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John Henry

John or Jack Henry may refer to:

  • John Henry (folklore), the folklore character and subject of eponymous ballad
John Henry (folklore)

John Henry is an African American folk hero and tall tale. He is said to have worked as a "steel-driving man"—a man tasked with hammering a steel drill into rock to make holes for explosives to blast the rock in constructing a railroad tunnel. According to legend, John Henry's prowess as a steel-driver was measured in a race against a steam-powered hammer, a race he won, only to die in victory with his hammer in his hand as his heart gave out from stress. The story of John Henry is told in a classic folk song, which exists in many versions, and has been the subject of numerous stories, plays, books and novels. Various locations, including Big Bend Tunnel in West Virginia, Lewis Tunnel in Virginia, and Coosa Mountain Tunnel in Alabama, have been suggested as the site of the contest.

John Henry (horse)

John Henry (March 9, 1975 – October 8, 2007) was an American Thoroughbred race horse who had 39 wins, with $6,591,860 in earnings. This total is the equivalent to almost 15 million dollars in 2015. He was twice voted the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year in 1981 and 1984, with his 1981 selection the only one in which the victor received all votes cast for that award. In all, he won seven Eclipse awards. John Henry was also listed as #23 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century.

John Henry (Maryland politician)

John Henry (November 1750December 16, 1798) was the eighth Governor of Maryland and member of the United States Senate. He was born near Vienna in Dorchester County, Maryland.

He was a member of the Episcopal Church and the United States Democratic-Republican Party. Originally, he was a member of the Federalist Party.

He attended West Nottingham Academy in Cecil County, Maryland and graduated from the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) in 1769; he then studied law at the Middle Temple (one of the Inns of Court where English barristers are trained) in London. He returned to the United States in 1775 and practiced law in Dorchester County.

Henry served as a member of Maryland House of Delegates from 1777 to 1780 and a member of the Maryland State Senate from 1780 to 1790. During that time he was chosen as a delegate to the Continental Congress from Maryland from 1778 to 1780 and from 1785 to 1786; during his service, he was a member of the committee that prepared the ordinance for the government of the Northwest Territory. He was elected as an inaugural Senator from Maryland, serving 1789 as a Federalist till his resignation on December 10, 1797, to assume the Governorship. He received 2 electoral votes for President of the United States in the 1796 election. He served as Governor of Maryland from 1797 to 1798. He died in Dorchester County, Md. at Weston the same estate where he had been born, and is buried in Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery in Cambridge.

John Henry (album)

John Henry is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock group They Might Be Giants. It was released in 1994. It is the first album by They Might Be Giants to include a full band arrangement, rather than synthesized and programmed backing tracks. The album's name, a reference to the man versus machine fable of John Henry, is an allusion to the band's fundamental switch to more conventional instrumentation, especially the newly established use of a human drummer instead of a drum machine.

John Henry is TMBG's longest record and was the band's highest-charting adult album, having peaked at #61 on the Billboard 200, until 2011's Join Us, which peaked at #32. In 2013, the album was reissued across a double LP by Asbestos Records.

John Henry (musical)

John Henry was a 1940 original Broadway musical based on the 1931 novel John Henry by Roark Bradford. The libretto was written by Bradford, with music composed by Jacques Wolfe.

Paul Robeson starred in the title role, with Ruby Elzy as Julie Anne. Other prominent members of the cast included Joseph Attles, Josh White, Musa Williams, and Bayard Rustin.

The show played at the 44th Street Theatre in New York City from January 10, 1940 to January 15, 1940.

John Henry (spy)

John Henry ( c. 1776 – 1853) was a spy and adventurer of mysterious origins. He sold documents called the Henry Papers to the United States suggesting treason by Federalists on the eve of the War of 1812 with Great Britain. The Henry Papers helped build outrage against Britain which led to the United States declaring war in June 1812.

John Henry (toxicologist)

Professor John Anthony Henry (Born: 11 March 1939 at Greenwich, England, died 8 May 2007) was a professor specialising in toxicology in the Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington. He conducted research on the health effects of cannabis, cocaine and other recreational drugs.

John Henry (novel)

John Henry is a 1931 novel by Roark Bradford and illustrated by woodcut artist J. J. Lankes, based on the African-American folk hero of the same name. It was made into a Broadway play and later a musical featuring Paul Robeson in the title role and Ruby Elzy as Julie Anne.

John Henry (historian)

John Henry (born 1950) is Historian of Science in the Science Studies Unit at the University of Edinburgh associated with the Strong Programme.

John Henry (representative)

John Henry (November 1, 1800 – April 28, 1882) was a U.S. Representative from Illinois.

Born near Stanford, Kentucky, Henry attended the public schools. He served as a private in Captain Arnett's company of Illinois volunteers in the Black Hawk War. He served as member of the State House of Representatives 1832-1840. He was prominently identified with the construction of the first railway in Illinois in 1838. He served as member of the State senate 1840-1847.

Henry was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-ninth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Edward D. Baker and served from February 5, 1847, to March 3, 1847. He was succeeded by Abraham Lincoln. He was not a candidate for the Thirtieth Congress. Superintendent of the State insane asylum at Jacksonville, Illinois from 1850 to 1855. During the Civil War was connected with the Quartermaster's Department at Jackson, Tennessee, from August 25, 1862, to April 30, 1863. He died on April 28, 1882 in St. Louis, Missouri, and was interred at Bellefontaine Cemetery.

John Henry (judge)

Sir John Steele Henry is a New Zealand jurist and former Court of Appeal judge, and member of the well-known Henry family.

The son of former High Court judge, the Hon. Sir Trevor Henry, John Henry was educated at King's College, Auckland, before attending Law School at the University of Auckland.

He graduated with an LLB in 1954 and was admitted to the New Zealand bar in 1955.

He worked as a barrister and solicitor at the Henry family law firm, Wilson Henry (now Hesketh Henry) that was established by his father, Sir Trevor, and gained a reputation as a robust litigator, building a substantial commercial litigation team at the firm. He was made a Queen's Counsel in 1980.

In 1984, he was appointed to the bench of the High Court of New Zealand, later being a Commercial List Judge and then Executive Judge prior to being appointed to the Criminal Appeal Division of the Court of Appeal in 1991 and Justice of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand in 1995.

In 1996 he became a member of the Privy Council and sat on its Judicial Committee. He was also a justice of the High Court of the Cook Islands.

In the 2001 Birthday Honours, the New Zealand Government acknowledged his contribution to the New Zealand justice system by making him a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DCNZM), which Henry opted to convert to the equivalent knighthood (KNZM) in 2009.

John Henry (catcher)

John Park Henry (December 26, 1889 – November 24, 1941) was a catcher in Major League Baseball who played for two different teams between the and seasons. Listed at 6' 0", 180 lb., Henry batted and threw right-handed. He attended Amherst College.

John Henry (outfielder/pitcher)

John Michael Henry (September 2, 1863 – June 11, 1939) was an outfielder and starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played between and for the Cleveland Blues (1884), Baltimore Orioles (1885), Washington Nationals (1886) and New York Giants (1890). Henry was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He threw left-handed. Batting side is unknown.

In a four-season career, Henry was a .243 hitter (53-for-218) with 28 runs and RBI in 60 games, including nine doubles and 11 stolen bases. He did not hit home runs. As a pitcher, he posted a 4–14 record with a 4.09 ERA in 18 starts, including one shutout and 18 complete games, giving up 64 earned runs on 152 hits and 54 walks while striking out 73 in 140 ⅔ innings of work.

Henry died in Hartford, Connecticut, at the age of 75.

John Henry (Ontario politician)

John G. Henry, (born July 30, 1960) is a municipal politician in Ontario, Canada. He was elected Mayor of Oshawa, Ontario, Canada on October 25, 2010. Before that he served as councillor from 2006 to 2010.

John Henry (actor)

John Henry (1738-October 16, 1794) was an Irish-born actor and early American actor and theatre manager.

John Henry (Cook Islands politician)

John Mokoenga Tikaka Henry is a Cook Islands politician and member of the Cook Islands Parliament. He is a member of the Cook Islands Party.

Henry is a nephew of former Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Sir Geoffrey Henry. He has previously worked as a civil servant in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He was elected at the 2010 election as MP for Avatiu-Ruatonga-Palmerston.

In February 2011 he was elected as Deputy Speaker of the Cook Islands Parliament. In May 2011 he was made associate minister of finance and internal affairs.

John Henry (footballer)

John Henry (born 31 December 1971 in Vale of Leven) is a Scottish former football player. During his career, Henry played for Clydebank, Kilmarnock, Falkirk, Airdrie, St Johnstone, Queen of the South and Dumbarton. After retiring as a player, Henry joined the coaching staff of Partick Thistle and Burnley.

From 2010 he was the reserve team coach at Bolton Wanderers, but left the club shortly after the dismissal of Owen Coyle in October 2012. He subsequently followed Coyle to Wigan Athletic in 2013, undertaking a similar role to that of his Burnley and Bolton days. In January 2015 Henry was appointed assistant manager, working with Ian McCall, at Scottish League One club Ayr United.

In August 2016 Henry left his role with Ayr to once against work alongside Owen Coyle, this time at Blackburn Rovers as first team coach.

John Henry (Australian politician)

John Henry (1 September 1834 – 14 September 1912) was an Australian politician, member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly and Treasurer of Tasmania.

Henry was born in Lerwick, Shetland Isles, Scotland, the third of seven sons of John Henderson Henry, a merchant, and his wife Christina, née Henderson. Henry migrated to Melbourne with his father and three brothers in May 1854.

Henry was for a number of years Warden of the Mersey Marine Board. Henry was returned to the House of Assembly for East Devon on 22 May 1891 and after that seat was abolished, was returned for Devonport on 8 January 1897. In August 1892 he accepted office as Treasurer in the Henry Dobson ministry.

Henry was a member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council for Mersey from 16 August 1901 until resigning on 18 July 1902.

Henry died on 14 September 1912 at Devonport, Tasmania; he was survived by his wife, three sons and three daughters.

Usage examples of "john henry".

Late in November, Adams submitted to one further ordeal for the sake of posterity, when an itinerant sculptor named John Henry Browere appeared at Quincy to make a life mask by a secret process of his own invention.

It was no picnic for a derelict that old to wrestle with the wheel, guiding the heavy machine, but the angels were on his side, saluting him, no doubt, with heavenly laughter as they gave strength to his feeble hands and as they gave the joyful determination of all legendary heroes from John Henry through Emi-liano Zapata to his tenacious heart.

Had a younger brother, Joe, called him Thompson, too, but Henrietta left Joe behind with our uncle John Henry Daniels at Fakahatchee, hardly seen him one year to the next.

Said delegate John Henry of Maryland, The Avarice of our people and the extravagant prices of all commodities, joined with the imperfect management of Affairs, would expend the mines of Chile and Peru.