September Morn (nominated by Crisco 1492) Completed in 1912 by French painte

r and illustrator Paul Chabas, this nude painting was exhibited at the Paris Sal
on of 1913 and received a warm, if somewhat standard, reception. September Morn
would have become a mere footnote to a footnote of art history as just one of th
e many nude depictions regularly exhibited at the Paris Salon, if it were not fo
r the controversy which it sparked when reproductions were shown in the US, part
icularly in Chicago and New York. In response to concerns that the painting was
indecent, the market was swamped with calendars, pins, movies, songs, stage play
s and other reproductions featuring the young woman "dressed as the day she was
born".
2010 Sylvania 300 (nominated by Bentvfan54321) The Sylvania 300 is an annual
NASCAR race held at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. The
2010 running was the first race in the 2010 Chase for the Sprint Cup, which dete
rmines the series champion. Brad Keselowski earned the pole position; the race w
as won by Clint Bowyer of the Richard Childress Racing team, followed by Denny H
amlin and Jamie McMurray in second and third respectively. Bowyer's win, however
, would be overshadowed with a post-race penalty that docked his team 150 points
. Despite this, Bowyer was still credited with the win.
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (nominated by Wehwalt) Marie Joseph
Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757 1834), was a French g
eneral, statesman, aristocrat and hero of the American Revolution. Actually, he
was called La Fayette Lafayette is the English spelling. A key figure in the Ame
rican Revolution, French Revolution and July Revolution, Lafayette came from a l
ong line of French military officers. Before he went to America, he lived the ca
reless court life at the French king's court at Versailles, but saw the American
revolutionary cause as just, and so made plans to travel to America. Sound easy
? The French king forbade him to go, so he had to buy his own ship. When he fina
lly got to America in 1777, he served at the Battle of Brandywine, arranging an
orderly retreat despite being wounded; and fought in the Battle of Rhode Island
with distinction. He subsequently returned home to lobby France to support the A
mericans' cause. Sound straightforward? Remember how he disobeyed the king to go
to America? They put him under house arrest, but eight days later, he was relea
sed, and the French entered the war as allies of the United States. Returning to
America, he blocked Cornwallis' troops from reaching the Siege of Yorktown unti
l the Americans and French were ready for him. He also helped make trade agreeme
nts with France alongside American ambassador Thomas Jefferson. Returning home i
n 1782 after American independence, Lafayette was seen as a real hero in his hom
eland and was promoted to high posts. Lafayette had enlightened views, he was an
intellectual who tried to apply the Enlightenment's philosophy in practice: tol
eration, fighting for liberty, democracy, and religious tolerance. Later he atte
mpted, with the assistance of Thomas Jefferson, to plot out a middle road throug
h the French Revolution that would protect the rights of all, collaborating with
him on the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a fundamental d
ocument in the history of human rights. However, he was unable to pull the Frenc
h Revolution on the lofty path he set out, fled the country, and was arrested in
Austria, where he was imprisoned for five years until Napoleon arranged his rel
ease. Late in his life, he was offered a position as dictator of France during t
he July Revolution, but turned it down, only turning against Louis-Phillipe when
he turned autocratic. Having served, to his best ability, both America and Fran
ce to great acclaim and with a strong moral code, he is sometimes known as the "
Hero of Two Worlds", a living symbol of friendship between France and America, a
nd the symbol of the universal goodwill wishing for a new and better world.