John Hancock

John Hancock (January 23, 1737 [O.S. January 12, 1736]  October 8, 1793) was an American merchant, smuggler, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He is remembered for his large and stylish signature on the United States Declaration of Independence, so much so that the term "John Hancock" has become, in the United States, a synonym for a signature.

Before the American Revolution, Hancock was one of the wealthiest men in the Thirteen Colonies, having inherited a profitable mercantile business from his uncle, himself a prominent smuggler. Hancock began his political career in Boston as a protégé of Samuel Adams, an influential local politician, though the two men later became estranged. As tensions between colonists and Great Britain increased in the 1760s, Hancock used his wealth to support the colonial cause. He became very popular in Massachusetts, especially after British officials seized his sloop Liberty in 1768 and charged him with smuggling. Although the charges against Hancock were eventually dropped, as Professor Peter Andreas, author of Smuggler Nation: How Illicit Trade Made America explains, "It is perhaps appropriate that the first signer of the Declaration of Independence was Boston's most well known merchant-smuggler, John Hancock."

Late Night Alumni

Late Night Alumni is an American house group composed of Becky Jean Williams, John Hancock, Finn Bjarnson and Ryan Raddon (Kaskade). They are primarily known for mixing dance music with strings and soft trance-like vocals.

Biography

Finn Bjarnson stumbled upon Becky Jean Williams (sister to R. John Williams, the lead singer of Faded Paper Figures) in the summer of 2003. “I had just been given a local Christmas CD that I had produced a couple tracks for,” Finn recalls, “and as I was listening through the tracks, there she was! Her beautiful voice and style immediately struck me.” A couple of phone calls later and they were in the studio together for the first time. “I had worked up this song called ‘Empty Streets’ and wanted to try her voice out on it...” Finn continues, “and it took off from there!”

Finn had already been working in the studio with Ryan Raddon (aka Kaskade), and soon Finn, Ryan, and Becky formed Late Night Alumni. In 2004, Hed Kandi made an offer to license and release a full length Late Night Alumni album. “At that point,” Finn says, “I knew the band was not ready. We were missing an element.” That missing element turned out to be John Hancock, a talented local producer with whom Finn had been trying to “find an excuse” to work for years. The band was complete and hard at work at the debut Late Night Alumni album; mixing electronic and organic elements for a unique brand of chill that is easily distinguishable in today’s down tempo house music scene.

John D. Hancock

John D. Hancock (born February 12, 1939) is an American stage and film director, producer and writer. He is perhaps best known for his work on Bang the Drum Slowly. Hancock's theatrical work includes direction of both classic and contemporary plays, from Shakespeare to Saul Bellow.

Early life

John was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Ralph and Ella Mae Rosenthal Hancock. His father was a musician with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in Chicago, Illinois, and his mother a schoolteacher. Hancock spent his youth between their home in Chicago and their fruit farm in La Porte, Indiana. In high school he was the Assistant Concertmaster of the Chicago Youth Orchestra playing the violin.

Hancock graduated from Harvard University. He continued his theatrical studies in Europe with a grant from Harvard and observed Bertolt Brecht's Berliner Ensemble.

Career

He made his directorial debut at age 22 with the Off-Broadway hit production of Bertolt Brecht's Man Equals Man. This was followed by Robert Lowell's Endicott and the Red Cross. In 1968, Hancock directed Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, which won him the Obie Award for Distinguished Director for the 1967–68 season.Cue Magazine noted, "This brutal, vulgar, and erotic production of Shakespeare's sex fantasy is the most original and arresting I've ever witnessed. This is the best of all the Dreams and an important pioneering effort in re-interpreting the play."

John Hancock (ornithologist)

John Hancock (24 February 1808 – 11 October 1890) was a British naturalist, ornithologist, taxidermist and landscape architect. He is considered the father of modern taxidermy. He introduced the style of dramatic preparation in taxidermy. One of his famous works "Struggle with the quarry" depicted a falcon attacking a heron which held an eel. This taxidermy mount was an attraction at the 1851 Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London.

Hancock was born in Newcastle upon Tyne and educated at The Royal Grammar School. He was a brother of the naturalist Albany Hancock. The brothers lived with their sister, Mary Jane, at 4 St. Mary’s Terrace, Newcastle, now part of a listed terrace at 14–20 Great North Road. His father was also a John Hancock and he ran a saddle and hardware business. He may have trained in taxidermy under Richard Wingate, a neighbour of Thomas Bewick. Hancock was a mentor and tutor to the celebrated ornithologist and bird painter, Allan Brooks.

John Hancock (disambiguation)

John Hancock (1735–1793) was an American politician, entrepreneur, and soldier.

John Hancock may also refer to:

People

  • John Hancock, Sr. (1671–1752), American clergyman and paternal grandfather of the U.S. politician
  • John Hancock, Jr. (1702–1744), American clergyman and father of the U.S. politician
  • John Hancock (ornithologist) (1808–1890)
  • John Hancock (Texas politician) (1824–1893)
  • John Hancock (British politician) (1857–1940)
  • John D. Hancock (born 1939), American director
  • John E. Hancock, Vermont farmer and politician
  • John Lee Hancock (born 1956), American screenwriter
  • John W. Hancock, American football player, athlete and coach
  • John Hancock (actor) (1941–1992)
  • John Hancock (Australian businessman), West Australian mining magnate
  • John Hancock (radio host)
  • John Hancock, member of the group Late Night Alumni
  • John Hancock, survivor of Alvin and Judith Neelley
  • Other

  • John Hancock, a fictional character in the film Hancock
  • John Hancock Financial, American company
  • Either of two buildings formerly known as the John Hancock Building in Boston, Massachusetts
  • Hancock (film)

    Hancock is a 2008 American superhero comedy-drama film directed by Peter Berg and starring Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman and Eddie Marsan. It tells the story of a vigilante superhero, John Hancock (Smith) from Los Angeles whose reckless actions routinely cost the city millions of dollars. Eventually one person he saves, Ray Embrey (Bateman), makes it his mission to change Hancock's public image for the better.

    The story was originally written by Vincent Ngo in 1996. It languished in "development hell" for years and had various directors attached, including Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Jonathan Mostow, and Gabriele Muccino before going into production in 2007. Hancock was filmed in Los Angeles with a production budget of $150 million.

    In the United States, the film was rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America after changes were made at the organization's request in order to avoid a R rating, which it had received twice before. The film was presented and widely released on July 2, 2008 in the United States and the United Kingdom by Columbia Pictures. Hancock received mixed reviews from film critics and grossed more than $620 million in theaters worldwide.

    Podcasts:

    John Hancock

    ALBUMS

    John Hancock

    Sweeping Themes DVD 1B

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