Todd began his career in the construction business, where he made a fortune but later lost it. He opened the so-called College of Bricklaying of America, buying the materials to teach bricklaying on credit. The school was forced to shut its doors when the Bricklayers' Union did not view the college as an accepted place of study. Todd and his brother, Frank, next opened their own construction company. Their company was worth over a million dollars but came to an abrupt halt when its financial backing failed in the wake of the Great Depression. Not yet twenty-one, Todd had lost over a million dollars with the loss of his backer. He was now the father of an infant son and had no home for his family.
He later served as a contractor to Hollywood studios, and during the 1933-1934 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago, he produced an attraction called the "Flame Dance." In this number, gas jets were designed to burn part of a dancer's costume off, leaving her naked in appearance. The act attracted enough attention to bring an offer from the Casino de Paris club in New York City. Todd got his first taste of Broadway life with that engagement and was determined to find a way to work there. He came up with the idea of producing the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta "The Mikado" with an all-African-American cast. "The Hot Mikado", starring Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, opened on Broadway March 23, 1939. His Broadway success gave him the nerve to try taking on showman Billy Rose. Todd visited Grover Whalen, president of the 1939 New York World's Fair, with a proposal to bring the Broadway show to the World's Fair. Whelan, eager to have the show at the fair, covered Todd's Broadway early closing costs. Rose, who had an exclusivity clause in his fair contract, met Todd at Lindy's, where Rose learned his contract covered new forms of entertainment only. Todd's "Mikado" dated back to 1885. To avoid any head-to head competition, Rose quickly agreed to promote Todd's production along with his own. Todd went on to produce 30 Broadway shows during his career.
Todd's business career was volatile, and failed ventures left him bankrupt many times.
In 1945, Todd suggested the idea of holding the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in newly-liberated Berlin (Germany). Although baseball's new commissioner Happy Chandler was reportedly "intrigued" by the idea, it was ultimately dismissed as impractical. The game was finally cancelled due to wartime travel restrictions.
In 1952, Todd made a production of the Johann Strauss II operetta, "A Night In Venice", complete with floating gondolas at the then-newly constructed Jones Beach Theatre in Long Island, New York. It ran for two seasons.
In 1950, Mike Todd formed The Cinerama Company with the broadcaster Lowell Thomas (who founded Capital Cities Communications) and the inventor Fred Waller. The company was created to exploit Cinerama, a movie process created by Waller that used three movie projectors to create a giant composite image on a curved screen. The first Cinerama feature, "This is Cinerama", was released in September 1952.
Before its release, Todd left the Cinerama Company to develop a widescreen process which would eliminate some of Cinerama's flaws. The result was the Todd-AO process, designed by the American Optical Company. The process was first used commercially for the successful 1955 movie adaptation of "Oklahoma!" (starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones). Todd later produced the movie for which he is best remembered, "Michael Todd's Around the World in 80 Days", which debuted in cinemas on October 17, 1956. Costing $6 million to produce, the movie earned $16 million at the box office. In 1957, "Around the World in 80 Days" won the Best Picture Academy Award.
A William Woolfolk novel from the early 1960s, entitled "My Name Is Morgan", was considered to be loosely based on Todd's life and career.
!colspan="3" style="background:#C1D8FF;"| Husband of Elizabeth Taylor
Looe
Looe is a small coastal town and fishing port in southeast Cornwall, United Kingdom. As of the 2001 census, 5,280 people lived there. Looe is divided into two parts by the River Looe, East Looe and West Looe being connected by a bridge. The town is about 20 miles (32 km) west of the city of Plymouth and seven miles (11 km) south of Liskeard.
The town is around a small harbour and along the steep-sided valley of the River Looe which flows south to the English Channel beside a sandy beach. Off shore to the west is the picturesque Looe Island.
Looe has a railway station at the end of the branch railway line from Liskeard.
Lostwithiel
Lostwithiel is a small town in Cornwall, United Kingdom, at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739. The town is in the Fowey river valley, between the A390 road from Tavistock to Truro and the upper tidal reaches of the river.
Lostwithiel railway station is on the Cornish Main Line from Plymouth to Penzance. It is at the south of the town, just across the medieval bridge which was built in the early 14th century. A branch line takes china clay trains to Fowey.
Lostwithiel's most notable buildings are St Bartholomew's Church and Restormel Castle.
Penryn (Cornwall)
Penryn is a small town in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is on the Penryn River about one mile (1.6 km) northwest of Falmouth. The population was 7,166 in the 2001 census.
Penryn was in the Middle Ages an important port but underwent a severe decline after Falmouth had been established in the 17th century. Today it is a busy town and has managed to retain a much of its heritage; a large proportion of its buildings date back to Tudor, Jacobean and Georgian times, the town is an important conservation area, and has more listed buildings than any other town in Cornwall.
St Agnes (Cornwall)
St Agnes is a large village on the north coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom, and a popular tourist destination. St Agnes is about five miles (8 km) north of Redruth and ten miles (16 km) southwest of Newquay.
St Agnes and the surrounding area were once reliant on the industries of fishing, farming and mining for copper and tin. Mining came to an end in the 1920s and many of these mines are still on view for any tourists.
The coastal area is part of the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and St Agnes Beacon is a local landmark.
Lillix
Lillix (formerly Tigerlily) is a Canadian pop rock band from Cranbrook, British Columbia. Lillex has five members in the band; the current band members are Tasha-Ray Evin, Lacey-Lee Evin, Eric Hoodicoff, Cameron Brass and Alex Varon. They released their third studio album, Tigerlily on August 24, 2010.
Natalia Kills
Natalia Noemi Cappuccini (born 15 August 1986) is an English R&B singer-songwriter, and actress who is better known by her stage name, Natalia Kills. She was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire to a Uruguayan mother and Jamaican father. She released her debut album "Perfectionist" on 1 April 2011 which features the singles, "Mirrors", "Wonderland" and "Free". She will be helping Ke$ha on her UK tour along with LMFAO.
Cloaca
The cloaca is a common rear opening in land vertebrates. Through this opening, the animals expel urine and faeces, and carry out reproduction.
The cloaca is a primitive or 'basal' feature of tetrapods. All amphibia, all sauropsids (reptiles and birds) and even monotreme mammals possess a cloaca.
A different method is used by therian mammals, such as marsupials and placentals. They have an anus for defecation, and another opening for urine and sexual reproduction.
Whitehurst &amp; Son sundial (1812)
The Whitehurst & Son Sundial was produced in Derby in 1812 by the nephew of John Whitehurst. It is now in the Derby Museum and Art Gallery. This is a precise sundial which tells not only local apparent time but also local mean time using a scale on it. It is accurate to the nearest minute.