IN: Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (September 5, 1867 - December 27, 1944) was an American composer and pianist. She was the first successful American female composer of large-scale art music. Her "Gaelic" Symphony, premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1896, was the first symphony composed and published by an American woman. She was one of the first American composers to succeed without the benefit of European training, and one of the most respected and acclaimed American composers of her era.

Amy Marcy Cheney was born in Henniker, New Hampshire to Charles Abbott Cheney (nephew of Oren B. Cheney, who founded Bates College) and Clara Imogene Marcy Cheney. Artistic ability appears to have run in the family: Clara was reputedly an "excellent pianist and singer,", and had a sister named Emma Francis "Franc" Marcy, who taught voice and piano in Boston. Emma's daughter Ethel, who "displayed a talent for art," went "to study in New York, Boston, and twice to Paris" during the 1890s.  Amy showed every sign of a child prodigy. She was able to sing forty songs accurately by age one, she was capable of improvising counter-melody by age two, and she taught herself to read at age three. At four, she composed three waltzes for piano during a summer at her grandfather's farm in West Henniker, NH, despite the absence of a piano; instead, she composed the pieces mentally and played them when she returned home. The family struggled to keep up with her musical interests and demands. Her mother sang and played for her, but attempted to prevent young Amy from playing the family piano herself, believing that to indulge the child's wishes in this respect would damage parental authority. Amy often commanded what music was played in the home and how, becoming enraged if it did not meet her standards.  Amy began formal piano lessons with her mother at age six, and soon gave public recitals of works by Handel, Beethoven, and Chopin, as well as her own pieces. One such recital was reviewed in arts journal The Folio, and multiple agents proposed concert tours for the young pianist, which her parents declined - a decision for which Amy was later grateful.  In 1875, the Cheney family moved to Chelsea, a suburb just across the Mystic River from Boston. They were advised there to enroll Amy in a European conservatory, but opted instead for local training, hiring Ernst Perabo and later Carl Baermann (himself a student of Franz Liszt) as piano teachers. In 1881-82, fourteen-year-old Amy also studied harmony and counterpoint with Junius W. Hill. This would be her only formal instruction as a composer, but "[s]he collected every book she could find on theory, composition, and orchestration ... she taught herself ... counterpoint, harmony, fugue," even translating Gevaert's and Berlioz's French treatises on orchestration, considered "most composers' bibles," into English for herself.

Where was she born?

OUT: Amy Marcy Cheney was born in Henniker, New Hampshire


IN: Born in Nelson County, Virginia, Allen was the son of Loretta M. and Earl Raymond Allen, who was recorded in the 1920 and 1930 U.S. census records for Wayne County, Michigan as working as a chauffeur to a private family. He earned varsity letters in football, track and basketball at Lake Shore High School in St. Clair Shores, Michigan; having graduated in 1940. Allen went to Alma College in Michigan and later at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he was sent as an officer trainee in the U. S. Navy's World War II V-12 program. He graduated with a B.S. in education from Michigan State Normal College (now Eastern Michigan University) in Ypsilanti, and then attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he earned his master's degree in physical education in 1947.

After rejecting a $1 million, four-year contract offer throughout the 1977 season, Allen was dismissed by the Redskins in mid-January. He was replaced by one of his favorite players, Jack Pardee, by then the promising young head coach of the Bears, who had gained the wild card playoff berth ahead of the Redskins; both had finished at 9-5.  Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom was searching for a new coach after parting ways with Chuck Knox, and decided to bring Allen back. Allen's hiring was announced on February 1, and he returned to Los Angeles in 1978 with much media fanfare. His second stint as the Rams' head coach was an unfortunate experience for all concerned. Unlike his first stint, Allen did not have full authority over personnel. He thus worked with general manager Don Klosterman to oversee a talented roster that had made the team a perennial playoff challenger.  Allen brought with him his scrupulous discipline and attention to detail, which extended to practice-field protocol and dining-hall decorum. However, his coaching style did not play well with the new generation of NFL players, and a group of Ram players chafed at the regulations almost immediately. Some made their grievances public; a few, including standout linebacker Isiah Robertson, briefly left camp. As newspaper reports were quoting players expressing confidence that differences would be resolved, the Rams played listlessly and lost the first two games of the 1978 exhibition schedule. Rosenbloom decided that for the season to be salvaged a change must be made, and the announcement of Allen's abrupt dismissal was made on August 13. Many of Allen's own players were surprised by the decision. Defensive coordinator Ray Malavasi, well-respected and liked by players (and the only holdover from Chuck Knox' staff), replaced him; the Rams ultimately advanced to that year's NFC Championship Game and the following year to the Super Bowl. Rosenbloom died in April 1979.  Allen soon joined CBS Sports as an analyst for NFL network telecasts, and worked in the broadcast booth from 1978 to 1983. With former Cleveland Browns great running back Jim Brown and play-by-play announcer Vin Scully, they were the network's only three-man announcing team.

who owned the Rams during this time?

OUT:
Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom