Name	Nova Scotia| AlternateName = Nouvelle-Écosse, Alba Nuadh New Scotland (English)
Fullname	Province of Nova Scotia
Entityadjective	Provincial
Flag	Flag_of_Nova_Scotia.svg
Coatofarms	Coat of Arms of Nova Scotia.svg
Map	Nova Scotia, Canada.svg
Label map	yes
Motto	Munit Haec et Altera Vincit()
Officiallang	English
Regional languages	French, Canadian Gaelic, Gaelic
Flower	Mayflower
Dog	Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever
Tree	Red spruce
Bird	Osprey
Capital	Halifax
Largestcity	Halifax
Largestmetro	Halifax Urban Area
Demonym	Nova Scotian
Premier	Darrell Dexter
Premierparty	NDP
Viceroy	Mayann Francis
Viceroytype	Lieutenant-Governor
Legislature	Nova Scotia House of Assembly
Postalabbreviation	NS
Postalcodeprefix	B
Arearank	12th
Pci	39,092
Totalarea km2	55283
Landarea km2	53338
Waterarea km2	1946
Percentwater	3.5
Populationrank	7th
Population	944,251 (est.)
Populationyear	2011
Densityrank	2nd
Density km2	17.63
Gdp year	2009
Gdp total	C$34.283 billion
Gdp rank	7th
Gdp per capita	C$34,210
Gdp per capita rank	11th
Admittanceorder	1st, with ON, QC, NB
Admittancedate	July 1, 1867
Timezone	UTC-4
Houseseats	11
Senateseats	10
Isocode	CA-NS
Website	www.gov.ns.ca

Nova Scotia (pronounced ; ; ) is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada with an area of . As of 2009, the population is 944,251, which makes Nova Scotia the second-most-densely populated province.

The province includes regions of the Mi'kmaq nation of Mi'kma'ki(mi'gama'gi). Nova Scotia was already home to the Mi'kmaq people when the first European colonists arrived. In 1604, French colonists established the first permanent European settlement in Canada and the first north of Florida at Port Royal, founding what would become known as Acadia.

The British Conquest of Acadia happened in 1710. At this time the capital Port Royal was renamed Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. The capital of Nova Scotia moved from Annapolis Royal to the newly established Halifax in 1749.

In 1763 Cape Breton Island and St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became part of Nova Scotia. In 1769, St. John's Island became a separate colony. Nova Scotia included present-day New Brunswick until that province was established in 1784.

In 1867 Nova Scotia was one of the four founding provinces of the Canadian Confederation. Along with a large population who descended from Scotland, there are also Mi'kmaq, English, Irish, Acadian, African-Nova Scotians, German, Italian and many other peoples in Nova Scotia.

History

Mi'kmaq

The oldest evidence of humans in Nova Scotia indicates the Paleo-Indians were the first, approximately 11,000 years ago. Natives are believed to have been present in the area between 1,000 and 5,000 years ago. Mi'kmaq, the First Nations of the province and region, are their direct descendants.

The first European to arrive here was the Venetian explorer John Cabot who, sailing under the English flag, visited present-day Cape Breton in 1497.

Seventeenth Century

Port Royal established

The first European settlement in Nova Scotia was established more than a century later in 1605. The French, led by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts established the first capital for the colony Acadia at Port Royal. Other than a few trading posts around the province, for the next seventy-five years Port Royal was virtually the only European settlement in Nova Scotia. Port Royal (later renamed Annapolis Royal) remained the capital of Acadia and later Nova Scotia for almost 150 years, prior to the founding of Halifax in 1749.

The first Scottish settlement in the Americas was Nova Scotia (1621). Eight years later, in 1629, Sir William Alexander established the first Scottish settlement at Port Royal. The colony's charter, in law, made Nova Scotia (defined as all land between Newfoundland and New England) a part of mainland Scotland. In 1631, under King Charles I, the Treaty of Suza returned Nova Scotia to the French.

Approximately seventy-five years after Port Royal was founded, Acadians migrated from the capital and established what would become the other major Acadian settlements before the Expulsion of the Acadians: Grand Pré, Chignecto, Cobequid and Pisiguit.

Until the Conquest of Acadia, the English made six attempts to conquer Acadia by defeating the capital. They finally defeated the French in the Siege of Port Royal (1710). Over the following fifty years, the French and their allies made six unsuccessful military attempts to regain the capital.

Civil War

(1745) - d'Aulnay defeats La Tour in Acadia]]

From 1640–1645, Acadia was plunged into what some historians have described as a civil war. The war was between Port Royal, where Governor of Acadia Charles de Menou d'Aulnay de Charnisay was stationed, and present-day Saint John, New Brunswick, where Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour was stationed.

In the war, there were four major battles. La Tour attacked d'Aulnay at Port Royal in 1640. In response to the attack, D'Aulnay sailed out of Port Royal to establish a five month blockade of La Tour's fort at Saint John, which La Tour eventually defeated (1643). La Tour attacked d'Aulnay again at Port Royal in 1643. d'Aulnay and Port Royal ultimately won the war against La Tour with the 1645 siege of Saint John. After d'Aulnay died (1650), La Tour re-established himself in Acadia.

King William's War

There were four colonial wars – the French and Indian Wars – between New England and New France before the British defeated the French in North America. During these wars, Nova Scotia/ Acadia was on the border and experienced many military conflicts. The first colonial war was King William's War.

During King William's War, military conflicts in Nova Scotia included: Battle of Port Royal (1690); Battle at Guysborough; a naval battle in the Bay of Fundy (Action of 14 July 1696); and the Raid on Chignecto (1696). At the end of the war England returned the territory to France in the Treaty of Ryswick.

Eighteenth Century

Queen Anne's War

The second colonial war was Queen Anne's War. During Queen Anne's War, the military conflicts in Nova Scotia included the Raid on Grand Pre, the Siege of Port Royal (1707), the Siege of Port Royal (1710) and the Battle of Bloody Creek (1711).

During Queen Anne's War the Conquest of Acadia was confirmed by the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. At this time the British Empire considered present-day New Brunwick as part of Nova Scotia. France retained possession of Île St Jean (Prince Edward Island) and Île Royale (Cape Breton Island), on which it established a fortress at Louisbourg to guard the sea approaches to Quebec.

Dummer's War

During the escalation that preceded Dummer's War (1722–1725), Mi'kmaq raided the new fort at Canso, Nova Scotia (1720). Under potential siege, in May 1722, Lieutenant Governor John Doucett took 22 Mi'kmaq hostage at Annapolis Royal to prevent the capital from being attacked. In July 1722 the Abenaki and Mi'kmaq created a blockade of Annapolis Royal, with the intent of starving the capital. The natives captured 18 fishing vessels and prisoners from present-day Yarmouth to Canso. They also seized prisoners and vessels from the Bay of Fundy. : Action between HMS Nottingham and the Mars. ]] As a result of the escalating conflict, Massachusetts Governor Samuel Shute officially declared war on the Abenaki on July 22, 1722. The first battle of Dummer's War happened in the Nova Scotia theatre. In response to the blockade of Annapolis Royal, at the end of July 1722, New England launched a campaign to end the blockade and retrieve over 86 New England prisoners taken by the natives. One of these operations resulted in the Battle at Jeddore. The next was a raid on Canso in 1723. Then in July 1724 a group of sixty Mikmaq and Maliseets raided Annapolis Royal.

The treaty that ended the war marked a significant shift in European relations with the Mi'kmaq and Maliseet. For the first time a European Empire formally acknowledged that its dominion over Nova Scotia would have to be negotiated with the region's indigenous inhabitants. The treaty was invoked as recently as 1999 in the Donald Marshall case.

King George's War

The third colonial war was King Georges War. During King Georges War, military conflicts in Nova Scotia included: Raid on Canso; Siege of Annapolis Royal (1744); the Siege of Louisbourg (1745); the Duc d'Anville Expedition and the Battle of Grand Pré. During King Georges War, fortress Louisbourg was captured by American colonial forces in 1745, then returned by the British to France in 1748.

Halifax established

Even after the official war, conflict in Nova Scotia continued on unofficially before the French and Indian War was declared. (One historian has referred to this period of conflict as Father Le Loutre’s War.) Despite the Conquest of Acadia in 1710, Nova Scotia was settled primarily by Catholic Mi'kmaq and Acadians. To prevent the establishment of Protestant settlements in the region, Mi'kmaq raided the early British settlements of present-day Shelburne (1715) and Canso (1720). A generation later, the British firmly established Protestants in the colony by building a new capital Halifax (1749) along with Dartmouth (1750) and Lunenburg (1753). Again, to stop the Protestant migration into Nova Scotia, the Catholics – Acadians and Natives – repeatedly raided the new Protestant settlements (See Raid on Dartmouth (1751) and Raid on Lunenburg (1756)). At this time, Mi'kmaq and Acadians were also involved in the Siege of Grand Pre (1749) and the Mi'kmaq were at the Battle at St. Croix (1750).

French and Indian War

: Raid on Grimrose (present day Gagetown, New Brunswick). This is the only contemporaneous image of the Expulsion of the Acadians]] The forth and final colonial war was the French and Indian War. During the war, military conflicts in Nova Scotia included: Battle of Fort Beauséjour; Bay of Fundy Campaign (1755); the Battle of Petitcodiac; the Raid on Lunenburg (1756); the Louisbourg Expedition (1757); Battle of Bloody Creek (1757); Siege of Louisbourg (1758), Petitcodiac River Campaign, Gulf of St. Lawrence Campaign (1758), St. John River Campaign, and Battle of Restigouche. The British Conquest of Acadia happened in 1710. Over the next forty-five years the Acadians refused to sign an unconditional oath of allegiance to Britain. During this time period Acadians participated in various militia operations against the British and maintained vital supply lines to the French Fortress of Louisbourg and Fort Beausejour.

During the French and Indian War, the British sought to neutralize any military threat Acadians posed and to interrupt the vital supply lines Acadians provided to Louisbourg by deporting Acadians from Acadia.

The British began the Expulsion of the Acadians with the Bay of Fundy Campaign (1755). Over the next nine years over 12,000 Acadians were removed from Nova Scotia.

The war ended and Britain had gained control over the entire Maritime region.

New England Planters

Between 1759 and 1768, about 8,000 New England Planters responded to Governor Charles Lawrence's request for settlers from the New England colonies.

American Revolution

Throughout the war, American privateers devastated the maritime economy by raiding many of the coastal communities. There were constant attacks by American privateers, such as the Raid on Lunenburg (1782), numerous raids on Liverpool, Nova Scotia (October 1776, March 1777, September, 1777, May 1778, September 1780) and a raid on Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia (1781).

American Privateers also raided Canso, Nova Scotia (1775). In 1779, American privateers returned to Canso and destroyed the fisheries, which were worth £50,000 a year to Britain.

To guard against such attacks, the 84th Regiment of Foot (Royal Highland Emigrants) was garrisoned at forts around the Atlantic Canada. Fort Edward (Nova Scotia) in Windsor, Nova Scotia was the Regiment's headquarters to prevent a possible American land assault on Halifax from the Bay of Fundy. There was an American attack on Nova Scotia by land, the Battle of Fort Cumberland.

In 1781, as a result of the Franco-American alliance against Great Britain, there was also a naval engagement with a French fleet at Sydney, Nova Scotia, near Spanish River, Cape Breton.

In 1784 the western, mainland portion of the colony was separated and became the province of New Brunswick, and the territory in Maine entered the control of the newly independent American state of Massachusetts. Cape Breton Island became a separate colony in 1784 only to be returned to Nova Scotia in 1820.

Loyalists

As a result of the British defeat in the American Revolution, approximately 30,000 United Empire Loyalists (American Tories) left the thirteen colonies and settled in Nova Scotia. Of these 30,000, 14,000 went to present-day New Brunswick and 16,000 went to Nova Scotia. Approximately 3,000 of this group were Black Loyalists.

Nineteenth Century

War of 1812

leading the captured American Frigate USS Chesapeake into Halifax Harbour (1813)]] During the War of 1812, Nova Scotia’s contribution to the war effort was communities either purchasing or building various privateer ships to lay siege to American vessels. Three members of the community of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia purchased a privateer schooner and named it Lunenburg on August 8, 1814. The Nova Scotian privateer vessel captured seven American vessels. The Liverpool Packet from Liverpool, Nova Scotia was another Nova Scotia privateer vessel that caught over fifty ships in the war - the most of any privateer in Canada.

Perhaps the most dramatic moment in the war for Nova Scotia was the HMS Shannon's led the captured American Frigate USS Chesapeake into Halifax Harbour (1813). Many of the prisoners were kept at Deadman's Island, Halifax.

Responsible government

Nova Scotia was the first colony in British North America and in the British Empire to achieve responsible government in January–February 1848 and become self-governing through the efforts of Joseph Howe.

American Civil War

Thousands of Nova Scotians fought in the American Civil War (1861–1865), primarily for the North. The British Empire (including Nova Scotia) was declared neutral in the struggle between the North and the South. As a result, Britain (and Nova Scotia) continued to trade with both the South and the North. Nova Scotia’s economy boomed during the civil war. To counter trade with the South, the North created a naval blockade. This blockade created tension between Britain and the North. Many blockade runners made their way back and forth between Halifax and the South. Nova Scotia was the site of two international incidents during the war: the Chesapeake Affair and the escape from Halifax Harbour of Confederate John Taylor Wood on the CSS Tallahassee.

The war left many fearful that the North might attempt to annex British North America, particularly after the Fenian raids began. In response, volunteer regiments were raised across Nova Scotia. One of the main reasons why Britain sanctioned the creation of Canada (1867) was to avoid another possible conflict with America and to leave the defence of Nova Scotia to a Canadian Government.

Anti-Confederation campaign

Pro-Confederate premier Charles Tupper led Nova Scotia into the Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1867, along with New Brunswick and the Province of Canada.

The Anti-Confederation Party was led by Joseph Howe. Almost three months later, in the election of September 18, 1867, the Anti-Confederation Party, won 18 out of 19 federal seats, and 36 out of 38 seats in the provincial legislature. A motion passed by the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in 1868 refusing to recognise the legitimacy of Confederation has never been rescinded. With the great Hants County bi-election of 1869, Howe was successful in turning the province away from appealing confederation to simply seeking "better terms" within it. Repeal, as anti-confederation became known, would rear its head again in the 1880s, and transform into the Maritime Rights Movement in the 1920s. Some Nova Scotia flags flew at half mast on Dominion Day as late as that time.

Golden age of sail

Nova Scotia became a world leader in both building and owning wooden sailing ships in the second half of the century. Nova Scotia produced internationally recognized ship builders Donald McKay and William Dawson Lawrence. The fame Nova Scotia achieved from sailors was assured when Joshua Slocum became the first man to sail single-handedly around the world (1895). This international attention continued into the following century with the many racing victories of the Bluenose schooner.

Nova Scotia was also the birthplace and home of Samuel Cunard, a British shipping magnate, born at Halifax, Nova Scotia, who founded the Cunard Line.

Geography

Nova Scotia is Canada's second-smallest province in area after Prince Edward Island. The province's mainland is the Nova Scotia peninsula surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, including numerous bays and estuaries. Nowhere in Nova Scotia is more than from the ocean. Cape Breton Island, a large island to the northeast of the Nova Scotia mainland, is also part of the province, as is Sable Island, a small island notorious for its shipwrecks, approximately from the province's southern coast.

Climate

Nova Scotia lies in the mid-temperate zone and, although the province is almost surrounded by water, the climate is closer to continental rather than maritime. The temperature extremes of the continental climate are moderated by the ocean.

Described on the provincial vehicle-licence plate as Canada's Ocean Playground, the sea is a major influence on Nova Scotia's climate. Nova Scotia's cold winters and warm summers are modified and generally moderated by ocean influences. The province is surrounded by three major bodies of water, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the north, the Bay of Fundy to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south and east.

While the constant temperature of the Atlantic Ocean moderates the climate of the south and east coasts of Nova Scotia, heavy ice build-up in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence makes winters colder in northern Nova Scotia; the shallowness of the Gulf's waters mean that they warm up more than the Atlantic Ocean in the summer, warming the summers in northern Nova Scotia. Summer officially lasts from the first Sunday in April to the Saturday before the last Sunday in October. Although Nova Scotia has a somewhat moderated climate, there have been some very intense heatwaves and cold snaps recorded over the past 160 years. The highest temperature ever recorded in the province was 38.3 °C (101 °F) on August 19, 1935 at Collegeville, which is located about 15 km southwest of Antigonish. The coldest temperature ever recorded was −41.1 °C (−42 °F) on January 31, 1920 at Upper Stewiacke.

The highest temperature ever recorded in the city of Halifax was 37.2 °C (99 °F) on July 10, 1912, and the lowest was −29.4 °C (−21 °F) on Feb 18th, 1922. For the city of Sydney, the highest temperature ever recorded was 36.7 °C (98 °F) on August 18, 1935, and the lowest was −31.7 °C (−25 °F) on January 31, 1873, and January 29, 1877

Rainfall changes from in the south to elsewhere. Nova Scotia is also very foggy in places, with Halifax averaging 196 foggy days per year and Yarmouth 191.

The average annual temperatures are:

Spring from to Summer from to Fall about to Winter about to

Due to the ocean's moderating effect Nova Scotia is the warmest of the provinces in Canada. It has frequent coastal fog and marked changeability of weather from day to day. The main factors influencing Nova Scotia's climate are:

The effects of the westerly winds

The interaction between three main air masses which converge on the east coast

Nova Scotia's location on the routes of the major eastward-moving storms

The modifying influence of the sea.

Because Nova Scotia juts out into the Atlantic, it is prone to tropical storms and hurricanes in the summer and autumn. However due to the relatively cooler waters off the coast of Nova Scotia, tropical storms are usually weak by the time they reach Nova Scotia. There have been 33 such storms, including 12 hurricanes, since records were kept in 1871 – about once every four years. The last hurricane was category-one Hurricane Earl in September 2010, and the last tropical storm was Tropical Storm Noel in 2007 (downgraded from Hurricane Noel by the time the storm reached Nova Scotia).

Demographics

Population since 1851

Ethnic origins

According to the 2001 Canadian census the largest ethnic group in Nova Scotia is Scottish (29.3%), followed by English (28.1%), Irish (19.9%), French (16.7%), German (10.0%), Dutch (3.9%), First Nations (3.2%), Welsh (1.4%), Italian (1.3%), and Acadian (1.2%). Peoples of European descent thus make up approximately 96.8% of the total population. Almost half of respondents (47.4%) identified their ethnicity as "Canadian".

Language

[[File:Nouvelle-Ecosse langues.png|thumb|Mother tongue in Nova Scotia: Red – majority anglophone, Orange – mixed, Blue – majority francophone.]] The 2006 Canadian census showed a population of 913,462.Of the 899,270 singular responses to the census question concerning 'mother tongue' the most-commonly reported languages were: Harbour]] In addition, there were also 105 responses of both English and a 'non-official language'; 25 of both French and a 'non-official language'; 495 of both English and French; 10 of English, French, and a 'non-official language'; and about 10,300 people who either did not respond to the question, or reported multiple non-official languages, or else gave another unenumerated response. Figures shown are for the number of single language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses.

Religion

The largest denominations by number of adherents according to the 2001 census were the Roman Catholic Church with 327,940 (37 %); the United Church of Canada with 142,520 (16 %); and the Anglican Church of Canada with 120,315 (13 %).

Economy

.]] Nova Scotia's traditionally resource-based economy has become more diverse in recent decades. The rise of Nova Scotia as a viable jurisdiction in North America was driven by the ready availability of natural resources, especially the fish stocks off the Scotian shelf. The fishery was pillar of the economy since its development as part of the economy of New France in the 17th century; however, the fishery suffered a sharp decline due to overfishing in the late twentieth century. The collapse of the cod stocks and the closure of this sector resulted in a loss of approximately 20,000 jobs in 1992. Per capita GDP in 2005 was $31,344, lower than the national average per capita GDP of $34,273 and less than half that of Canada's richest province, Alberta.

Due, in part, to a strong small-business sector, Nova Scotia now has one of the fastest-growing economies in Canada. Mining, especially of gypsum and salt and to a lesser extent silica, peat and barite, is also a significant sector. Since 1991, offshore oil and gas has become an increasingly important part of the economy. Agriculture remains an important sector in the province. In the central part of Nova Scotia, lumber and paper industries are responsible for much of the employment opportunities.

Nova Scotia’s defence and aerospace sector generates approximately $500 million in revenues and contributes about $1.5 billion to the provincial economy annually. To date, 40% of Canada’s military assets reside in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia has the fourth-largest film industry in Canada hosting over 100 productions yearly, more than half of which are the products of international film and television producers. Recently, the video game industry has grown with the emergence of developers such as HB Studios and Silverback Productions. The province made international headlines with an investment by Longtail Studios in 2009.

The Nova Scotia tourism industry includes more than 6,500 direct businesses, supporting nearly 40,000 jobs. 200,000 cruise ship passengers from around the world flow through the Port of Halifax, Nova Scotia each year. This industry contributes approximately $1.3 billion annually to the economy. The province also boasts a rapidly developing Information & Communication Technology (ICT) sector which consists of over 500 companies, and employs roughly 15,000 people. The Life Sciences sector in the province is flourishing; some of the most innovative life sciences companies in the world can be found in Nova Scotia. In 2006, the manufacturing sector brought in over $2.6 billion in chained GDP, the largest output of any industrial sector in Nova Scotia. There are currently over 360 firms in the Insurance Industry of Nova Scotia; there is a forecasted 25% growth in employment for this industry in the province over the next three years.

The average income of a Nova Scotian family is $47,100, ranking close to the national average; for Halifax, the average family income is $58,262, which far surpasses the national average. This, along with the province’s highly affordable real estate, makes Nova Scotia a cost-effective place to live. Halifax ranks among the top five most cost-effective places to do business when compared to large international centres in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Nova Scotia has a number of incentive programs, including tax refunds and credits that work to encourage small business growth. The province is attracting major companies from all over the world that will help fuel the economy and provide jobs; companies like Research in Motion (RIM) and Lockheed Martin have seen the value of Nova Scotia and established branches in the province.

Though only the second smallest province in Canada, Nova Scotia is a recognized exporter. The province is the world’s largest exporter of Christmas trees, lobster, gypsum, and wild berries. Its export value of fish exceeds $1 billion, and fish products are received by 90 countries around the world.

Government and politics

.]] The government of Nova Scotia is a parliamentary democracy. Its unicameral legislature, the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, consists of fifty-two members. As Canada's head of state, Queen Elizabeth II is the head of Nova Scotia's Executive Council, which serves as the Cabinet of the provincial government. Her Majesty's duties in Nova Scotia are carried out by her representative, the Lieutenant-Governor, currently Mayann E. Francis. The government is headed by the Premier, Darrell Dexter, who took office June 19, 2009. Halifax is home to the House of Assembly and Government House, the residence of the Lieutenant-Governor.

The province's revenue comes mainly from the taxation of personal and corporate income, although taxes on tobacco and alcohol, its stake in the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, and oil and gas royalties are also significant. In 2006-07, the province passed a budget of $6.9 billion, with a projected $72 million surplus. Federal equalization payments account for $1.385 billion, or 20.07% of the provincial revenue. While Nova Scotians have enjoyed balanced budgets for years, the accumulated debt exceeds $12 billion (including forecasts of future liability, such as pensions and environmental cleanups), resulting in slightly over $897 million in debt servicing payments, or 12.67% of expenses. The province participates in the HST, a blended sales tax collected by the federal government using the GST tax system.

Nova Scotia has elected three minority governments over the last decade. The Progressive Conservative government of John Hamm, and Rodney MacDonald, has required the support of the New Democratic Party or Liberal Party since the election in 2003. Nova Scotia's politics are divided on regional lines in such a way that it has become difficult to elect a majority government. Rural mainland Nova Scotia has largely been aligned behind the Progressive Conservative Party, Halifax Regional Municipality has overwhelmingly supported the New Democrats, with Cape Breton voting for Liberals with a few Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats. This has resulted in a three-way split of votes on a province-wide basis for each party and difficulty in any party gaining a majority.

The most recent election of June 9, 2009, elected 31 New Democrats, 11 Liberals and 10 Progressive Conservatives resulting in Nova Scotia's first New Democratic government, and first majority government in almost a decade.

Nova Scotia no longer has any incorporated cities; they were amalgamated into Regional Municipalities in 1996. Halifax, the provincial capital, is now part of the Halifax Regional Municipality, as is Dartmouth, formerly the province's second largest city. The former cities of Sydney and Glace Bay are now part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

The House of Assembly passed a motion in 2004 inviting the Turks and Caicos Islands to join the province, should these Caribbean islands renew their wish to join Canada.

Education

The Minister of Education is responsible for the administration and delivery of education, as defined by the Education Act and other acts relating to colleges, universities and private schools. The powers of the Minister and the Department of Education are defined by the Ministerial regulations and constrained by the Governor-In-Council regulations.

Nova Scotia has more than 450 public schools for children. The public system offers primary to Grade 12. There are also private schools in the province. Public education is administered by seven regional school boards, responsible primarily for English instruction and French immersion, and also province-wide by the Conseil Scolaire Acadien Provincial, which administer French instruction to students for whom the primary language is French.

The Nova Scotia Community College system has 13 campuses around the province. The community college, with its focus on training and education, was established in 1988 by amalgamating the province's former vocational schools.

In addition to its community college system the province has 11 universities, including Dalhousie University, University of King's College, Saint Mary's University (Halifax), Mount Saint Vincent University, NSCAD University, Acadia University, Université Sainte-Anne, Saint Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia Agricultural College, Cape Breton University and the Atlantic School of Theology.

There are also more than 90 registered private commercial colleges in Nova Scotia.

Culture

situated on Peggy's Point, immediately south of Peggy's Cove.]] Despite the small population of the province, Nova Scotia's music and culture is influenced by well-established cultural groups, which are sometimes referred to as the "founding cultures".

The entire region comprising the present-day province was originally populated by the Mi'kmaq First Nation. The first European settlers were the French, who founded Acadia in 1604. Nova Scotia was briefly colonized by Scottish settlers in 1620, though by 1624 the Scottish settlers had been removed by treaty and the area was turned over to the French until the mid-18th century. After the defeat of the French and prior expulsion of the Acadians, settlers of English, Irish, Scottish and African descent began arriving on the shores of Nova Scotia.

Settlement was greatly accelerated by the resettlement of Loyalists in Nova Scotia during the period following the end of the American Revolutionary War. It was during this time that a large African Nova Scotian community took root, populated by freed slaves and Loyalist blacks and their families, who had fought for the crown in exchange for land. This community later grew when the Royal Navy began intercepting slave ships destined for the United States, and deposited these free slaves on the shores of Nova Scotia.

Later, in the 19th century the Irish Famine and, especially, the Scottish Highland Clearances resulted in large influxes of migrants with Celtic cultural roots, which helped to define the dominantly Celtic character of Cape Breton and the north mainland of the province. This Gaelic influence continues to play an important role in defining the cultural life of the province and around 500 to 2000 Nova Scotians today are fluent in Scottish Gaelic. Nearly all the population lives in halifax or on Cape Breton Island.

Modern Nova Scotia is a mix of cultures. The government works to support Mi'kmaq, French, Gaelic and African-Nova Scotian culture through the establishment of government secretariats, as well as colleges, educational programs and cultural centres. The province is also eager to attract new immigrants, but has had limited success. The major population centres at Halifax and Sydney are the most cosmopolitan, hosting large Arab populations (in the former) and Eastern European populations (in the latter). Halifax Regional Municipality hosts a yearly multicultural festival.

Arts

Nova Scotia has long been a centre for artistic and cultural excellence. The city hosts such institutions such as Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, and the Symphony Nova Scotia, the only full orchestra performing in Atlantic Canada. The province is home to avant-garde visual art and traditional crafting, writing and publishing and a film industry.

While popular music has experienced almost two decades of explosive growth and success in Nova Scotia, the province remains best known for its folk and traditional based music. Nova Scotia's traditional (or folk) music is Scottish in character, and traditions from Scotland are kept true to form, in some cases more so than in Scotland. This is especially true with Cape Breton Island, a major international centre for Celtic music.

See also

*

Scotia

The Gaelic Language in Canada

Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Regional Municipality

Halifax Regional Municipality

Sable Island

Bay of Fundy - renowned for having the world's highest tides

Kejimkujik National Park

Symbols of Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia House of Assembly

Same-sex marriage in Nova Scotia

Petroleum Pricing in Nova Scotia

Scouting in Nova Scotia

Emergency Health Services in Nova Scotia

Central Nova Tourist Association

Goler clan

Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron

Lists:

List of Nova Scotia rivers

List of airports in Nova Scotia

List of articles on Nova Scotia by topic

List of renowned Nova Scotians

List of Nova Scotia schools

List of parks in Nova Scotia

List of Nova Scotia counties

List of communities in Nova Scotia

List of colleges and universities in Nova Scotia

List of Nova Scotia lieutenant-governors

List of Nova Scotia premiers

List of Nova Scotia provincial highways

List of Canadian provincial and territorial symbols

Notes

Bibliography

Landry, Peter. The Lion & The Lily. Vol. 1, Trafford Publishing, Victoria, B.C., 2007. (ISBN 1425154506)

Grenier, John. The Far Reaches of Empire. War in Nova Scotia, 1710-1760. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 2008. (ISBN 9780806138763

Murdoch, Beamish. History of Nova Scotia, Or Acadie. Vol 2. BiblioBazaar, LaVergne, TN, 1865.

Thomas Akins. History of Halifax, Brookhouse Press. 1895. (2002 edition) (ISBN 1141698536)

Brebner, John Bartlet. New England's Outpost. Acadia before the Conquest of Canada (1927)

Brebner, John Bartlet. The Neutral Yankees of Nova Scotia: A Marginal Colony During the Revolutionary Years (1937)

Griffiths, Naomi. E. S. From Migrant to Acadian, 1604-1755: A North American Border People. Montreal and Kingston, McGill / Queen's University Press, 2004.

Pryke, Kenneth G. Nova Scotia and Confederation, 1864-74 (1979) (ISBN 0-8020-5389-0)

External links

;Official links

Government of Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia – Come To life (Main gateway website for tourism, immigration, business, etc. links)

Tourism Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia Provincial Parks

;Other links

Coastal Communities Network current issues and community profiles, coastal information, community development

Photographs of War Memorials & Historic Monuments in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia Archives

Category:Nova Scotia Category:Provinces and territories of Canada Category:Former British colonies Category:British North America Category:Former Scottish colonies Category:Acadia Category:States and territories established in 1867 Category:Conflicts in Nova Scotia

Honorific-prefix	The Honourable
Name	Rodney Joseph MacDonald
Honorific-suffix	BSc
Smallimage	Rodneyconvention001.JPG
Birth date	January 02, 1972
Birth place	Mabou, Nova Scotia
Resides	Mabou, Nova Scotia
Order1	26th
Office1	Premier of Nova Scotia
Term start1	February 22, 2006
Term end1	June 19, 2009
Lieutenant governor1	Myra Freeman, Mayann E. Francis
Predecessor1	John Hamm
Successor1	Darrell Dexter
Office2	MLA for Inverness
Term start2	1999
Term end2	September 10, 2009
Predecessor2	Charles MacDonald
Successor2	Allan MacMaster
Party	Progressive Conservative
Religion	Roman Catholic
Spouse	Lori-Ann MacDonald

Rodney Joseph MacDonald, (born January 2, 1972) is a Canadian politician, educator and musician who served as the 26th Premier of Nova Scotia from 2006 to 2009 and as MLA for the riding of Inverness in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1999 to 2009.

Background

MacDonald is a graduate of St. Francis Xavier University and received a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education while continuing to build a career as a professional musician. MacDonald has taught for the Strait Regional School Board, the Mi'kmawey School at Chapel Island and pursued graduate studies in education.

In 1994, he married Lori-Ann Gillis. They have one son, Ryan born in 1997

Music career

MacDonald is an accomplished musician and has toured his fiddle music throughout Atlantic Canada, Central Canada and the northeastern United States. He is also an accomplished step dancer; he began dancing at age four after learning the skill from his parents. MacDonald's first public performance was reportedly at age eight at the Mayflower Shopping Mall in Sydney and he began taking fiddle lessons from his uncle, Kinnon Beaton, at age 12. MacDonald has recorded two albums - Dancer's Delight (1996) and Traditionally Rockin' (1997, with his cousin Glenn Graham) and he was also included on the 2004 Smithsonian release The Beaton Family of Mabou: Cape Breton Fiddle and Piano Music. In 1998 he received two nominations for the East Coast Music Awards. He was also vice-president of GlennRod Music Incorporated.

Political career

MacDonald was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia in the 1999 provincial election, representing the riding of Inverness in western Cape Breton Island. He was re-elected in 2003. He served in John Hamm's cabinet with various ministerial portfolios including Tourism, Culture & Heritage, Health Promotion, and Immigration. He was also responsible for the Heritage Property Act, Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation Act, and the Nova Scotia Youth Secretariat.

Following Premier John Hamm's September, 2005 announcement of his intention to retire, MacDonald committed to running for the leadership of the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Party. The leadership race culminated in MacDonald winning the party's leadership on a second ballot on February 11, 2006. He was sworn in as Premier of Nova Scotia on February 24, succeeding Hamm. MacDonald was the second youngest premier in Nova Scotia's history.

In May 2006, after a short session, MacDonald dissolved the legislature, calling an election for June 13, 2006. MacDonald's Progressive Conservatives won a minority government in the 2006 general election and MacDonald retained his seat.

On May 4, 2009 MacDonald's government lost a confidence vote; as a result, a provincial election was called for June 9, 2009 to elect the next government. Although MacDonald was personally re-elected in the riding of Inverness, the Progressive Conservatives lost the election to the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party, led by Darrell Dexter.

MacDonald stepped down as Nova Scotia PC Leader on June 24, 2009. He announced on August 5, 2009 that he will be resigning his seat in the legislature before the fall session begins. He officially resigned on September 10, 2009.

Life after politics

After resigning as the MLA for Inverness, MacDonald resumed his musical career. He also invested in Ceilidh Cottages, a campground located in West Mabou, Nova Scotia. In June 2010, MacDonald was appointed to the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum board.

References

External links

Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian people of Scottish descent Category:Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia MLAs Category:Premiers of Nova Scotia Category:People from Inverness County, Nova Scotia Category:Cape Breton fiddlers Category:Nova Scotia political party leaders

Name	David Letterman
Caption	Speaking at the opening of the Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute (September 2009)
Pseudonym	Earl Hofert
Birth name	David Michael Letterman
Birth date	April 12, 1947
Birth place	Indianapolis, Indiana
Notable work	Host of Late Night with David Letterman (NBC)Host of Late Show with David Letterman (CBS)
Signature	David Letterman Autograph.svg

}} David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC. Only Letterman's friend and mentor Johnny Carson has had a longer late-night hosting career. was a florist; his mother Dorothy Letterman (née Hofert, now Dorothy Mengering), a Presbyterian church secretary of German descent, is an occasional figure on the show, usually at holidays and birthdays. He has an older sister Janice and a younger sister Gretchen.

Letterman lived on the north side of Indianapolis (Broad Ripple area), not far from Speedway, IN, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and he enjoyed collecting model cars, including racers. In 2000, he told an interviewer for Esquire that, while growing up, he admired his father's ability to tell jokes and be the life of the party. Harry Joseph Letterman survived a heart attack at age 36, when David was a young boy. The fear of losing his father was constantly with Letterman as he grew up. The elder Letterman died of a second heart attack at age 57.

Letterman attended his hometown's Broad Ripple High School at the same time as Marilyn Tucker Quayle (wife of the former Vice President) who lived nearby, and worked as a stock boy at the local Atlas supermarket. According to the Ball State Daily News, he originally had wanted to attend Indiana University, but his grades weren't good enough, so he decided to attend Ball State University, in Muncie, Indiana. He is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, and he graduated from what was then the Department of Radio and Television, in 1969. A self-described average student, Letterman endowed a scholarship for what he called "C students" at Ball State.

Though he registered for the draft and passed his physical after graduating from College, he avoided military service in Vietnam due to receiving a draft lottery number of 352 (out of 365).

Letterman began his broadcasting career as an announcer and newscaster at the college's student-run radio station—WBST—a 10-watt campus station which now is part of Indiana public radio. He was fired for treating classical music with irreverence.

Letterman credits Paul Dixon—host of the Paul Dixon Show, a Cincinnati-based talk show also shown in Indianapolis while Letterman was growing up—for inspiring his choice of career: :"I was just out of college [in 1969], and I really didn't know what I wanted to do. And then all the sudden I saw him doing it [on TV]. And I thought: That's really what I want to do!"

Weatherman

Letterman began his career as a radio talk show host on WNTS (AM), and on Indianapolis television station WLWI (now called WTHR) as a local anchor and weatherman. He received some recognition for his unpredictable on-air behavior, which included congratulating a tropical storm for being upgraded to a hurricane and predicting hail stones "the size of canned hams." (To this day he occasionally gives out canned hams on his show). He would also occasionally report the weather and the day's very high and low temps for fictitious cities ("Eight inches of snow in Bingree and surrounding areas."). He also starred in a local kiddie show, made wisecracks as host of a late night TV show called "Freeze-Dried Movies" (he once acted out a scene from "Godzilla" using plastic dinosaurs), and hosted a talk show that aired early on Saturday mornings called "Clover Power," in which he interviewed 4-H members about their projects.

In 1971, Letterman appeared as a pit road reporter for ABC Sports' tape-delayed coverage of the Indianapolis 500.

Move to Los Angeles

In 1975, encouraged by his then-wife Michelle and several of his Sigma Chi fraternity brothers, Letterman moved to Los Angeles, California, with hope of becoming a comedy writer. He started off by writing material for comedian Jimmie Walker. He also began performing stand-up comedy at The Comedy Store, a famed comedy club and proving ground for young comics.

Letterman appeared in the summer of 1977 on the short-lived Starland Vocal Band Show. He has since joked about how fortunate he was that nobody would ever see his performance on the program (due to its low ratings).

Letterman had a stint as a cast member on Mary Tyler Moore's variety show, Mary; a guest appearance on Mork & Mindy (as a parody of EST leader Werner Erhard); and appearances on game shows such as The $20,000 Pyramid, The Gong Show, Password Plus and Liar's Club. He also hosted a 1977 pilot for a game show entitled The Riddlers that was never picked up. His dry, sarcastic humor caught the attention of scouts for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and Letterman was soon a regular guest on the show. Letterman became a favorite of Carson's and was a regular guest host for the show beginning in 1978. Letterman personally credits Carson as the person who influenced his career the most.

NBC

Morning show

On June 23, 1980, Letterman was given his own morning comedy show on NBC, The David Letterman Show. It was originally 90 minutes long, but was shortened to 60 minutes in August. The show was a critical success, winning two Emmy Awards, but was a ratings disappointment and was canceled in October 1980.

Late Night with David Letterman

NBC kept Letterman under contract to try him in a different time slot. Late Night with David Letterman debuted February 1, 1982; the first guest on the first show was Bill Murray. The show ran weeknights at 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time, immediately following The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. It was seen as being edgy and unpredictable, and soon developed a cult following (particularly among college students). Letterman's reputation as an interviewer was borne out in verbal sparring matches with Cher (who even called him an asshole on the show), Shirley MacLaine, Charles Grodin, and Madonna. The show also featured inventive comedy segments and running characters, in a style heavily influenced by the 1950s and '60s programs of Steve Allen. Although Ernie Kovacs is often cited as an influence on the show, Letterman has denied this. In the final months of his first stint as host of The Tonight Show, Leno beat Letterman in the ratings by a 1.3 million viewer margin (5.2 million to 3.9 million), and Nightline and The Late Show were virtually tied. Once O'Brien took over Tonight, however, Letterman closed the gap in the ratings. O'Brien initially drove the median age of Tonight Show viewers from 55 to 45, with most older viewers opting to watch The Late Show instead.

Letterman's shows have garnered both critical and industry praise, receiving 67 Emmy Award nominations, winning twelve times in his first 20 years in late night television. From 1993–2009, Letterman ranked higher than Leno in the annual Harris Poll of Nation's Favorite TV Personality twelve times. Leno was higher than Letterman on that poll three times during the same period, in 1998, 2007, and 2008.

Hosting the Academy Awards

On March 27, 1995, Letterman acted as the host for the 67th Academy Awards ceremony. Critics blasted Letterman for what they deemed a poor hosting of the Oscars, noting that his irreverent style undermined the traditional importance and glamor of the event. In a joke about their unusual names (inspired by a similar joke by Woody Allen), he started off by introducing Uma Thurman to Oprah Winfrey, and then the both of them to Keanu Reeves: "Uma...Oprah! Oprah...Uma! Oprah, Uma...Keanu!" This and many of his other jokes fell flat. Although Letterman attracted the highest ratings to the annual telecast since 1983, many felt that the bad publicity garnered by Letterman's hosting caused a decline in the Late Show's ratings.

Letterman recycled the apparent debacle into a long-running gag. On his first show after the Oscars, he joked, "Looking back, I had no idea that thing was being televised." He lampooned his stint in the following year, during Billy Crystal's opening Oscar skit, which also parodied the plane-crashing scenes from that year's chief nominated film, The English Patient.

For years afterward, Letterman recounted his horrible hosting at the Oscars, although the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences still holds Letterman in high regard and it has been rumored they have asked him to host the Oscars again. On September 7, 2010, he made an appearance on the premier of the 14th season of The View, and confirmed the rumors.

Heart surgery hiatus

On January 14, 2000, a routine check-up revealed that an artery in Letterman's heart was severely constricted. He was rushed to emergency surgery for a quintuple bypass.

During the initial weeks of his recovery, reruns of the Late Show were shown and introduced by friends of Letterman including Drew Barrymore, including Dr. O. Wayne Isom and physician Louis Aronne, who frequently appears on the show. In a show of emotion, Letterman was nearly in tears as he thanked the health care team with the words "These are the people who saved my life!" The episode earned an Emmy nomination. For a number of episodes, Letterman continued to crack jokes about his bypass, including saying, "Bypass surgery: it's when doctors surgically create new blood flow to your heart. A bypass is what happened to me when I didn't get The Tonight Show! It's a whole different thing." In a later running gag he lobbied his home state of Indiana to rename the freeway circling Indianapolis (I-465) "The David Letterman Bypass." He also featured a montage of faux news coverage of his bypass surgery, which included a clip of Dave's heart for sale on the Home Shopping Network. Letterman became friends with his doctors and nurses. In 2008, a Rolling Stone interview stated "he hosted a doctor and nurse who'd helped perform the emergency quintuple-bypass heart surgery that saved his life in 2000. 'These are people who were complete strangers when they opened my chest,' he says. 'And now, eight years later, they're among my best friends.' "

Additionally, Letterman invited the band Foo Fighters to play "Everlong", introducing them as "my favorite band, playing my favorite song." During a later Foo Fighters appearance, Letterman said that Foo Fighters had been in the middle of a South American tour which they canceled to come play on his comeback episode.

Letterman again handed over the reins of the show to several guest hosts (including Bill Cosby, Brad Garrett, Elvis Costello, John McEnroe, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell, Bonnie Hunt, Luke Wilson and bandleader Paul Shaffer) in February 2003, when he was diagnosed with a severe case of shingles. Later that year, Letterman made regular use of guest hosts—including Tom Arnold and Kelsey Grammer—for new shows broadcast on Fridays. In March 2007, Adam Sandler—who had been scheduled to be the lead guest—served as a guest host while Letterman was ill with a stomach virus.

Re-signing with CBS

In March 2002, as Letterman's contract with CBS neared expiration, ABC offered him the time slot for long-running news program Nightline with Ted Koppel. Letterman was interested as he believed he could never match Leno's ratings at CBS due to weaker lead-ins from the network's late local news programs, but was reluctant to replace Koppel. Letterman addressed his decision to re-sign on the air, stating that he was content at CBS and that he had great respect for Koppel.

On December 4, 2006, CBS revealed that David Letterman signed a new contract to host The Late Show with David Letterman through the fall of 2010. "I'm thrilled to be continuing on at CBS," said Letterman. "At my age you really don't want to have to learn a new commute." Letterman further joked about the subject by pulling up his right pants leg, revealing a tattoo, presumably temporary, of the ABC logo.

"Thirteen years ago, David Letterman put CBS late night on the map and in the process became one of the defining icons of our network," said Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Corporation. "His presence on our air is an ongoing source of pride, and the creativity and imagination that the Late Show puts forth every night is an ongoing display of the highest quality entertainment. We are truly honored that one of the most revered and talented entertainers of our time will continue to call CBS 'home.'"

According to a 2007 article in Forbes magazine, Letterman earned $40 million a year. A 2009 article in The New York Times, however, said his salary was estimated at $32 million per year.

In June 2009, Letterman and CBS reached agreement to extend his contract to host The Late Show until August 2012. His previous contract had been set to expire in 2010. thus allowing his show to come back on air on January 2, 2008. On his first episode since being off air, he surprised the viewing audience with his newly grown beard, which signified solidarity with the strike. His beard was shaved off during the show on January 7, 2008.

Letterman and Carson

NBC's decision to select Jay Leno and not Letterman to succeed Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show was an embarrassment to Carson, who had all but promised the succession to Letterman. Letterman maintained a close relationship with Carson through his break with NBC. Three years after he left for CBS, HBO produced a made-for-television movie called The Late Shift, based on a book by New York Times reporter Bill Carter, chronicling the battle between Letterman and Leno for the coveted Tonight Show hosting spot. Letterman would mock the film for months afterward, specifically on how the actor playing him, John Michael Higgins, did not resemble him in the least. ("They took a guy who looked nothing like me and with make-up and special camera angles, turned him into a guy who looked nothing like me, with red hair.")

Carson later made a few cameo appearances as a guest on Letterman's show. Carson's final television appearance came May 13, 1994 on a Late Show episode taped in Los Angeles, when he made a surprise appearance during a 'Top 10 list' segment. The audience went wild as Letterman stood up and proudly invited Carson to sit at his desk. The applause was so protracted that Carson was unable to say anything, and he finally returned backstage as the applause continued (it was later explained that Carson had laryngitis, though Carson can be heard talking to Letterman during his appearance).

In early 2005, it was revealed that Carson still kept up with current events and late-night TV right up to his death that year, and that he occasionally sent jokes to Letterman, who used these jokes in his monologue; according to CBS senior vice president Peter Lassally (a onetime producer for both men), Carson got "a big kick out of it." Letterman would do a characteristic Johnny Carson golf swing after delivering one of Carson's jokes. In a tribute to Carson, all of the opening monologue jokes during the first show following Carson's death were written by Carson.

Lassally also claimed that Carson had always believed Letterman, not Leno, to be his "rightful successor." Letterman also frequently employs some of Carson's trademark bits on his show, including "Carnac the Magnificent" (with Paul Shaffer as Carnac), "Stump the Band" and the "Week in Review."

Letterman and Oprah Winfrey

On September 10, 2007, Letterman made his first appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He shared pictures of his son and live-in girlfriend. The so-called feud between Letterman and Winfrey apparently ended in 2005 when Winfrey appeared on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman on December 2, in an event Letterman jokingly referred to as "the Super Bowl of Love". Oprah had previously appeared on Letterman's show when he was hosting NBC's Late Night on May 2, 1989.

Winfrey and Letterman also appeared together in a Late Show promo that aired during CBS's coverage of Super Bowl XLI in February 2007, with the two sitting next to each other on the couch watching the game. Since the game was played between the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears, the Indianapolis-born Letterman wears a Peyton Manning jersey, while Winfrey—who tapes her show in Chicago—is in a Brian Urlacher jersey. Three years later, during CBS's coverage of Super Bowl XLIV, the two appeared again, this time with Winfrey sitting on a couch between Letterman and Jay Leno. The appearance was Letterman's idea: Leno flew to New York City in an NBC corporate jet, sneaking into the Ed Sullivan Theater during the Late Show's February 4 taping wearing a disguise, meeting Winfrey and Letterman at a living room set created in the theater's balcony where they taped their promo.

Other projects

Worldwide Pants

Letterman started his own production company—Worldwide Pants Incorporated—which produced his show and several others, including Everybody Loves Raymond , The Late Late Show, and several critically-acclaimed, but short-lived television series for Bonnie Hunt. Worldwide Pants also produced the dramedy program Ed, which aired on NBC from 2000–2004. It was Letterman's first association with NBC since he left the network in 1993. During Ed's run, the star, Tom Cavanagh, appeared as a guest on The Late Show several times.

In 2005, Worldwide Pants produced its first feature film, Strangers with Candy, which was a prequel to the Comedy Central TV series of the same title. In 2007, Worldwide Pants produced the ABC comedy series, Knights of Prosperity.

Worldwide Pants made significant news in December 2007 when it was announced that Letterman's company had independently negotiated its own contract with the Writers Guild of America, East, thus allowing Letterman, Craig Ferguson, and their writers to return to work, while the union continued its strike against production companies, networks and studios who had not reached an agreement.

Rahal Letterman Racing

Rahal Letterman Racing (RLR) is an auto racing team that currently races in the American Le Mans Series, and part-time in the Indy Racing League. It is co-owned by 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal and Letterman himself, and is based in Hilliard, Ohio. The team won the 2004 Indianapolis 500 with driver Buddy Rice. Letterman was a pit reporter for ABC in the 1971 Indianapolis 500. The $21 million, David Letterman Communication and Media Building opened for the 2007 Fall semester. It features state-of-the-art recording equipment and facilities. Thousands of Ball State students, faculty, and local residents welcomed Letterman back to Indiana. Letterman's emotional speech touched on his struggles as a college student and his late father, and also included the "top ten good things about having your name on a building."

Letterman received the honor for his dedication to the university throughout his career as a comedian. Letterman finished with, "If reasonable people can put my name on a $21 million building, anything is possible."

Letterman also received a Sagamore of the Wabash from Governor Mitch Daniels.

Record company

In late April 2010, several music industry websites reported that David Letterman started a record label named Clear Entertainment/C.E. Music and signed his first artist, Runner Runner. Lucy Walsh announced on her myspace page that she has been signed by David Letterman and Clear Entertainment/C.E. Music and is working on her album.

Appearances in other media

Letterman appeared in issue 239 of the Marvel comic book The Avengers, in which the title characters are guests on Late Night. A parody of Letterman, called "David Endocrine", is gassed to death along with his bandleader named "Paul" and their audience in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns.

Letterman provided vocals for the Warren Zevon song "Hit Somebody" from My Ride's Here, and provided the voice for Butt-head's father in the 1996 animated film, Beavis and Butt-head Do America. He also had a cameo in the feature film Cabin Boy, with Chris Elliott, who worked as a writer on Letterman's show. In this and other appearances, Letterman is listed in the credits as "Earl Hofert", the name of Letterman's maternal grandfather. He also appeared as himself in the Howard Stern biopic Private Parts as well as the 1999 Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon, in a few episodes of Garry Shandling's 1990s TV series The Larry Sanders Show and in "The Abstinence", a 1996 episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. Letterman also appeared in the pilot episode of the short-lived 1986 series "Coach Toast".

Personal life

Marriages and long-term relationships

In 1969, Letterman married Michelle Cook; the marriage ended by divorce in 1977. He also had a long-term relationship with former head writer and producer on Late Night, Merrill Markoe. In fact, Markoe was the mind behind several Late Night staples, such as "Stupid Pet/Human Tricks".

Letterman has a son, Harry Joseph Letterman (born in 2003), with Regina Lasko. Harry is named after Letterman's father. In 2005, police discovered a plot to kidnap Harry Letterman and ransom him for $5 million. Kelly Frank, a house painter who had worked for Letterman, was charged in the conspiracy.

Letterman and Lasko, who had been together since 1986, wed during a quiet courthouse civil ceremony in Choteau, Montana, on March 19, 2009. Letterman announced the marriage during the taping of his March 23 show, shortly after congratulating Bruce Willis for getting married the previous week. Letterman told the audience he nearly missed the ceremony because his truck became stuck in mud two miles from their house. The family resides in North Salem, New York, on a estate.

Stalking incidents

Beginning in May 1988, Letterman was stalked by Margaret Mary Ray, a woman suffering from schizophrenia. Letterman occasionally referenced her in his show, although not by name. She committed suicide in 1998. Letterman publicly expressed sympathy upon her death.

Extortion attempt and revelation of affairs

On his October 1, 2009 show, Letterman announced that he had been the victim of an extortion attempt by someone threatening to reveal that he had had sex with several of his female employees. He confirmed the relationships.

Letterman stated that three weeks earlier (on September 9, 2009) someone had left a package in his car with material he said he would write into a screenplay and a book if Letterman did not pay him $2 million. Letterman said that he contacted the Manhattan District Attorney's office, ultimately cooperating with them to conduct a sting operation involving giving the man a phony check. The extortionist, Robert J. "Joe" Halderman, a producer of the CBS true crime journalism series 48 Hours, was subsequently arrested after trying to deposit the check. He was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury and pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted grand larceny on October 2, 2009. Birkitt had until recently lived with Halderman, who is alleged to have copied Birkitt's personal diary and to have used it, along with private emails, in the blackmail package.

On October 3, 2009, a former CBS employee, Holly Hester, announced that she and Letterman had engaged in a year-long "secret" affair in the early 1990s while she was his intern and a student at New York University.

In the days following the initial announcement of the affairs and the arrest, several prominent women, including Kathie Lee Gifford, co-host of NBC's Today Show, and NBC news anchor Ann Curry questioned whether Letterman's affairs with subordinates created an unfair working environment. A spokesman for Worldwide Pants said that the company's sexual harassment policy did not prohibit sexual relationships between managers and employees. According to business news reporter Eve Tahmincioglu, "CBS suppliers are supposed to follow the company's business conduct policies" and the CBS 2008 Business Conduct Statement states that "If a consenting romantic or sexual relationship between a supervisor and a direct or indirect subordinate should develop, CBS requires the supervisor to disclose this information to his or her Company's Human Resources Department..."

On October 5, 2009, Letterman devoted a segment of his show to a public apology to his wife and staff. Three days later, Worldwide Pants announced that Birkitt had been placed on a "paid leave of absence" from the Late Show. On October 15, CBS News announced that the company's Chief Investigative Correspondent, Armen Keteyian, had been assigned to conduct an "in-depth investigation" into Halderman's blackmail of Letterman.

On March 9, 2010, Halderman pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny and served a 6-month jail sentence, followed by probation and community service.

Awards

In his capacities as either a writer, producer, performer, or as part of a writing team, David Letterman is among the most nominated people in Emmy Award history with 52 nominations, winning two Daytime Emmys and five Primetime Emmys since 1981. His nomination record is second only to producer Jac Venza, who holds the record for the most Emmy nominations for an individual (57). Letterman has been nominated every year since 1984, when he first appeared on late night television as the host of Late Night with David Letterman. Additionally, he has won four American Comedy Awards.

References

External links

David Letterman's Feb. 24, 1978 appearance on 90 Minutes Live

Official Late Show biography

1999 article on Letterman from Salon.com

Tape of Letterman announcing affairs/extortion attempt on Late Show

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:American people of German descent Category:American television talk show hosts Category:Ball State University alumni Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Indianapolis, Indiana television anchors Category:Indy Racing League owners Category:People from Indianapolis, Indiana Category:Weather presenters