Award as the nation's top football player, the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's best quarterback, and the James E. Sullivan Award as the nation's most outstanding amateur athlete in any sport.

Early years

Tebow was born on August 14, 1987 in Makati City in the Philippines, the son of Pamela (née Pemberton) and Robert Ramsey Tebow, who were serving as Christian missionaries at the time. While pregnant, Pam suffered a life-threatening infection with a pathogenic amoeba. Because of the drugs used to rouse her from a coma and to treat her dysentery, the fetus experienced a severe placental abruption. Doctors expected a stillbirth and recommended an abortion to protect her life.

All of the Tebow children were homeschooled by their mother, who worked to instill the family’s Christian beliefs along the way. In 1996, legislation was passed in Florida allowing homeschooled students to compete in local high school sporting events. The law specifies that homeschooled students may participate on the team of the local school in the school district in which they live. The Tebows lived in Jacksonville, Florida, and Tim played linebacker and tight end at the local Trinity Christian Academy for one season. Tebow's preferred position was quarterback, but Trinity football team's offense did not rely on passing the football, so he began to explore his options to play for a new high school. He decided to attend Nease High School, which under head coach Craig Howard was known for having a passing offense. With the rest of his family living on a farm in Duval County, Tim and his mother moved into an apartment in nearby St. Johns County, making him eligible to play for the football team at Nease. His performance soon turned heads and led to a minor controversy regarding the fact that he was a home-schooled student having his choice of school to play for.

College career

2006

2006 Florida Gators football team

Tebow started his career at Florida in the 2006 "Orange and Blue" Spring scrimmage, where he completed 15 of 21 pass attempts for 197 yards and one touchdown.Coach Urban Meyer declared that Leak would remain the starting quarterback despite the expectations and performance of Tebow in the game. Prior to the 2006 season, Tebow was listed by Sports Illustrated as college football's future top mobile quarterback.

Tebow made his college debut coming off the bench behind Chris Leak in a goal line situation against Southern Miss. He rushed for a touchdown on a designed quarterback scramble on his first play. In his next game, he led the team in rushing yards against UCF.

He made his SEC debut against the Tennessee Volunteers on September 16. His performance included a ten-yard run on his first carry and converting a critical fourth down near the end of the game, which led to the Gators' go-ahead touchdown.

Tebow's biggest game in the season came against the LSU Tigers on October 7, where he accounted for all three of the Gators' touchdowns, passing for two and rushing for another. Tebow had a one-yard run on the goal line for his first score, a one-yard "jump pass" to tight end Tate Casey, in which he jumped in the air and double-pumped his arm before releasing the ball, and a 35-yard play-action pass to wide receiver Louis Murphy.

Tebow played a role in the Gators' victory in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game against Ohio State. He threw for one touchdown and rushed for another, finishing with 39 rushing yards. He finished 2006 with the second-most rushing yards on the Gator team.

2007

Tebow was named as one of the "Breakout Players of 2007" for college football by Sporting News, and was named the starter at quarterback for the Florida Gators before the 2007 season. The Gators' offense in 2007 was expected to be similar to what Urban Meyer used at Utah, since Meyer views Tebow as “very similar to Alex Smith.” Smith was quarterback for Meyer's last team at Utah in 2004, which became the first team from outside the BCS conferences to play in and win a BCS bowl game, and went on to be the top overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft.

There were some questions about how he would perform as a full time passer, but he opened the year 13-of-17 for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns in his starting debut against Western Kentucky University.Tebow finished the regular season with 217 completed passes in 317 attempts for 3132 yards gained and 29 touchdowns with six interceptions—giving him the second highest passing efficiency in the nation with 177.8. Additionally, he rushed 194 times for 838 yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground through 11 games. Tebow's 51 touchdowns were more than 87 Division 1-A Teams scored.

In week 4 of the season, when the Gators faced Ole Miss in an SEC match-up, Tebow broke the school record for rushing yards by a quarterback in one game, with 166 yards. On November 3, against Vanderbilt, Tebow rushed for two touchdowns to break the all-time SEC quarterback TD record in a single season. Against LSU, leading by 10 in the 4th quarter, Tebow was largely ineffective and had a turnover as he was unable to lead his team to any score, and LSU came back to win the game. LSU went on to win the 2007 National Championship.

In a game versus the South Carolina Gamecocks on November 10, Tebow broke the school record for rushing touchdowns in a season and set a career high with 5 rushing touchdowns. This brought his season total to 19 rushing touchdowns, which tied him for the SEC record for any player in a season (shared with Shaun Alexander, Garrison Hearst, and LaBrandon Toefield). He also broke Danny Wuerffel's conference record for touchdowns accounted for in a single season with 42.

On November 17, Tebow had a record day against Florida Atlantic, he scored his 20th rushing touchdown to set a new conference record for most rushing touchdowns in a season. He also became the only person ever in NCAA History to score 20 touchdowns rushing and 20 touchdowns passing in the same season.

On November 24, against the Florida State Seminoles, Tebow threw for three touchdowns and rushed for two in a 45–12 rout of the Seminoles. It was later revealed that Tebow fractured his right hand during the third quarter but played the rest of the game. He had to wear a cast for the next three weeks.

After the season was over, Tebow became a favorite for the Heisman Trophy, given to the most outstanding college football player of the year, which he won on December 8 in New York City. He also received the Davey O'Brien Award, annually given to the best quarterback in the nation, on February 18 in Fort Worth, TX.

Heisman Trophy

On December 8, 2007, Tim Tebow was awarded the Heisman Trophy, finishing ahead of Arkansas's Darren McFadden, Hawaii's Colt Brennan, and Missouri's Chase Daniel. He was the first underclassman to have ever won the Heisman Trophy. He garnered 462 first place votes and 1957 points, 254 points ahead of runner-up Arkansas running back Darren McFadden. He finished the regular season as the only player in FBS history to rush and pass for at least 20 touchdowns in both categories in the same season. He had 32 passing touchdowns, and 23 rushing touchdowns. Tebow's rushing TD total in the 2007 season is the most recorded for any position in SEC history. The total also set the record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in FBS history. Tebow became the third UF player to win the Heisman Trophy, joining Steve Spurrier and Danny Wuerffel.

2008

Before the 2007 season had even come to a close, Florida coach Urban Meyer stated that he would likely use 2 quarterbacks during the 2008 season to take some of the workload off of Tebow's shoulders.Tebow led the Gators in rushing in 2007 but also had to play through a bruised shoulder and broken non-throwing hand.

On November 1, 2008 playing against the Georgia Bulldogs, Tim Tebow ran for his 37th rushing touchdown, breaking the school record previously held by former Florida running back Emmitt Smith.

Tebow led the Gators to a 12–1 record in 2008. After clinching the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division title, the team played for and won the SEC title in the 2008 SEC Championship Game against the Alabama Crimson Tide. The win secured the #2 ranking in the final BCS standings, which earned the Gators the chance to play the #1 ranked Oklahoma Sooners in the 2009 BCS National Championship Game, which they won 24–14.

Tebow announces his return

On January 11, 2009, at a national championship celebration held at Florida Field, Tebow announced that he would not make himself eligible for the NFL Draft but would instead return for his senior season at Florida.One day later, Tebow had surgery on his right shoulder to remove a bone spur in an effort to reduce chronic inflammation.

2009

2009 Florida Gators football team

Tebow opened the 2009 season continuing a streak of throwing and running for a touchdown in blowout wins over Charleston Southern and Troy. He ran for a touchdown in the third game, a win against Tennessee, but failed to throw for a touchdown for the first time since his freshman season.

Tebow started against Kentucky despite suffering from a respiratory illness and taking two bags of intravenous fluids before the game. He ran for two touchdowns to put him in 2nd place on the all-time SEC touchdown list and he also threw for a touchdown. Late in the third quarter he was hit in the chest by Kentucky defensive end Taylor Wyndham and then in the back of the head while falling by knee of Florida tackle Marcus Gilbert. Upon impact, he briefly displayed a prominent Fencing Response with his left arm, indicating that a concussion had taken place. He lay motionless for several minutes before being helped to the sidelines. Once there, he vomited. He was taken by ambulance to the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center. A CT scan showed no bleeding in the brain, with the injury described as a mild concussion. Coach Urban Meyer stayed the night in the hospital with Tebow, who was discharged in the morning.

On October 31, 2009 playing against the Georgia Bulldogs, Tim Tebow ran for his 50th and 51st rushing touchdowns, breaking the SEC career record previously held by former Georgia running back Herschel Walker. His penultimate collegiate game, the 2009 SEC Championship saw him once again facing the University of Alabama. After a poor performance from the QB, the game ended in a Florida loss with Tebow on the sideline in tears. In the 2010 Sugar Bowl, Tebow's last college game, he had 533 yards of total offense—a record for a Bowl Championship Series game—and accounted for four touchdowns in a 51–24 Florida win against Cincinnati.

Professional career

Pre-draft

After passing on the 2009 NFL Draft for his senior season at Florida, Tebow went on to enter the 2010 NFL Draft. Despite his college success, Tebow's NFL potential was much debated. According to former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden, he could "revolutionize" the pro game. Says Gruden: "Tim Tebow is 250 pounds, and he's the strongest human being that's ever played the position. He can throw well enough at any level." Former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy said he would pick Tebow with a top 10 pick, and would take him over any quarterback in the 2010 draft. On the other hand, NFL analyst Mel Kiper, Jr. believes Tebow does not have the intangibles to play quarterback in the NFL. "I don't think he can be a fulltime quarterback. I don't think he can be the quarterback of the future for you, but I do think in the third round, maybe the second round, he'll be the same as Pat White," said Kiper.

Tebow was particularly mentioned as a potential third round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars, his hometown team. Some, including Florida governor Charlie Crist, believe that Tebow could be the remedy for dwindling Jaguars ticket sales at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. Early in the 2009 season, Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver stated: "He (Tebow) clearly is an outstanding football player and would be an asset to any football organization. Clearly there's going to be a groundswell for Tebow, and we'll have to make that evaluation if we have a draft pick that's going to be anywhere near him." Not everyone in the organization agreed, as Jaguar lineman Uche Nwaneri posted doubts about Tebow's potential NFL success on his team's website message board.

Denver Broncos

Tebow was drafted by the Denver Broncos 25th overall in the 2010 NFL Draft. The Broncos received the pick from the Baltimore Ravens for draft picks in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rounds of the 2010 NFL Draft. Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels said about his two first-round selections, which included Tebow, "We want players who are tough, smart, have great character, love football and are passionate about coming here and helping the Broncos win a championship. I think both players fit that role and I think that’s something that we’re looking for in all of our players. What we’re trying to build here is team chemistry and a team that cares about winning and winning a championship, and that’s it.” He also added specifically about Tebow, "He has all the traits you look for. It’s a good pick.” Tebow responded in an interview by saying "My greatest joy in Denver, is going to be to repay Coach McDaniels for believing in me." Tebow also mentioned his critics, "I just have a passion to play football. When you do things different than other people sometimes do them, and you don't settle for just being average, you open yourself up for criticism. But I'm ready for it. I've learned to live with it. I never just wanted to do things the same way everybody else does."

ESPN's Bill Williamson has said that Josh McDaniels will be remembered as an NFL coach who relied heavily on Tebow, saying "Josh McDaniels' legacy is Tim Tebow".

When asked how Tebow will be used, McDaniels commented that Tebow probably won't start at QB as a rookie although he said he'll "play when he’s ready". He also said that there could be some packages custom made for Tebow right away and indicated he could play initially in a Wildcat formation.

Denver Post columnist Woody Paige praised the pick, saying "Tim Tremendous may be high risk, but he will be a Mile High Reward... Tebow has become the most celebrated fourth-string rookie quarterback in NFL history, the most controversial quarterback pick by the Broncos since Tommy Maddox was chosen in exactly the same spot in the first round in 1992, the most decorated player and the most determined quarterback, and the most puzzling dichotomy, in the entire draft."

Tebow will wear number 15 on his jersey for the Broncos, the same number he wore in college. He set an NFL Draft record for jersey sales. He has also had the best-selling jersey in the entire NFL each month since being drafted. The Broncos, as a whole, have led the NFL among all teams in jersey sales as well.

On July 29, 2010, Tebow signed a five-year contract with the Broncos that has a base salary of $11.25 million (he can make as much as $33 million through certain performance-based incentives). The contract also includes $8.7 million guaranteed.

Super Bowl Ad

A nationwide controversy surrounded Tebow's decision to appear in an ad funded by Focus on the Family that was broadcast during Super Bowl XLIV. The advertisement includes two 30-second commercials during Super Bowl XLIV. The ad includes Tebow's personal story as part of an overall pro-life stance. The abortion issue was not specifically mentioned in the ad. A national columnist for CBSSports.com, Gregg Doyel, objected to the CBS decision to show the ad during Super Sunday.

"The Tebow Rule"

In 2010, a new rule for the next NCAA football season, dubbed "The Tebow Rule" by media because it would have affected him, banned messages on eye paint. During his college football career, Tebow frequently wore biblical verses on his eye black. In the 2009 BCS Championship Game, he wore John 3:16 on his eye paint, and as a result, 92 million people Google searched "John 3:16" during or shortly after the game. Additionally, later, when Tebow switched to another verse, there were 3.43 million searches of "Tim Tebow" and "Proverbs 3:5-6" together. Tebow stated of the searches "It just goes to show you the influence and the platform that you have as a student-athlete and as a quarterback at Florida".

The NFL already has a rule like this in prohibiting players from wearing messages on eye black, so Tebow would not be able to continue the practice in the NFL.Despite the media labeling it as the Tebow rule, the NCAA denies the rule was influenced by Tebow particularly, since many other notable players (Reggie Bush and Terrelle Pryor for example) wear or have worn messages on eye black.An NCAA spokesman said "When this rule was proposed the committee did not focus on any one team or student athlete. That measure reinforces what the intended use of eye black is, which is to shade the eyes from the sun."

In the media

Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert, "Frank" Sinatra, December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998  was an American singer and actor.

Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became a successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, being the idol of the "bobby soxers." His professional career had stalled by the 1950s, but it was reborn in 1954 after he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (for his performance in From Here to Eternity).

He signed with Capitol Records and released several critically lauded albums (such as In the Wee Small Hours, Songs for Swingin' Lovers, Come Fly with Me, Only the Lonely and Nice 'n' Easy). Sinatra left Capitol to found his own record label, Reprise Records (finding success with albums such as Ring-A-Ding-Ding, Sinatra at the Sands and Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim), toured internationally, was a founding member of the Rat Pack and fraternized with celebrities and presidents, including President John F. Kennedy. Sinatra turned 50 in 1965, recorded the retrospective September of My Years, starred in the Emmy-winning television special Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, and scored hits with "Strangers in the Night" and "My Way".

Sinatra attempted to weather the changing tastes in popular music, but with sales of his music dwindling, and after appearing in several poorly received films, he retired in 1971. Coming out of retirement in 1973, he recorded several albums; scored a Top 40 hit with "(Theme From) New York, New York" in 1980; and toured both within the United States and internationally until a few years before his death in 1998.

Sinatra also forged a career as an actor, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in From Here to Eternity, and he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Man with the Golden Arm. He also starred in such musicals as High Society, Pal Joey, Guys and Dolls and On the Town. Sinatra was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997. Sinatra was also the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Early life

Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey as the only child of Italian immigrants Natalie Della (née Garaventa) and Antonio Martino Sinatra. He left high school without graduating, having attended only 47 days before being expelled because of his rowdy conduct. His mother, known as Dolly, was influential in the neighborhood and in local Democratic Party circles, but also ran an illegal abortion business from her home; she was arrested several times and convicted twice for this offense. Frank was arrested for carrying on with a married woman, a criminal offense at the time.Frank's father Tony served with the Hoboken Fire Department. During the tough years of the 1930s, when the Great Depression hit North America, Dolly nevertheless provided ready pocket money to Frank for outings with friends and fancy clothes. Frank then worked for some time as a delivery boy at the Jersey Observer newspaper, and as a riveter at the Tietjan and Lang shipyard. It was in the early 1930s that Sinatra began singing in public.

1935–40: Start of career, work with James and Dorsey

Sinatra got his first break in 1935 when his mother persuaded a local singing group, The Three Flashes, to let him join. With Sinatra, the group became known as the Hoboken Four, and they sufficiently impressed Edward Bowes. After appearing on his show, Major Bowes Amateur Hour, they attracted 40,000 votes and won the first prize — a six month contract to perform on stage and radio across the United States.

Sinatra left the Hoboken 4 and returned home in late 1935. His mother secured him a job as a singing waiter and MC at the Rustic Cabin in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, for which he was paid $15 a week.

On March 18, 1939, Sinatra made a demo recording of a song called "Our Love", with the Frank Mane band. The record has "Frank Sinatra" signed on the front. The bandleader kept the original record in a safe for nearly 60 years. In June, Harry James hired Sinatra on a one year contract of $75 a week. It was with the James band that Sinatra released his first commercial record "From the Bottom of My Heart" in July, 1939 - US Brunswick #8443 and UK Columbia #DB2150.

Fewer than 8,000 copies of "From the Bottom of My Heart" (Brunswick #8443) were sold, making the record a very rare find that is sought after by record collectors worldwide. Sinatra released ten commercial tracks with James through 1939, including "All or Nothing At All" which had weak sales on its initial release but then sold millions of copies when re-released by Columbia at the height of Sinatra's popularity a few years later.

1940–50: and decline of career

In May 1941, Sinatra was at the top of the male singer polls in the Billboard and Down Beat magazines.

His appeal to bobby soxers, as teenage girls of that time were called, revealed a whole new audience for popular music, which had been recorded mainly for adults up to that time.

On December 31, 1942, Sinatra opened at the Paramount Theater in New York.

During the musicians' strike of 1942–44, Columbia re-released Harry James and Sinatra's version of "All or Nothing at All" (music by Arthur Altman and lyrics by Jack Lawrence), recorded in August 1939 and released before Sinatra had made a name for himself. The original release didn’t even mention the vocalist’s name. When the recording was re–released in 1943 with Sinatra’s name prominently displayed, the record was on the best–selling list for 18 weeks and reached number 2 on June 2, 1943.

Sinatra signed with Columbia on June 1, 1943 as a solo artist, and he had initially great success, particularly during the 1942-43 musicians' strike. And while no new records had been issued during the strike, he had been performing on the radio (on Your Hit Parade), and on stage. Columbia wanted to get new recordings of their growing star as fast as possible, so Sinatra convinced them to hire Alec Wilder as arranger and conductor for several sessions with a vocal group called the Bobby Tucker Singers. These first sessions were on June 7, June 22, August 5, and November 10, 1943. Of the nine songs recorded during these sessions, seven charted on the best–selling list.

Sinatra did not serve in the military during World War II. On December 11, 1943, he was classified 4-F 

1950–60: Rebirth of career, Capitol concept albums

After two years' absence, Sinatra returned to the concert stage on January 12, 1950, in Hartford, Connecticut. His voice suffered and he experienced hemorrhaging of his vocal cords on stage at the Copacabana on April 26, 1950. Sinatra's career and appeal to new teen audiences declined as he moved into his mid-30s.

In September 1951, Sinatra made his Las Vegas debut at the Desert Inn. A month later, a second series of the Frank Sinatra Show aired on CBS.

Columbia and MCA dropped him in 1952.

The rebirth of Sinatra's career began with the eve-of-Pearl Harbor drama From Here to Eternity (1953), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This role and performance marked a turnaround in Sinatra's career: after a critical and commercial decline for several years, he became an Oscar-winning actor and, once again, one of the top recording artists in the world.

Also in 1953, Sinatra starred in the NBC radio program Rocky Fortune. His character, Rocko Fortunato (aka Rocky Fortune) was a private eye who was placed in a variety of odd jobs by the Gridley Employment Agency to solve crimes. The series aired on NBC radio Tuesday nights from October 1953 to March 1954. During the final months of the show, just before the 1954 Oscars, it became a running gag that Sinatra would manage to work the phrase "from here to eternity" into each episode, a reference to his Oscar-nominated performance.

In 1953, Sinatra signed with Capitol Records, where he worked with many of the finest musical arrangers of the era, most notably Nelson Riddle, Gordon Jenkins, and Billy May. Sinatra reinvented himself with a series of albums featuring darker emotional material, including In the Wee Small Hours (1955) -- Sinatra's first 12" LP and his second collaboration with Nelson Riddle -- Where Are You? (1957) and Frank Sinatra Sings For Only The Lonely (1958). He also incorporated a hipper, "swinging" persona, as heard on Swing Easy! (1954), Songs For Swingin' Lovers (1956), and Come Fly With Me (1957).

By the end of the year, Billboard named "Young at Heart" Song of the Year, Swing Easy! with Nelson Riddle at the helm, (his second album for Capitol) was named Album of the Year and Sinatra was named "Top Male Vocalist" by Billboard, Down Beat and Metronome.

1960–70: Ring-A-Ding-Ding, Reprise records, Basie, Jobim, "My Way"

Sinatra started the 1960s as he ended the 1950s. His first album of the decade, Nice 'n' Easy, topped Billboard's chart and won critical plaudits. Sinatra grew discontented at Capitol and decided to form his own label, Reprise Records. His first album on the label, Ring-A-Ding-Ding (1961), was a major success peaking at #4 on Billboard and #8 in the UK.

His fourth and final Timex special was broadcast in March 1960 and secured massive viewing figures. Titled It's Nice to Go Travelling, the show is more commonly known as Welcome Home Elvis. Elvis Presley's appearance after his army discharge was somewhat ironic; Sinatra had been scathing about him in the mid fifties, saying: "His kind of music is deplorable, a rancid smelling aphrodisiac. It fosters almost totally negative and destructive reactions in young people." Presley had responded: "... [Sinatra] is a great success and a fine actor, but I think he shouldn't have said it... [rock and roll] is a trend, just the same as he faced when he started years ago." Later, in efforts to maintain his commercial viability, Sinatra recorded Presley's hit "Love Me Tender" as well as works by Paul Simon ("Mrs. Robinson"), The Beatles ("Something," "Yesterday"), and Joni Mitchell ("Both Sides Now").

Following on the heels of the film Can Can was Ocean's 11, the movie that became the definitive on-screen outing for "The Rat Pack".

On January 27, 1961, Sinatra played a benefit show at Carnegie Hall for Martin Luther King, Jr.. He played a major role in the desegregation of Nevada hotels and casinos in the 1960s. Sinatra led his fellow members of the Rat Pack and label-mates on Reprise in refusing to patronize hotels and casinos that wouldn't allow black singers to play or wouldn't allow black patrons entry. He would often speak from the stage on desegregation. He played more benefits for King. According to Frank Sinatra, Jr., at one point during a show in 1963 King sat weeping as Sinatra sang Ol' Man River, the song from the musical Show Boat that, in the show, is sung by an African-American stevedore.

1970–80: Retirement and comeback

In 1973, Sinatra came out of retirement with a television special and album, both entitled Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back. The album, arranged by Gordon Jenkins and Don Costa, was a great success, reaching number 13 on Billboard and number 12 in the UK. The TV special was highlighted by a dramatic reading of "Send in the Clowns" and a song and dance sequence with former co-star Gene Kelly.

In January 1974, Sinatra returned to Las Vegas, performing at Caesar's Palace despite vowing in 1970 never to play there again after the manager of the resort, Sanford Waterman, pulled a gun on him during a heated argument. With Waterman recently shot, the door was open for Sinatra to return.

In Australia, he caused an uproar by describing journalists there — who were aggressively pursuing his every move and pushing for a press conference — as "fags", "pimps", and "whores." Australian unions representing transport workers, waiters, and journalists went on strike, demanding that Sinatra apologize for his remarks. Sinatra instead insisted that the journalists apologize for "fifteen years of abuse I have taken from the world pres The future Prime Minister of Australia, Bob Hawke, then the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) leader, also insisted that Sinatra apologize, and a settlement was eventually reached to the apparent satisfaction of both parties, Sinatra's final show of his Australian tour was televised to the nation.

In October 1974, Sinatra appeared at New York City's Madison Square Garden in a televised concert that was later released as an album under the title The Main Event – Live. Backing him was bandleader Woody Herman and the Young Thundering Herd, who accompanied Sinatra on a European tour later that month. The TV special garnered mostly positive reviews whilst the album — actually culled from various shows during his comeback tour — was only a moderate success, peaking at #37 on Billboard and #30 in the UK.

In 1979, in front of the Egyptian pyramids, Sinatra performed for Anwar Sadat. Back in Las Vegas, while celebrating 40 years in show business and his 64th birthday, he was awarded the Grammy Trustees Award during a party at Caesar's Palace.

1980–90: Trilogy, She Shot Me Down, L.A. Is My Lady

In 1980, Sinatra's first album in six years was released, Trilogy: Past Present Future, a highly ambitious triple album that found Sinatra recording songs from the past (pre-rock era) and present (rock era and contemporary) that he had overlooked during his career, while 'The Future' was a free-form suite of new songs linked à la musical theater by a theme, in this case, Sinatra pondering over the future. The album garnered six Grammy nominations — winning for best liner notes — and peaked at number 17 on Billboard's album chart, while spawning yet another song that would become a signature tune, "Theme from New York, New York" as well as Sinatra's much lauded (second) recording of George Harrison's "Something" (The first was not officially released on an album until 1972's Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2.)

The following year, Sinatra built on the success of Trilogy with She Shot Me Down, an album that revisited the dark tone of his Capitol years, and was praised by critics as a vintage late-period Sinatra. Sinatra would comment that it was "A complete saloon album... tear-jerkers and cry-in-your-beer kind of things."

Sinatra was embroiled in controversy in 1981 when he worked a ten-day engagement for $2 million in Sun City, South Africa breaking the cultural blockade on Apartheid South Africa. See Artists United Against Apartheid

1990s: Duets, final performances

In 1990, Sinatra celebrated his 75th birthday with a national tour,and was awarded the second "Ella Award" by the Los Angeles–based Society of Singers. At the award ceremony, he performed for the final time with Ella Fitzgerald.

In December, as part of Sinatra's birthday celebrations, Patrick Pasculli, the Mayor of Hoboken, made a proclamation in his honor, declaring that "no other vocalist in history has sung, swung and crooned and serenaded into the hearts of the young and old... as this consummate artist from Hoboken."The same month Sinatra gave the first show of his Diamond Jubilee Tour at the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

In 1993 Sinatra made a surprise return to Capitol and the recording studio for Duets, which was released in November.

The other artists who added their vocals to the album worked for free, and a follow-up album (Duets II) was released in 1994, which reached #9 on the Billboard charts.

Still touring, despite various health problems, Sinatra remained a top concert attraction on a global scale during the first half of the 1990s. At times, his memory seemed to fail him, and a fall onstage in Richmond, Virginia in March 1994 signaled further problems.

Sinatra's final public concerts were held in Japan's Fukuoka Dome in December 1994. The following year, on February 25, 1995, at a private party for 1,200 select guests on the closing night of the Frank Sinatra Desert Classic golf tournament, Sinatra sang before a live audience for the very last time. Esquire reported of the show that Sinatra was "clear, tough, on the money" and "in absolute control." His closing song was "The Best is Yet to Come."

Personal life

Sinatra had three children, Nancy, Frank Jr., and Tina, all with his first wife, Nancy Barbato (married 1939-1951). He was married three more times, to actresses Ava Gardner (1951–1957) and Mia Farrow (1966–1968) and finally to Barbara Marx (married 1976), to whom he was still married at his death.

Throughout his life, Sinatra had mood swings and bouts of depression. He acknowledged this, telling an interviewer in the 1950s: "Being an 18-karat manic-depressive, and having lived a life of violent emotional contradictions, I have an over-acute capacity for sadness as well as emotion." In her memoirs My Father's Daughter, his daughter Tina wrote about the "eighteen-karat" remark: "As flippant as Dad could be about his mental state, I believe that a Zoloft a day might have kept his demons away. But that kind of medicine was decades off."

Death

"Sinatra was... the first modern pop superstar... Following his idol Bing Crosby, who had pioneered the use of the microphone, Sinatra transformed popular singing by infusing lyrics with a personal, intimate point of view that conveyed a steady current of eroticism... Almost singlehandedly, he helped lead a revival of vocalized swing music that took American pop to a new level of musical sophistication... his 1950's recordings... were instrumental in establishing a canon of American pop song literature."

Stephen Holden

Sinatra suffered from senile dementia in his final years and made no further public appearances after a heart attack in January 1997. After suffering a further heart attack, he died at 10:50 pm on May 14, 1998 at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, with his wife Barbara by his side. He was 82 years old. Sinatra's final words, spoken as attempts were made to stabilize him, were "I'm losing." His death was confirmed by the Sinatra family on their website with a statement accompanied by a recording of the singer's version of "Softly As I Leave You." The next night the lights on the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed in his honor. President Bill Clinton led tributes to Sinatra, stating that he had managed "to appreciate on a personal level what millions of people had appreciated from afar." Elton John stated that Sinatra, "was simply the best - no one else even comes close."

On May 20, 1998 at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, Sinatra's funeral was held, with 400 mourners in attendance and hundreds of fans outside. Gregory Peck,Tony Bennett, and Frank Jr. addressed the mourners, among whom were Jill St. John, Tom Selleck, Joey Bishop, Faye Dunaway, Tony Curtis, Liza Minnelli, Kirk Douglas, Robert Wagner, Bob Dylan, Don Rickles, Nancy Reagan, Angie Dickinson, Sophia Loren, Bob Newhart, Mia Farrow, and Jack Nicholson. A private ceremony was held later that day at St. Theresa's Catholic Church in Palm Springs. Sinatra was buried following the ceremony next to his parents in section B-8 of Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, a quiet cemetery on Ramon Road at the border of Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage, near his famous Rancho Mirage compound, located on tree-lined Frank Sinatra Drive.His close friends Jilly Rizzo and Jimmy Van Heusen are buried nearby in the same cemetery.

The words "The Best Is Yet to Come" are imprinted on Sinatra's grave marker.

Discography

Awards and recognitions

Legacy

The U.S. Postal Service issued a 42-cent postage stamp in honor of Sinatra on May 13, 2008. The design of the stamp was unveiled Wednesday, December 12, 2007 — on the anniversary of what would have been his 92nd birthday — in Beverly Hills, CA, with Sinatra family members on hand. The design shows an 1950s-vintage image of Sinatra, wearing a hat. The design also includes his signature, with his last name alone. The Hoboken Post Office was renamed in his honor in 2002. The Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Long Island City and the Frank Sinatra Park in Hoboken were named in his honor.

The U.S. Congress passed a resolution on May 20, 2008 designating May 13 as Frank Sinatra Day to honor his contribution to American culture. The resolution was introduced by Representative Mary Bono Mack.

To commemorate the anniversary of Sinatra's death, Patsy's Restaurant in New York City, which Sinatra was very fond of and a regular at, exhibited in May 2009 15 never before released photos of Sinatra that were taken by Bobby Bank. The photos are of his recording "Everybody Ought to Be in Love" at a nearby recording studio.

Stephen Holden wrote for the 1983 Rolling Stone Record Guide:

Film portrayal

In 1992, CBS aired a TV mini-series about the entertainer's life called Sinatra, directed by James Steven Sadwith and starred Philip Casnoff as Sinatra. Opening with his childhood in Hoboken, New Jersey, the film follows Sinatra's rise to the top in the 1940s, through the dark days of the early 1950s and his triumphant re-emergence in the mid-1950s, to his status as pop culture icon in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In between, the film hits all of the main events, including his three marriages, his connections with the Mafia and his notorious friendship with the Rat Pack. Even with the presence of Tina Sinatra as executive producer. Casnoff received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.

In 1998, Ray Liotta portrayed Sinatra in the HBO movie The Rat Pack, alongside Joe Mantegna as Dean Martin and Don Cheadle as Sammy Davis, Jr. It depicted their contribution to John F. Kennedy's election as U.S. president in 1960.

Sinatra was also portrayed by Sebastian Anzaldo in the film Tears of a King, who also impersonated Sinatra in a TV episode of The Next Best Thing.

Brett Ratner is currently developing a film adaptation of George Jacobs' memoir Mr. S: My Life With Frank Sinatra. Jacobs, who was Sinatra's valet, will be portrayed by Chris Tucker.

Alleged organized crime links

Sinatra garnered considerable attention due to his alleged personal and professional links with organized crime, including figures such as Carlo Gambino, Sam Giancana, Lucky Luciano, and Joseph Fischetti. The Federal Bureau of Investigation kept records amounting to 2,403 pages on Sinatra. With his alleged Mafia ties, his ardent New Deal politics and his friendship with John F. Kennedy, he was a natural target for J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. The FBI kept Sinatra under surveillance for almost five decades beginning in the 1940s. The documents include accounts of Sinatra as the target of death threats and extortion schemes. They also portray rampant paranoia and strange obsessions at the FBI and reveal nearly every celebrated Sinatra foible and peccadillo.

For a year Hoover investigated Sinatra's alleged and Communist affiliations, but came up empty-handed. The files include his rendezvous with prostitutes, and his extramarital affair with Ava Gardner, which preceded their marriage. Celebrities mentioned in the files are Dean Martin, Marilyn Monroe, Peter Lawford, and Giancana's girlfriend, singer Phyllis McGuire.

The FBI's secret dossier on Sinatra was released in 1998 in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

Political views

Sinatra held differing political views throughout his life.

Sinatra's parents had immigrated to the United States in 1895 and 1897 respectively. His mother, Dolly Sinatra (1896–1977), was a Democratic Party ward boss.

Sinatra, pictured here with Eleanor Roosevelt in 1960, was an ardent supporter of the Democratic Party until 1968.

Sinatra remained a supporter of the Democratic Party until the late 1960s when he switched his allegiance to the Republican Party.

Political activities 1944-1968

In 1944 after sending a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Sinatra was invited to meet Roosevelt at the White House, where he agreed to become part of the Democratic party's voter registration drives.

He donated $5,000 to the Democrats for the 1944 presidential election, and by the end of the campaign was appearing at two or three political events every day.

After World War II, Sinatra's politics grew steadily more left wing, and he became more publicly associated with the Popular Front. He started reading liberal literature, and supported many organizations that were later identified as front organizations of the Communist party by the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s, though Sinatra was never brought before the Committee.

Sinatra spoke at a number of New Jersey high schools in 1945, where students had gone on strike in opposition to racial integration. Later that year Sinatra would appear in The House I Live In, a short film that stood against racism. The film was scripted by Albert Maltz, with the title song written by Earl Robinson and Abel Meeropol (under the pseudonym of Lewis Allen).

In 1948, Sinatra supported the candidacy of Henry A. Wallace.

In January, 1961, Sinatra and Peter Lawford organized the Inaugural Gala in Washington, D.C., held on the evening before new President John F. Kennedy was sworn into office. The event, featuring many big show business stars, was an enormous success, raising a large amount of money for the Democratic Party. Sinatra also organized an Inaugural Gala in California in 1962 to welcome second term Democratic Governor Pat Brown.

Sinatra's move towards the Republicans seems to have begun when he was snubbed by President Kennedy in favor of Bing Crosby, a rival singer and a Republican, for Kennedy's visit to Palm Springs in 1962. Kennedy had planned to stay at Sinatra's home over the Easter holiday weekend, but decided against doing so because of problems with Sinatra's alleged connections to organized crime. Sinatra had invested a lot of his own money in upgrading the facilities at his home, in anticipation of the President's visit. President Kennedy's brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, was intensifying his own investigations into organized crime figures at the time, such as Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana, who had earlier stayed at Sinatra's home.

Political activities 1970-1984

On February 27, 1970 Sinatra sang at the White House as part of a tribute to Senator Everett Dirksen. Over the summer Sinatra supported another Republican candidate as he endorsed Ronald Reagan for a second term as Governor of California.Sinatra became good friends with Vice President Spiro Agnew. Sinatra said he agreed with the Republican Party on most positions, except that of abortion.

After a lifetime of supporting Democratic presidential candidates, Sinatra supported Richard Nixon for re-election in the 1972 presidential election. In 1973, Agnew was charged with corruption and resigned as Vice President; Sinatra helped Agnew pay some of his legal bills.

In the 1980 presidential election, Sinatra supported Ronald Reagan, and donated $4 million to Reagan's campaign. Sinatra said he supported Reagan as he was “the proper man to be the President of the United States... it's so screwed up now, we need someone to straighten it out.” Reagan's victory gave Sinatra his closest relationship with the White House since the early 1960s. Sinatra arranged Reagan's Presidential gala, as he had done for Kennedy, 20 years previously.

In 1984 Sinatra returned to his birthplace in Hoboken, bringing with him President Reagan, who was in the midst of campaigning for the 1984 presidential election. Reagan had made Sinatra a fund-raising ambassador as part of the Republicans' 'Victory 84 get-the-vote-out-drive.

Further reading

Biographies

Freedland, Michael. (2000) All the Way: A Biography of Frank Sinatra. St Martins Press. ISBN 0752816624

Havers, Richard. (2004) Sinatra. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 1405314613

Kelley, Kitty. (1986) His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra. Bantam Press. ISBN 0553265156

Lahr, John. (1987) Sinatra. Random House. ISBN 0753808420

Munn, Michael. (2002) Sinatra: The Untold Story. Robson Books Ltd. ISBN 1861055374

Rockwell, John. (1984) Sinatra: An American Classic. Rolling Stone. ISBN 039453977X

Rojek, Chris. (2004) Frank Sinatra. Polity. ISBN 0745630901

Santopietro, Tom. (2008) "Sinatra In Hollywood". Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 9780312362263

Summers, Antony and Swan, Robbyn. (2005) Sinatra: The Life. Doubleday. ISBN 0552153311

Taraborrelli, J. Randall. (1998) Sinatra: The Man Behind the Myth. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1840181192

Sinatra family publications

Pignone, Charles, with foreword by Sinatra, Frank Jr. and Jones, Quincy. (2004) The Sinatra Treasures. Virgin Books. ISBN 1852271841

Pignone, Charles, with foreword by Sinatra, Amanda. (2007) Frank Sinatra: The Family Album Little Brown and Company. ISBN 0316003492

Sinatra, Julie. (2007) Under My Skin: My Father, Frank Sinatra The Man Behind the Mystique iuniverse.com, ISBN 0595434789

Sinatra, Nancy. (1986) Frank Sinatra, My Father. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0385233569

Sinatra, Nancy. (1998) Frank Sinatra 1915-1998: An American Legend. Readers Digest. ISBN 0762101342

Sinatra, Tina. (2000) My Father's Daughter. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0684870762

Cultural criticism

Gigliotti, Gilbert L. A Storied Singer: Frank Sinatra as Literary Conceit. Greewood, 2002.

Hamill, Pete. Why Sinatra Matters. Back Bay Books, 2003.

Mustazza, Leonard, ed. Frank Sinatra and Popular Culture. Praeger, 1998.

Petkov, Steven and Mustazza, Leonard, ed. The Frank Sinatra Reader. Oxford University Press, 1997.

Pugliese, S., ed. Frank Sinatra: "History, Identity, and Italian American Culture ". Palgrave, 2004.

Smith, Martin. When Ol' Blue Eyes was a red. Redwords, 2005.

Zehme, Bill. The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin'. Harper Collins, 1997.