Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom office. Dryden's successor, Thomas Shadwell, was appointed in 1689 for life. He introduced the custom of producing poems for the new year and the monarch's birthday, which became one of the key duties of the position. After the appointment of William Wordsworth in 1843 the duties settled into an expectation, not requirement, for major court and national occasions. Alfred, Lord Tennyson held the post between November 1850 and October 1892. According to Andrew Motion and Hilary Laurie, Tennyson "gave the poet laureateship new status and significance" with works such as "Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington" and
Poet laureate "Loved Laurel-Crowned Poet of California" by a 1919 state Senate resolution, retaining the title until her death in 1928. Juan Felipe Herrera was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown in March, 2012. The State of Colorado appointed one of the most popular Poets Laureate of the late 20th century, singer/songwriter writer John Denver. Twin Poets, Nnamdi Chukwuocha and Albert Mills, were selected as 17th Poets Laureate of the State of Delaware on December 13, 2015. Edmund Skellings was selected as the poet laureate of Florida in 1980. He died in 2012. Illinois appointed its first poet laureate, Howard Austin, in 1936,