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Adolph B. Spreckels
Adolph Bernard Spreckels (January 5, 1857 – June 28, 1924) was a California businessman who ran Spreckels Sugar Company and who donated the California Palace of the Legion of Honor art museum to the city of San Francisco in 1924. His wife Alma was called the "great grandmother of San Francisco". His 1912 mansion is in Pacific Heights and is San Francisco Landmark #197. Life and career Spreckels was born in San Francisco, California. His parents were Anna Christina Mangels and Claus Spreckels, founder of the Spreckels Sugar Company. At the age of 12, Adolph studied abroad in Hanover, Germany for two years, returning to San Francisco to finish his studies. When the company was founded in 1881, he was named a vice-president. Spreckels succeeded his father as company president upon the latter's death in 1908. He was intensely loyal to both his father and his brother John. In 1884, he shot Michael H. de Young, co-founder of the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', supposedly because of ...
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Alma De Bretteville Spreckels
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels (March 24, 1881 – August 7, 1968) was a wealthy socialite and philanthropist in San Francisco, California. She was known both as "Big Alma" (she was tall) and "The Great Grandmother of San Francisco". Among her many accomplishments, she persuaded her first husband, sugar magnate Adolph B. Spreckels, to donate the California Palace of the Legion of Honor to the city of San Francisco. Early life She was born Alma Charlotte Corday le Normand de Bretteville in the Sunset District of San Francisco, the fifth of six children of Viggo and Mathilde de Bretteville, two Danish immigrants. The family was very poor during her early childhood. Viggo descended from Franco-Danish nobility through his grandfather who emigrated during the French Revolution (one of Napoleon III's generals was his uncle) and used that as an excuse to avoid working while simultaneously deriding the "nouveau riche" of California. * * In contrast, Mathilde had enough ingenuity and bu ...
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Fine Arts Museums Of San Francisco
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the Fine Arts Museums, with about 150,000 objects, is organized into nine areas, each with a curatorial staff. History "The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are governed by three boards. The Fine Arts Museums (FAMSF) of San Francisco is a Charitable Trust Department of the City and County of San Francisco. The Museums’ endowment funds are held by The Fine Arts Museums Foundation (FAMF), a private 501(c)3 organization. The Corporation of the Fine Arts Museums (COFAM) is also a private 501(c)3 organization, which raises funds for and manages most of the day-to-day operations of the museums." Unlike most other major art museums, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco do not have a large endowment from which to draw. The museums operate o ...
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Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry and fillies . It is dubbed "The Run for the Roses", stemming from the blanket of roses draped over the winner. It is also known in the United States as "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports" or "The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports" because of its approximate duration. It is the first leg of the American Triple Crown, followed by the Preakness Stakes, and then the Belmont Stakes. Of the three Triple Crown races, the Kentucky Derby has the distinction of having been run uninterrupted since its inaugural race in 1875. The race was rescheduled to September 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Preakness and Belmont Stakes races had taken hiatuses in 1891–18 ...
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Morvich
Morvich (April 23, 1919 – January 26, 1946) was an American Thoroughbred who was the first California-bred racehorse to win the Kentucky Derby. Bred by sugar magnate Adolph B. Spreckels at his Napa Stock Farm, Morvich was sired by James R. Keene's stallion Runnymede and was out of the mare Hymir by Dr. Leggo. He was sold to Benjamin Block. The young colt was described as an "ugly cripple that no one thought could run until (trainer) Burlew proved them wrong." Racing career Despite the predictions at the time, under future Hall of Fame trainer Fred Burlew, in 1921 Morvich had one of the best seasons in American racing history for a two-year-old. Beginning as a lowly selling plater, he rapidly moved up, winning all 11 of his starts, a feat that ranks close to the record of 13 consecutive wins set by Tremont in 1886. Dominating performances against the best horses in his age group made Morvich the runaway winner of American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt honors. Although Morvi ...
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Horse Racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic premise – to identify which of two or more horses is the fastest over a set course or distance – has been mostly unchanged since at least classical antiquity. Horse races vary widely in format, and many countries have developed their own particular traditions around the sport. Variations include restricting races to particular breeds, running over obstacles, running over different distances, running on different track surfaces, and running in different gaits. In some races, horses are assigned different weights to carry to reflect differences in ability, a process known as handicapping. While horses are sometimes raced purely for sport, a major part of horse racing's interest and economic importance is in the gambling associated with ...
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Spreckels Organ
The Spreckels Organ is a pipe organ that was designed by Ernest M. Skinner. It was installed in 1924 at the Legion of Honor museum in San Francisco, California. Public performances are held on Saturdays, 4:00–4:45 pm. Philanthropist John D. Spreckels commissioned the organ's manufacture. A commemorative plaque on the right side of the console states: "John D. Spreckels has generously given the organ in this temple for the pleasure of those who, like himself, are lovers of music AD MCMXXIV." Spreckels donated the organ as a tribute to his brother Adolph, who was dying from syphilis. Adolph died before the organ was completed. Setting The organ is located in the museum's Rodin gallery. It was designed to blend into the museum's structure; its 4,500 pipes are not visible to visitors. The ceiling of the gallery is canvas so that the organ can be heard throughout the gallery and museum; the canvas ceiling is painted as a ''trompe-l'œil'' to resemble a marble apse. Organ fe ...
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Balboa Park, San Diego, California
Balboa Park is a historic urban cultural park in San Diego, California, United States. In addition to open space areas, natural vegetation zones, green belts, gardens, and walking paths, it contains museums, several theaters, and the San Diego Zoo. There are also many recreational facilities and several gift shops and restaurants within the boundaries of the park. Placed in reserve in 1835, the park's site is one of the oldest in the United States dedicated to public recreational use. Balboa Park is managed and maintained by the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of San Diego. Balboa Park hosted the 1915–16 Panama–California Exposition and 1935–36 California Pacific International Exposition, both of which left architectural landmarks. The park and its historic Exposition buildings were declared a National Historic Landmark and National Historic Landmark District in 1977, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places. and   Park attractions ...
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San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States and the seat of San Diego County, the fifth most populous county in the United States, with 3,338,330 estimated residents as of 2019. The city is known for its mild year-round climate, natural deep-water harbor, extensive beaches and parks, long association with the United States Navy, and recent emergence as a healthcare and biotechnology development center. San Diego is the second largest city in the state of California, after Los Angeles. Historically home to the Kumeyaay people, San Diego is frequently referred to as the "Birthplace of California", as it was the first site visited and settled by Europeans on what is now the U.S. west coast. Upon landing in San Diego Bay in 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the area for Spain, ...
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Spreckels Organ Pavilion, San Diego, California
Spreckels Organ Pavilion houses the open-air Spreckels Organ in Balboa Park, San Diego, California. The Spreckels Organ is the world's largest pipe organ in a fully outdoor venue. Constructed for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, it is located at the corner of President's Way and Pan American Road East in the park. History John D. Spreckels, son of sugar magnate Claus Spreckels, was one of the wealthiest residents in San Diego County. He supported the Panama-California Exposition, and during its construction, his brother Adolph B. Spreckels and he gave the organ pavilion as a gift to "the people of San Diego" and "the people of all the world" on December 31, 1914. They donated $33,500 ($ today) for the organ and $66,500 ($ today) for the pavilion. After Spreckels' announcement, a local orchestra performed Jacques Offenbach's ''Orpheus in the Underworld'', which was then followed by a 250-person chorus that sang pieces from Joseph Haydn's oratorio, '' The Creation''. On Ju ...
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Los Angeles Examiner
The ''Los Angeles Examiner'' was a newspaper founded in 1903 by William Randolph Hearst in Los Angeles, California. The afternoon ''Los Angeles Herald-Express'' and the morning ''Los Angeles Examiner'', both of which had been publishing in the city since the turn of the 20th century, merged in 1962. For a few years after this merger, the ''Los Angeles Herald Examiner'' claimed the largest afternoon-newspaper circulation in the country, publishing its last edition on November 2, 1989. Founding The first edition was issued on Sunday, December 13, 1903, under the business managership of L. C. Strauss, who had managed the New York City office of the ''San Francisco Examiner,'' the first Hearst-owned newspaper. It was predicted to be Democratic Party of the United States, Democratic in politics and to compete with the Republican Party of the United States, Republican-supporting ''Los Angeles Times,'' another morning newspaper. The ''Examiner'' published a preview edition on Friday, ...
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Spreckels Lake
The Spreckels Lake Model Yacht Facility, commonly referred to as "Spreckels Lake", is an artificial reservoir behind an earthen dam and adjoining clubhouse situated on the northern side of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Completed in mid-March 1904,"Miniature Yachts Race on Spreckels Lake Waters" San Francisco Call, Volume 95, Number 112, March 21, 1904 the reservoir was built for the use of model boaters of all ages, interests, and skill levels, designed specifically for racing model sail and power boats and to propagate the skills and crafts necessary to build and sail competitive model boats of all types. The Spreckels Lake Model Yacht Facility is considered one of the finest examples and one of the most beautiful of the naturalistically styled, man-made model boating facilities in the world and is always open to anyone wishing to sail its waters with Spreckels Lake#Rules governing model boats using the model yacht facility., few restrictions. The facility is also the perman ...
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Sunset Monarch Company
Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the spring and autumn equinoxes. As viewed from the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun sets to the northwest (or not at all) in the spring and summer, and to the southwest in the autumn and winter; these seasons are reversed for the Southern Hemisphere. The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment when the upper limb of the Sun disappears below the horizon. Near the horizon, atmospheric refraction causes sunlight rays to be distorted to such an extent that geometrically the solar disk is already about one diameter below the horizon when a sunset is observed. Sunset is distinct from twilight, which is divided into three stages. The first one is ''civil twilight'', which begins once the Sun has disappeared below the horizon, and continues unti ...
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