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Year 1776 (MDCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Friday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar.

Events[link]

January 10: Common Sense published

January–February[link]

• January 15 – Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense.^[1]
• January 20 – American Revolution: South Carolina Loyalists led by Robert Cunningham sign a petition from prison agreeing to all demands for peace by the formed state government of South Carolina.
• January 24 – American Revolution: Henry Knox arrives at Cambridge, Massachusetts with the artillery that he has transported from Fort Ticonderoga
• February 17 – Edward Gibbon publishes the first volume of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
• February 27 – American Revolution: Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge: North Carolina Loyalists charge across Moore's Creek bridge near Wilmington to attack what they mistakenly believe to be a small force of rebels. Several loyalist leaders are killed in the ensuing battle. The patriot victory virtually ends all British authority in the town.

March–April[link]

• March 4 – The American Revolution: The Americans capture "Dorchester Heights" dominating the port of Boston, Massachusetts.
• March 9 – Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations.
• March 17 – American Revolution: Threatened by Patriot cannons on Dorchester Heights, the British evacuate Boston.
• March 28 – Juan Bautista de Anza finds the site for the Presidio of San Francisco.
• April 12 – American Revolution: The Royal Colony of North Carolina produces the Halifax Resolves making it the first British colony to officially authorize its Continental Congress delegates to vote for independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

May–June[link]

• May 1 – Adam Weishaupt founds the Bavarian Illuminati (Order of the Illuminati) in Ingolstadt, Bavaria.
• May 4 – Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III of Great Britain.
• June 7 – American Revolution: Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposes to the Continental Congress that "these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states."
• June 8 – American Revolution: Battle of Trois-Rivières: American invaders are driven back at Trois-Rivières, Quebec.
• June 11 – American Revolution: The Continental Congress appoints a committee to draft the Declaration of Independence.
• June 12 – American Revolution: Virginia Declaration of Rights by George Mason adopted by the Virginia Convention of Delegates.
• June 15 – American Revolution: Delaware Separation Day: The Delaware General Assembly votes to suspend government under the British Crown.
• June 17 – Lt. Jose Joaquin Moraga leads a band of colonists from Monterey Presidio, landing on June 29 and constructing the Mission Dolores of the new Presidio of San Francisco.

July–August[link]

• July 2 – American Revolution: The final (despite minor revisions) U.S. Declaration of Independence is written. The Continental Congress passes the Lee Resolution.
• July 4 – American Revolution: United States Declaration of Independence. United States officially declares independence from the British Empire.

July 4: American Declaration of Independence.

• July 8 – American Revolution: The Liberty Bell rings for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.
• July 9 – American Revolution: An angry mob in New York City topples the equestrian statue of George III in Bowling Green.
• July 12 – Captain James Cook sets off from Plymouth England on his third, and fatal, expedition to the Pacific Ocean.
• July 21 – Mozart's celebrated Haffner Serenade is first performed in Salzburg, Austria
• August 2 – Most of the American colonies ratify the Declaration of Independence
• August 15 – American Revolution: First Hessian troops land on Staten Island to join British forces.
• August 27 – American Revolution: Battle of Long Island: Washington's troops routed in Brooklyn by British under William Howe.

September–October[link]

• September – First running of the St. Leger Stakes horse race in England.
• September 6 – Hurricane hits Guadeloupe, killing more than 6000.
• September 7 – American Revolution: World's first submarine attack. American submersible craft Turtle attempts to attach a time bomb to the hull of British Admiral Richard Howe's flagship HMS Eagle in New York Harbor.
• September 11 – American Revolution: abortive peace conference between British and Americans on Staten Island.
• September 15 – American Revolution: British land on Manhattan at Kip's Bay.

September 22: British hang spy Nathan Hale in New York City.

• September 16 – American Revolution: Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.
• September 22 – American Revolution: Nathan Hale executed in New York City for espionage.
• October 7 – Crown Prince Paul of Russia marries Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.
• October 9 – Father Francisco Palou founds Mission San Francisco de Asis in what is now San Francisco, California.
• October 11 – American Revolution: Battle of Valcour Island: On Lake Champlain near Valcour Island, a British fleet led by Sir Guy Carleton defeats 15 American gunboats commanded by Brigadier General Benedict Arnold. Although nearly all of Arnold's ships are destroyed, the two day-long battle will give Patriot forces enough time to prepare defenses of New York City.
• October 28 – American Revolution: Battle of White Plains: British forces arrive at White Plains, attack and capture Chatterton Hill from the Americans.
• October 31 – In his first speech before British Parliament since the Declaration of Independence that summer, King George III acknowledges that all is not going well for Britain in the war with the United States.

November–December[link]

• November 16 – American Revolution: Hessian mercenaries under Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Knyphausen capture Fort Washington from the American Continentals. The captain of the American navy ship USS Andrea Doria fired a salute to the Dutch flag on Fort Oranje and Johannes de Graeff decided to answer the salute with eleven gun shots.^[2]
• December 5 – The Phi Beta Kappa society is founded at the College of William and Mary.
• December 7 – American Revolution: Marquis de Lafayette attempts to enter the American military as a major general.
• December 21 – American Revolution: The Royal Colony of North Carolina reorganizes into the State of North Carolina after adopting its own constitution. Richard Caswell becomes the first governor of the newly formed state.
• December 23 – American Revolution: Thomas Paine, living with Washington's troops, begins publishing The American Crisis, containing the stirring phrase, "These are the times that try men's souls."
• December 25 – American Revolution: Gen. George Washington orders the first issue of The Crisis read to his troops on Christmas Eve, then at 6 p.m. all 2600 of them march to McKonkey's Ferry, cross the Delaware River and land on the Jersey bank at 3 a.m.
• December 26 – American Revolution: Battle of Trenton: Washington's troops surprise the 1500 Hessian troops under the command of Col. Johann Rall at 8 a.m. outside Trenton and score a victory, taking 948 prisoners while suffering only 5 wounded.

Births[link]

• January 24 – E.T.A. Hoffmann, German writer, composer, and painter (d. 1822)
• February 11 – Joannis Capodistrias, Greek governor of Troezen (d. 1831)
• March 10 – Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Prussia (d. 1810)
• April 1 – Sophie Germain, French mathematician (d. 1831)
• May 20 – Simon Fraser, Canadian explorer (d. 1862)
• June 11 – John Constable, English painter (d. 1837)
• June 28 – Charles Mathews, English Theatre actor (D. 1835)
• July 4 – Per Aron Borg, sign language creator (d. 1839)
• August 9 – Amedeo Avogadro, Italian chemist (d. 1856)
• December 27 – Nikolay Kamensky, Russian general (d. 1811)
• December 31 – Johann Spurzheim, German physician (d. 1832)
• date unknown
  • Muthuswami Dikshitar, Indian composer (d. 1835)
  • Jane Porter, English novelist (d. 1850)

Deaths[link]

• March 10
  • Élie Catherine Fréron, French critic (b. 1719)
  • Niclas Sahlgren, Swedish merchant and philanthropist (b. 1701)
• March 24 – John Harrison, English clockmaker (b. 1693)
• March 26 – Samuel Ward, American politician (b. 1725)
• April 29 – Edward Wortley Montagu, English traveler and writer (b. 1713)
• May 4 – Jacques Saly, French sculptor (b. 1717)
• June 10 – Leopold Widhalm, Austrian luthier (b. 1722)
• June 20 – Benjamin Huntsman, English inventor and manufacturer (b. 1704)
• July 7 – Jeremiah Markland, English classical scholar (b. 1693)
• July 10 – Richard Peters, English-born clergyman (b. 1704)
• August 1 – Francis Salvador, American patriot (b. 1747)
• August 2 – Louis François I, Prince of Conti, French military leader (b. 1717)
• August 25 – David Hume, Scottish philosopher (b. 1711)
• September 22 – Nathan Hale, American Revolutionary War captain, writer and patriot (executed) (b. 1755)
• October 17 – Pierre François le Courayer, French theologian (b. 1681)
• November 17 – James Ferguson, Scottish astronomer (b. 1710)

References[link]

• Historic Letters of 1776

Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan in 2011
Born	Piers Stefan O'Meara (1965-03-30) 30 March 1965 (age 47) Guildford, Surrey, England[1]
Nationality	British
Education	Chailey School Preparatory School
Alma mater	Harlow College
Occupation	Broadcaster, panellist, journalist, talk show host
Years active	1985–present
Employer	South London News (1985–88) The Sun (1989–94) News of the World (1994–95) Daily Mirror (1995–2004)
Known for	Newspaper editing Television work
Height	6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m)[2]
Television	Britain's Got Talent America's Got Talent Winner of The Celebrity Apprentice The Dark Side of Fame with Piers Morgan Piers Morgan On... Piers Morgan's Life Stories Piers Morgan Tonight
Spouse	Marion Shalloe (m. 1991–2008) «start: (1991)–end+1: (2009)»"Marriage: Marion Shalloe to Piers Morgan" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Piers_Morgan) (divorced) Celia Walden (m. 2010) «start: (2010-06-24)»"Marriage: Celia Walden to Piers Morgan" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Piers_Morgan)
Children	Spencer, Stanley, Albert
Parents	Eamon Vincent O'Meara (deceased) Gabrielle O'Meara
Website
www.officialpiersmorgan.com

Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (born Piers Stefan O'Meara; 30 March 1965), known professionally as Piers Morgan, is a British journalist and television presenter. He is editorial director of First News, a national newspaper for children.

Morgan branched into television mainly as a presenter, but has become best known as a judge or contestant in reality television programmes. In the UK, he was a judge on Britain's Got Talent. Morgan is best known in the United States as a judge on the show America's Got Talent, and as the winner of The Celebrity Apprentice. On 17 January 2011, he began hosting Piers Morgan Tonight for CNN in the timeslot previously occupied by Larry King Live after the retirement of host Larry King.^[3]

Morgan has authored eight books, including three volumes of memoirs.

Early life[link]

Piers Morgan was born on 30 March 1965, in Guildford, Surrey, England, to Eamon Vincent O'Meara, a dentist, of Dorking, Surrey,^[4] and Gabrielle Georgina Sybille (née Oliver).^[5] His father died when he was one year old; his mother subsequently remarried. He has three older siblings.^[6] His ancestry includes Irish, Portuguese, Scottish, and English.^[5][7] Morgan was raised Catholic.^[8] Named Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan by his stepfather, Morgan attended an independent school called Cumnor House^[9] from the ages of seven to thirteen, and then Chailey School, a comprehensive secondary school in Chailey, near Lewes, East Sussex, followed by Lewes Priory School for VI form.^[10] Morgan studied Journalism at Harlow College. After a brief career at Lloyds of London, he joined the Surrey and South London Newspaper Group in 1985,^[11] where he worked as a reporter on the South London News, and the Streatham and Tooting News. Morgan was recruited (he says headhunted by editor Kelvin MacKenzie) to join The Sun newspaper, specifically to work on the Bizarre column.

Career[link]

In newspapers[link]

Morgan's first major position in national media was as de facto editor of The Sun's show business column, Bizarre, under the editorship of Kelvin MacKenzie. In 1994, aged 28, he was appointed editor of News of the World by Rupert Murdoch, becoming the youngest national newspaper editor in more than half a century.^[12] He quickly gained notoriety for his invasive, thrusting style and lack of concern for celebrities' right to privacy, claiming that they could not manipulate the media to further their own ends without accepting the consequences of a two way deal. Morgan's autobiography The Insider states that he left the News of the World of his own choice and somewhat against owner Rupert Murdoch's wishes when he was offered the job of Editor at the Daily Mirror.

As editor of the Mirror, in 1996 Morgan was widely criticised and forced to apologise for the headline "Achtung! Surrender" a day before England met Germany in a semi-final of the Euro '96 football championships.^[13]

In 2000, he was the subject of an investigation after Suzy Jagger wrote a story in The Daily Telegraph revealing that he had bought £20,000 worth of shares in the computer company Viglen soon before the Mirror 's 'City Slickers' column tipped Viglen as a good buy.^[14] Morgan was found by the Press Complaints Commission to have breached the Code of Conduct on financial journalism, but kept his job. The 'City Slickers' columnists, Anil Bhoyrul and James Hipwell, were both found to have committed further breaches of the Code, and were sacked before the inquiry. In 2004, further enquiry by the Department of Trade and Industry cleared Morgan from any charges.^[15] On 7 December 2005 Bhoyrul and Hipwell were convicted of conspiracy to breach the Financial Services Act. During the trial it emerged that Morgan had bought £67,000 worth of Viglen shares, emptying his bank account and investing under his wife's name too.^[16]

In 2002, the Mirror attempted to move mid-market, claiming to eschew the more trivial stories of show-business and gossip. Morgan rehired John Pilger, who had been sacked during Robert Maxwell's ownership of the Mirror titles. Despite such changes, Morgan was unable to halt the paper's decline in circulation, a decline shared by its direct tabloid rivals The Sun and the Daily Star.^{[citation needed]}

Morgan was fired from the Mirror on 14 May 2004 after authorising the newspaper's publication of photographs allegedly showing Iraqi prisoners being abused by British Army soldiers from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment.^[17] Within days the photographs were shown to be crude fakes. Under the headline "SORRY.. WE WERE HOAXED", the Mirror responded that it had fallen victim to a "calculated and malicious hoax" and apologised for the publication of the photographs.^[18]

In May 2005, in partnership with Matthew Freud, he gained ownership of Press Gazette, a media trade publication together with its 'cash cow' the British Press Awards, in a deal worth £1 million.^[19][20] This ownership was cited as one of the reasons many major newspapers boycotted the 2006 awards.^[21] Press Gazette entered administrative receivership toward the end of 2006,^[22] before being sold to a trade buyer.

On 4 May 2006, Morgan launched First News, a weekly paper aimed at seven to fourteen-year-olds. Upon its launch Morgan claimed that the paper was to be "Britain's first national newspaper for children",^[23] although this claim was without foundation: other newspapers aimed at young audiences have included The Boy's Newspaper (1880–1882), The Children's Newspaper (1919–1965), and Early Times (launched in the late 1980s). Morgan was editorial director at First News, responsible for bringing in celebrity involvement. He referred to the role as "editorial overlord and frontman".^[24]

In 2007, Morgan was filmed falling off a Segway, breaking three ribs. Simon Cowell and others made much of Morgan's previous comment in 2003, in the Daily Mail, after former U.S. President George W. Bush fell off a Segway, that "You'd have to be an idiot to fall off, wouldn't you, Mr. President?"^[25][26][27]

In television[link]

Morgan's career has diversified in recent years into television presentation and proprietorship. In 2003, he presented a three-part television documentary series for the BBC titled The Importance of Being Famous, about fame and the manner in which celebrities are covered by modern media.

He has co-hosted his own current affairs interview show on Channel 4 with Amanda Platell, Morgan and Platell. Morgan and Platell were put together because of their opposing political angles. Platell would interrogate guests from the right-wing, Morgan from the left-wing.^[28] The show was dropped after three series allegedly because of poor viewing figures, though the chairman of Channel 4, Luke Johnson, was reported not to like the programme.

Throughout 2006, Morgan appeared as a judge on the American television show America's Got Talent alongside Brandy Norwood and David Hasselhoff on NBC. Morgan was chosen by Simon Cowell as a replacement for himself because of the conditions of his American Idol contract. Morgan appeared as a celebrity contestant on Comic Relief Does The Apprentice in 2007, to raise money for Comic Relief. During filming, he and Alastair Campbell reduced fellow contestant Trinny Woodall to tears when they tried to sabotage her team's event, and were involved in a brawl with her.^[29] Upon his team losing, Morgan was selected by Sir Alan Sugar as the contestant to be fired.^[30]

Also in 2007, he appeared as a judge for the second season of America's Got Talent and also appeared as a judge on the British version of the show, Britain's Got Talent on ITV1, alongside Amanda Holden and Simon Cowell. He also presented You Can't Fire Me, I'm Famous on BBC One. In January 2008, Morgan fronted a three-part documentary about Sandbanks for ITV1^[31] entitled Piers Morgan on Sandbanks.^[32]

Morgan was the winner of the U.S. celebrity version of The Apprentice, in 2008. The most memorable feature of the programme was the rowdy disagreements he had with fellow contestant Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth. This was resolved in Morgan's favour on 6 March, after her team was defeated by Morgan's in the biggest margin of victory in Apprentice history. Morgan ended up the overall winner, being named Celebrity Apprentice on 27 March, ahead of fellow finalist, American country music star, Trace Adkins (whom he surprised by kissing him on the cheek just moments after an on-air spat with Stallworth) and having raised substantially more cash than all the other contestants combined.^[33]

In May 2008, Morgan signed a two year "golden handcuffs" deal with ITV reportedly worth £2 million per year. As part of the deal, Morgan would continue as a judge on Britain's Got Talent for at least two more series and front a new chat show. He will also make some interview specials, plus three more documentaries from various countries. Morgan's golden handcuffs deal is the first signing by ITV's new director of television, Peter Fincham.^[34]

On 8 September 2008, a new series started, The Dark Side of Fame with Piers Morgan, produced by BBC Scotland.

Morgan returned to ITV1 in February 2009, with the series, Piers Morgan On..., which saw him visit Dubai, Monte Carlo and Hollywood.^[35] The series positioned Morgan as a modern day Alan Whicker and received strong viewing figures for the channel.^[36] The programme returned for a second series in 2010^[37] when Morgan visited Las Vegas,^[38] Marbella,^[39] and Shanghai.^[40] In the Shanghai episode, broadcast on 29 June 2010, Morgan consumed foie gras in a restaurant and visited a Tesco store selling live terrapins. Since both foie gras production and live reptile sales are considered cruel, Morgan came under criticism on social networking sites, including Twitter.^[41] Ironically, any complaints on Twitter about China's animal cruelty record will not be visible in the communist country, since Twitter itself is banned there,^[42] as Morgan pointed out in the same programme.

In 2009 Morgan's show, Piers Morgan's Life Stories, began on ITV1 with Sharon Osbourne as the subject of the first episode.^[43] Other guests on the programme have included Cheryl Tweedy^[44] and the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown.^[45]

On 8 September 2010, CNN announced Morgan would replace Larry King in the network's evening line-up, with his show Piers Morgan Tonight, beginning 17 January 2011.^[46][47] His show on CNN, Piers Morgan Tonight, has been described by Hank Stuever as "droning," "unnecessary," and "rubbish."^[48]

Feuds[link]

Ian Hislop[link]

Morgan appeared as a guest on the satirical news quiz Have I Got News for You in an episode transmitted on 24 May 1996.^[49] In it, show regular Ian Hislop and Morgan failed to keep their mutual contempt off-screen. Hislop accused Morgan of having him (Hislop) followed and having his house watched. The conflict escalated and at one point the host, Angus Deayton, asked if they wished to go outside and have a fight. Later on, guest panelist Clive Anderson confronted Morgan commenting "the last time I was rude to you, you sent photographers to my doorstep the next day", to which Piers Morgan retorted, "You won't see them this time." Hislop commented "He is charming isn't he", and Morgan replied, "Don't try the popularity line with me, Hislop", before appealing to the audience: "Does anyone actually like him?" The audience responded loudly in favour of Hislop.^[50] "'We're about to start exposing the moon-faced midget'", Morgan was quoted as saying in 2002, to which Hislop responded "'all he's been offering for information about my private life is a £50 reward. My friends think that's not nearly enough.'"^[51]

In 2007, Hislop chose Morgan as one of his pet hates on Room 101.^[52][53] In doing so, Hislop spoke of the history of animosity between himself and Morgan and revealed that after their exchange on Have I Got News For You (which was shown as a clip), Morgan's reporters were tasked with trying to get gossip on Hislop's private life (including phoning acquaintances of Hislop), and photographers were sent in case Hislop did anything untoward or embarrassing while in their presence. Neither the reporters nor the photographers succeeded. Hislop also revealed that Morgan had attempted to quell the feud in an article in The Mail On Sunday, saying, "The war is over. I'm officially calling an end to hostilities, at least from my end. I'm sure it won't stop him carrying on his 'Piers Moron' stuff."^[54] Hislop, who had been engaged in work on a First World War documentary at the time, responded by asking "Is that an armistice or an unconditional surrender?" Although the show's host Paul Merton agreed to put Morgan into Room 101, he was comically rejected as being "too toxic", even for Room 101.^[52][55]

Jeremy Clarkson[link]

In October 2003, journalist and television personality Jeremy Clarkson reportedly emptied a glass of water over Morgan during the last flight of Concorde.^[56] In March 2004, at the British Press Awards, Clarkson punched Morgan three times in a clash over The Mirror's coverage of his private life, and accusations that Clarkson did not write for his column in The Sun himself.^[56] Morgan reported on a rapprochement with Clarkson in the epilogue of his book, Don't You Know Who I Am?.

Madonna[link]

In December 2010, Morgan announced to the Daily Express that he will not be scheduling Madonna to appear on Piers Morgan Tonight. Morgan reportedly told the British newspaper that, while he wanted to get U.S. President Barack Obama and Mel Gibson on his show, he was not bothered about Madonna. Morgan said, "She is so boring. She is too vegan for TV. We have Lady Gaga now so Madonna is banned from my show.” In response, Madonna's publicist quipped, "Madonna doesn't know who Piers Morgan is but she's a big fan of Lady Gaga."^[57]

Alan Sugar[link]

In December 2010 Morgan had an ongoing Twitter argument with Alan Sugar, which resulted in a competition to see who could attract more followers by Christmas Day.^[58]

Phone hacking allegations[link]

In July 2011 the political blogger Paul Staines alleged that Morgan published a story while knowing it to have been obtained by phone hacking while editor of the Daily Mirror in 2002.^[59] Morgan is also alleged to have close ties with the Rupert Murdoch family and defended them in the media against suggestions that they were more involved in the News International phone hacking scandal than they claimed.^[60] Morgan described in a 2006 article he wrote for the Daily Mail how he had heard tapes of messages that Paul McCartney had left for his wife, Heather Mills, on her mobile phone. Morgan wrote that "Stories soon emerged that the marriage was in trouble - at one stage I was played a tape of a message Paul had left for Heather on her mobile phone. It was heartbreaking. The couple had clearly had a tiff, Heather had fled to India, and Paul was pleading with her to come back. He sounded lonely, miserable and desperate, and even sang "We Can Work It Out" into the answerphone."^[61] He came under criticism for his "boasting" about phone hacking from Conservative MP Louise Mensch, who has since apologised for these accusations.^[62]

During Morgan's tenure as editor, the Daily Mirror was advised by Steven Nott that voicemail interception was possible by means of a standard PIN code. Despite staff initially expressing enthusiasm for the story it did not appear in the paper, although it did subsequently feature in a South Wales Argus article and on BBC Radio 5 Live in October 1999. On 18 July 2011 Nott was visited by officers of Operation Weeting. The Daily Mirror's publishers Trinity Mirror declined to comment when approached by The Independent for its article of 6 August 2011.^[63]

On 20 December Morgan was a witness by satellite link from the United States at the Leveson Inquiry.^[64] While he did "not believe to the best of my recollection" that phone hacking had occurred at the Mirror, he admitted to listening to the voice mail left by Paul McCartney for Heather Mills, but refused to "discuss where he was played that tape or who played it - it would compromise a source."^[64] Appearing as a witness at the same Inquiry on 9 February 2012, Mills was asked under oath if she had ever made a recording of Paul McCartney's phonecalls or answerphone messages and had ever played it to Piers Morgan or "anybody else", she replied: "Never".^[65] Mills told the inquiry that Morgan was "a man that has written nothing but awful things about me for years and would have relished telling the inquiry if she had played a personal voicemail message to him".^[66]

On 23 May 2012, the Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman was a witness at the Leveson Inquiry. He recalled a lunch with the Mirror editor in September 2002 at which Morgan outlined the means of hacking into a mobile phone.^[67]

Personal life[link]

Morgan married Marion Shalloe in July 1991 in Hampshire. They have three sons: Spencer William (born in 1993), Stanley Christopher (born in 1997) and Albert Douglas (Bertie) (born in 2000).^[68] Morgan and Shalloe divorced in 2008.^{[citation needed]} He was linked romantically to The Guardian columnist Marina Hyde, and his second wife is The Daily Telegraph's columnist and feature writer, Celia Walden,^[69] who is the daughter of the former Conservative MP George Walden.^[70] Morgan and Walden married in June 2010. On November 25, 2011, the Mail Online reported that Celia Walden gave birth to a baby girl at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Beverly Hills. It is her first child, while Morgan has become a father for the fourth time. The couple have named their daughter Elise.^[71]

Morgan is a lifelong fan of cricket. Corresponding with Sir Donald "Don" Bradman as a child, and being a promising early youthful fast bowler, he has played for his local side in Newick since 1978. Every year since 2000 he has organised a game between a Morgan family team and the Newick side, which includes a famous "ringer" - 2008's ringer was England batsman Kevin Pietersen. Morgan described the 2008 game as "the best day of my life."^[72] Morgan is also a fan of Arsenal F.C.^[73]

Books[link]

• Morgan, Piers; John Sachs (1991). Secret Lives. Blake. ISBN 0-905846-95-8. 
• Morgan, Piers; John Sachs (1991). Private Lives of the Stars. Angus and Robertson. ISBN 0-207-16941-1. 
• Morgan, Piers (1992). To Dream a Dream: Amazing Life of Phillip Schofield. Blake. ISBN 1-85782-006-1. 
• Morgan, Piers (1993). "Take That": Our Story. Boxtree. ISBN 1-85283-839-6. 
• Morgan, Piers (1994). "Take That": On the Road. Boxtree. ISBN 1-85283-396-3. 
• Morgan, Piers (2004). Va Va Voom!: A Year with Arsenal 2003-04. Methuen. ISBN 0-413-77451-1. 
• Morgan, Piers (2005). The Insider: The Private Diaries of a Scandalous Decade. Ebury Press. ISBN ISBN 0-09-190849-3. 
• Morgan, Piers (2007). Don't You Know Who I am?. 
• Morgan, Piers (2009). God Bless America: Misadventures of a Big mouth Brit. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-191393-9. 

References[link]

External links[link]

• Piers Morgan's Official Website
• Profile: Piers Morgan BBC News, 14 May 2004
• Piers Morgan at the Internet Movie Database
• Piers Morgan on Twitter
• "Desert Island Discs". Desert Island Discs. 7 June 2009. BBC. Radio 4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00krkct.