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The United States of America is a federal republic of 50 states, a federal district and 14 territories. It is located mostly in central North America. The U.S. has three land borders, two with Canada and one with Mexico, and has sea borders with Cuba, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Bermuda and Russia, and is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, the Arctic Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 50 states, only Alaska and Hawaii are not contiguous with any other state. The U.S. also has a collection of districts, territories, and possessions in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. Each state has a high level of autonomy according to the system of federalism. The U.S. traces its national origin to the declaration by 13 British colonies in 1776 that they were one free and independent state. They were recognized as such by the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Since then, the nation has grown to become a superpower and exerts a high level of economic, political, military, and cultural influence.
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Joseph Anton Lopez SJ (born José Antonio López; October 4, 1779 – October 5, 1841) was a Mexican Catholic priest and Jesuit. Born in Michoacán, he studied canon law at the Colegio de San Nicolás and the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico. He became acquainted with the future Empress consort Ana María Huarte and was made chaplain to the future imperial family. He was later put in charge of the education of all the princes in Mexico. Lopez was a close ally of Emperor Agustín de Iturbide, residing in Madrid for four years as his attorney and political informant, and accompanying him during his exile to Italy and England.
Following Iturbide's execution in 1824, Lopez moved to the United States with the exiled Empress Ana María and her children and settled in Washington, D.C. He became the chaplain to the Georgetown Visitation Monastery and entered the Society of Jesus in 1833, working also as a novice and minister at Georgetown College. When the president of Georgetown College, William McSherry, died, Lopez became acting president in 1840, making him the first Latin American president of a university in the United States. As an educator, he garnered a reputation as a strict disciplinarian. Just several months into his presidency, he fell ill and was sent to recuperate in St. Inigoes, Maryland; he died there in 1841. (Full article...) -
The Battle of Cane Hill was fought between Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War on November 28, 1862, in northwestern Arkansas, near the town of Cane Hill. Confederate Major General Thomas C. Hindman had made an abortive offensive into southwestern Missouri from Arkansas earlier in the year, but had withdrawn to Arkansas. Union troops under Brigadier General James G. Blunt had followed Hindman into northwestern Arkansas, and the Confederate general saw an opportunity to attack Blunt while his division was separated from the rest of the Union Army of the Frontier. Hindman then sent a force under Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke to Cane Hill, which was also known as Boonsboro, to collect supplies. In early November, a detachment of Blunt's command led by Colonel William F. Cloud defeated a small Confederate force commanded by Colonel Emmett MacDonald in the Cane Hill area.
After MacDonald's defeat, Marmaduke remained in the Cane Hill area with his force. Blunt moved to attack Marmaduke on November 27. The Confederates expected the Union attack to come up the Cincinnati Road, but it instead followed the Ridge Road and then the Fayetteville Road. Cloud's men led the Union advance and made contact with Colonel Joseph O. Shelby's Confederate troopers on the morning of November 28. Shelby withdrew from the Cane Hill area after an artillery duel, and Marmaduke reformed his line in the Newburg area. (Full article...) -
The Saxbe fix (/ˈsæksbiː/ SAKS-bee), or salary rollback, is a mechanism by which the president of the United States, in appointing a current or former member of the United States Congress whose elected term has not yet expired, can avoid the restriction of the United States Constitution's Ineligibility Clause. That clause prohibits the president from appointing a current or former member of Congress to a civil office position that was created, or to a civil office position for which the pay or benefits (collectively, "emoluments") were increased, during the term for which that member was elected until the term has expired. The rollback, first implemented by an Act of Congress in 1909, reverts the emoluments of the office to the amount they were when that member began his or her elected term.
To prevent ethical conflicts, James Madison proposed language at the Constitutional Convention that was adopted as the Ineligibility Clause after debate and modification by other Founding Fathers. Historically, a number of approaches have been taken to circumvent or adhere to the restrictions; these have included choosing another nominee, allowing the desired nominee's elected term of office to expire, ignoring the clause entirely, or reducing the offending emoluments to the level prior to when the nominee took office. Although Congress passed the mechanism reducing emoluments in 1909, the procedure was named "Saxbe fix" after Senator William Saxbe, who was confirmed as attorney general in 1973 after Congress reduced the office's salary to the level it had been before Saxbe's term commenced. The Saxbe fix has subsequently become relevant as a successful—though not universally accepted—solution for appointments by presidents of both parties of sitting members of the United States Congress to the United States Cabinet. Members of Congress have been appointed to federal judgeships without any fix being enacted; court challenges to such appointments have failed. (Full article...) -
Tropical Storm Henri was a moderate tropical storm that struck Florida during the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season. The eighth storm of the season, Henri was one of six tropical cyclones to hit the United States in the year. Henri formed from a tropical wave in the Gulf of Mexico on September 3. Moving generally to the east, it strengthened to reach peak winds of 60 mph (97 km/h) two days later. Henri encountered unfavorable conditions, and it weakened before making landfall on western Florida near Clearwater as a tropical depression. Although Henri degenerated into a remnant low on September 8, the weather system persisted off the east coast of the United States for a few days before moving back ashore over North Carolina. The system brought heavy rainfall across parts of the Mid-Atlantic before dissipating on September 17.
Henri caused little damage as a tropical cyclone. In Florida, it dropped heavy rainfall, though damage was limited to minor flooding damage. In Delaware and Pennsylvania, damage was greater, where heavy rainfall damaged hundreds of houses and businesses. The resulting floods in Delaware were described as a 1 in 500 year event. The total damage by Henri along its path amounted to $19.6 million (2003 USD), but no deaths were reported. (Full article...) -
The Grand Canyon from Navajo Point. The Colorado River is to the right and the North Rim is visible at all in the distance. The view shows nearly every sedimentary layer described in this article.
The geology of the Grand Canyon area includes one of the most complete and studied sequences of rock on Earth. The nearly 40 major sedimentary rock layers exposed in the Grand Canyon and in the Grand Canyon National Park area range in age from about 200 million to nearly 2 billion years old. Most were deposited in warm, shallow seas and near ancient, long-gone sea shores in western North America. Both marine and terrestrial sediments are represented, including lithified sand dunes from an extinct desert. There are at least 14 known unconformities in the geologic record found in the Grand Canyon.
Uplift of the region started about 75 million years ago during the Laramide orogeny; a mountain-building event that is largely responsible for creating the Rocky Mountains to the east. In total, the Colorado Plateau was uplifted an estimated 2 miles (3.2 km). The adjacent Basin and Range Province to the west started to form about 18 million years ago as the result of crustal stretching. A drainage system that flowed through what is today the eastern Grand Canyon emptied into the now lower Basin and Range province. The opening of the Gulf of California around 6 million years ago enabled a large river to cut its way northeast from the gulf. The new river captured the older drainage to form the ancestral Colorado River, which in turn started to form the Grand Canyon. (Full article...) -
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices.
Taft was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father, Alphonso Taft, was a U.S. attorney general and secretary of war. Taft attended Yale and joined Skull and Bones, of which his father was a founding member. After becoming a lawyer, Taft was appointed a judge while still in his twenties. He continued a rapid rise, being named solicitor general and a judge of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1901, President William McKinley appointed Taft civilian governor of the Philippines. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt made him Secretary of War, and he became Roosevelt's hand-picked successor. Despite his personal ambition to become chief justice, Taft declined repeated offers of appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States, believing his political work to be more important. (Full article...) -
The Emperor's New School is an American animated television series created by Mark Dindal that aired on Disney Channel for two seasons between January 2006 and November 2008. It is the second sequel to the 2000 film The Emperor's New Groove, following the direct-to-video release of the film Kronk's New Groove in 2005. The series centers on Kuzco, who must graduate from Kuzco Academy to become emperor of the Inca Empire. Yzma, his former advisor, schemes to sabotage him so she can be empress instead. She is aided by her henchman Kronk, while Kuzco is aided by the villager Pacha and fellow student Malina. The series combines physical comedy with a self-aware tone, illustrated by Kuzco frequently addressing the viewer directly.
The Walt Disney Company developed the series after The Emperor's New Groove received high ratings in syndication. Most of the film's cast reprised their roles for the series. J. P. Manoux replaced David Spade as Kuzco, and Fred Tatasciore played Pacha until the original actor, John Goodman, returned for the second season. New School used traditional 2D animation to preserve elements of the film's distinctive art style. The choice of a high school setting was made to explore Kuzco's lack of social etiquette and provide for storylines based on the everyday challenges of adolescence. (Full article...) -
The Tesla Model S is a battery-electric, four-door full-size car produced by the American automaker Tesla since 2012. The automaker's second vehicle and longest-produced model, critics have called the Model S one of the most significant and influential electric cars in the industry. It is the recipient of numerous accolades, including the Motor Trend Car of the Year Award in 2013. In 2012, it was included on Time's list of the best inventions of the year, and the magazine later included it on its list of the 10 best gadgets of the 2010s in 2019.
Tesla started developing the Model S around 2007 under the codename WhiteStar. Initially, Henrik Fisker was appointed as the lead designer for the WhiteStar project; after a dispute with Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, Fisker was replaced by Franz von Holzhausen. By 2008, von Holzhausen had designed what would become the production Model S's exterior. Tesla unveiled a prototype of the vehicle in March 2009 in Hawthorne, California. In 2010, Tesla acquired a facility in Fremont, California, to produce the Model S, which was previously owned by General Motors and Toyota. Series manufacture of the car officially began at what is now known as the Tesla Fremont Factory in June 2012. Tesla carried out the final assembly for European markets at its facilities in Tilburg, the Netherlands, between 2013 and 2021. (Full article...) -
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (often referred to simply as Sgt. Pepper) is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26 May 1967, Sgt. Pepper is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composition, extended form, psychedelic imagery, record sleeves, and the producer in popular music. The album had an immediate cross-generational impact and was associated with numerous touchstones of the era's youth culture, such as fashion, drugs, mysticism, and a sense of optimism and empowerment. Critics lauded the album for its innovations in songwriting, production and graphic design, for bridging a cultural divide between popular music and high art, and for reflecting the interests of contemporary youth and the counterculture.
At the end of August 1966, the Beatles had permanently retired from touring and pursued individual interests for the next three months. During a return flight to London in November, Paul McCartney had an idea for a song involving an Edwardian military band that formed the impetus of the Sgt. Pepper concept. For this project, they continued the technological experimentation marked by their previous album, Revolver (1966), this time without an absolute deadline for completion. Sessions began on 24 November at EMI Studios with compositions inspired by the Beatles' youth, but after pressure from EMI, the songs "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" were released as a double A-side single in February 1967 and left off the LP. The album was then loosely conceptualised as a performance by the fictional Sgt. Pepper band, an idea that was conceived after recording the title track. (Full article...) -
"SLAPP Suits" is a segment of HBO's news-satire television series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, focusing on strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP). It first aired on November 10, 2019, as part of the twenty-ninth episode of the series's sixth season. The episode marked British-American comedian and host John Oliver's response to winning a SLAPP defamation lawsuit against him initiated by American mining businessman Robert E. Murray. The lawsuit began in 2017, after Oliver heavily criticized Murray and his company, Murray Energy, in a segment concerning the coal-mining industry in the United States. Murray claimed in his lawsuit that Oliver had carried out a character assassination against him, but the case was dismissed in under a year, and an appeal by Murray Energy was unsuccessful. During the lawsuit, the American Civil Liberties Union filed an amicus brief that was widely covered due to its sarcastic humor.
In "SLAPP Suits", Oliver discussed the outcome of the lawsuit and the damaging effects of similar lawsuits, giving an overview of Murray's other SLAPPs and their potential harm to independent journalism. Oliver ended the twenty-six-minute segment with the musical number "Eat Shit, Bob!" in celebration of winning the lawsuit, invoking his right under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution to make negative jokes and comments about people and corporations. The title of the number references a check returned by a Murray Energy miner on the grounds that it incentivized unsafe mining practices, with the words "Eat Shit Bob" written on the check. The segment and musical number were lauded by critics and nominated for six Primetime Emmy Awards, with the episode winning one award for Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Series, and the musical number winning another for Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming. (Full article...) -
Anne Hutchinson (née Marbury; July 1591 – August 1643) was an English-born religious figure who was an important participant in the Antinomian Controversy which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. Her strong religious formal declarations were at odds with the established Puritan clergy in the Boston area and her popularity and charisma helped create a theological schism that threatened the Puritan religious community in New England. She was eventually tried and convicted, then banished from the colony with many of her supporters.
Hutchinson was born in Alford, Lincolnshire, the daughter of Francis Marbury, an Anglican cleric and school teacher who gave her a far better education than most other girls received. She lived in London as a young adult, and there married a friend from home, William Hutchinson. The couple moved back to Alford where they began following preacher John Cotton in the nearby port of Boston, Lincolnshire. Cotton was compelled to emigrate in 1633, and the Hutchinsons followed a year later with their 15 children and soon became well established in the growing settlement of Boston in New England. Hutchinson was a midwife and helpful to those needing her assistance, as well as forthcoming with her personal religious understandings. Soon she was hosting women at her house weekly, providing commentary on recent sermons. These meetings became so popular that she began offering meetings for men as well, including the young governor of the colony, Henry Vane. (Full article...) -
Michael Lee Capel (born October 13, 1961) is an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Houston Astros. In 49 career games, Capel pitched 62+1⁄3 innings, struck out 43 batters, and had a career win–loss record of 3–4 with a 4.62 earned run average (ERA). While he played in MLB, Capel stood at 6 feet 1 inch (185 cm) and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg). A starting pitcher in college and parts of his Minor League Baseball career, he converted to relief pitching while in Chicago's minor league system.
The Philadelphia Phillies chose Capel in the 24th round of the 1980 MLB draft, but the 18-year-old did not sign with the team; instead, he opted to attend the University of Texas. Capel played on the 1982 USA College All-Star Team, which competed in the Amateur World Series in Seoul and placed third. The next year, Capel and the Texas Longhorns won the College World Series. After he was drafted by the Cubs, Capel left Texas and signed to play professional baseball; he played in six seasons of Minor League Baseball before he made his MLB debut in 1988. Capel spent the entire 1989 season in Triple-A, one level below the majors, but the Cubs released him at the end of the year. He agreed to terms with the Brewers and played in MLB after an injury opened a spot on Milwaukee's roster, but was again released at the end of the season. A free agent, the Astros signed Capel, and over the course of the season he pitched in 25 games for the team. He spent the final part of his career in the Astros farm system, and after he made the 1992 Triple-A All-Star team, Capel played his last season in 1993. After retirement, Capel worked as the general manager of a car dealership in Houston, Texas. (Full article...) -
The Apollo 11 50th Anniversary commemorative coins were issued by the United States Mint in 2019 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first crewed landing on the Moon by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Consisting of a gold half eagle ($5 coin), two different sizes of silver dollars, and a copper-nickel clad half dollar, each of the four was issued in proof condition, with all but the larger silver dollar also issued in uncirculated. The gold coins were struck at the West Point Mint, the silver at the Philadelphia Mint and the base metal half dollars at the mints in Denver and San Francisco.
All four coins have the same design. The obverse depicts a bootprint on the lunar surface, based on a photograph taken by Aldrin. That design is by Maine sculptor Gary Cooper, with engraving by Joseph Menna of the Mint. The reverse, as mandated by Congress, depicts the visor and surrounding helmet of Aldrin's space suit, with Armstrong, the U.S. Flag and the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle in the reflection. This is based on a well-known photograph taken by Armstrong, and was created and engraved by Phebe Hemphill of the Mint. The depiction of Aldrin made him the seventh individual to appear on a U.S. coin who was alive at the time the coins were struck. (Full article...) -
Edith Kermit Roosevelt (née Carow; August 6, 1861 – September 30, 1948) was the second wife of President Theodore Roosevelt and the first lady of the United States from 1901 to 1909. She had previously been the second lady of the United States in 1901 and the first lady of New York from 1899 to 1900.
Edith Carow grew up alongside the Roosevelt family and married Theodore Roosevelt in 1886. They established a home in Sagamore Hill, where Edith had five children with Theodore, and they moved back and forth between New York and Washington, D.C., as Theodore's political career progressed over the following years. Edith became a public figure when her husband became a war hero in the Spanish–American War and was elected governor of New York. Theodore became vice president in March 1901, and she became second lady of the United States for six months; she became first lady when the assassination of President William McKinley propelled Theodore to the presidency in September of that year. (Full article...) -
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was the Space Transportation System (STS), taken from the 1969 plan led by U.S. vice president Spiro Agnew for a system of reusable spacecraft where it was the only item funded for development.
The first (STS-1) of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights (STS-5) beginning in 1982. Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. They launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Operational missions launched numerous satellites, interplanetary probes, and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), conducted science experiments in orbit, participated in the Shuttle-Mir program with Russia, and participated in the construction and servicing of the International Space Station (ISS). The Space Shuttle fleet's total mission time was 1,323 days. (Full article...) -
The Paramount Television Network, Inc. was a venture by American film corporation Paramount Pictures to organize a television network in the late 1940s. The company-built television stations KTLA in Los Angeles and WBKB in Chicago; it also invested $400,000 in the DuMont Television Network, which operated stations WABD in New York City, WTTG in Washington, D.C., and WDTV in Pittsburgh. Escalating disputes between Paramount and DuMont concerning breaches of contract, company control, and network competition erupted regularly between 1940 and 1956, culminating in the DuMont Network's dismantling. Television historian Timothy White called the clash between the two companies "one of the most unfortunate and dramatic episodes in the early history of the television industry."
The Paramount Television Network aired several programs, including the Emmy Award-winning children's series Time for Beany. Filmed in Hollywood, the programs were distributed to an ad-hoc network of stations across the United States. The network signed affiliation agreements with more than 50 television stations in 1950; despite this, most of Paramount's series were not widely viewed outside the West Coast. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which filed suit against Paramount for antitrust violations, prevented the studio from acquiring additional television stations. Paramount executives eventually gave up on the idea of a television network, and continued to produce series for other networks. In 1995, after four decades of television production for other companies, Paramount re-entered the broadcast network field when the company and Chris-Craft Industries launched the United Paramount Network (UPN), a television network that operated until 2006. CBS Studios now owns Paramount's longtime television division, and it has since founded a second version of Paramount Television under Viacom ownership. Both of these (along with the former WDTV, now KDKA-TV) are now part of Paramount Global. (Full article...) -
The Bougainville counterattack, also known as the Second Battle of Torokina, was an unsuccessful Japanese offensive against the Allied base at Cape Torokina on Bougainville Island during the Pacific Theater of World War II. The Japanese attack began on 8 March 1944 after months of preparation and was repulsed by United States Army forces in fighting which lasted until 25 March. The attack was hampered by inaccurate intelligence and poor planning and was pushed back by the well-prepared Allied defenders, who greatly outnumbered the Japanese force. The Japanese suffered severe casualties, while Allied losses were light.
The goal of the offensive was to destroy the Allied beachhead, which accommodated three strategically important airfields. The Japanese mistakenly believed that their forces were about as large as the units deployed to defend the Allied positions. The Allies detected Japanese preparations for the attack shortly after they began in early 1944 and strengthened the base's defenses. None of the three Japanese forces which conducted the attack was able to penetrate far into the Allied perimeter, although there was intense fighting for several positions. (Full article...) -
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is a 1984 American science fiction film, written and produced by Harve Bennett, directed by Leonard Nimoy, and based on the television series Star Trek. It is the third film in the Star Trek franchise and is the second part of a three-film story arc that begins with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and concludes with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986). After the death of Spock (Nimoy), the crew of the USS Enterprise return to Earth. When James T. Kirk (William Shatner) learns that Spock's spirit, or katra, is held in the mind of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Kirk and company steal the decommissioned USS Enterprise to return Spock's body to his homeworld. The crew must also contend with hostile Klingons, led by Kruge (Christopher Lloyd), who are bent on stealing the secrets of the powerful terraforming device, Genesis.
Paramount Pictures commissioned the film after the positive critical and commercial reaction to The Wrath of Khan. Nimoy directed this film, becoming the first Star Trek cast member to do so. Producer Harve Bennett wrote the script, starting from the end and working backwards, and intended the destruction of the Enterprise to be a shocking development. (Full article...) -
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (/duːˈbɔɪs/ doo-BOYSS; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist.
Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relatively tolerant and integrated community. After completing graduate work at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin and Harvard University, where he was its first African American to earn a doctorate, Du Bois rose to national prominence as a leader of the Niagara Movement, a group of black civil rights activists seeking equal rights. Du Bois and his supporters opposed the Atlanta Compromise. Instead, Du Bois insisted on full civil rights and increased political representation, which he believed would be brought about by the African-American intellectual elite. He referred to this group as the talented tenth, a concept under the umbrella of racial uplift, and believed that African Americans needed the chances for advanced education to develop its leadership. (Full article...) -
Charles Scott (April 1739 – October 22, 1813) was an American military officer and politician who served as the governor of Kentucky from 1808 to 1812. Orphaned in his teens, Scott enlisted in the Virginia Regiment in October 1755 and served as a scout and escort during the French and Indian War. He quickly rose through the ranks to become a captain. After the war, he married and engaged in agricultural pursuits on land left to him by his father, but he returned to active military service in 1775 as the American Revolution began to grow in intensity. In August 1776, he was promoted to colonel and given command of the 5th Virginia Regiment. The 5th Virginia joined George Washington in New Jersey later that year, serving with him for the duration of the Philadelphia campaign. Scott commanded Washington's light infantry, and by late 1778 was also serving as his chief of intelligence. Furloughed at the end of the Philadelphia campaign, Scott returned to active service in March 1779 and was ordered to South Carolina to assist General Benjamin Lincoln in the southern theater. He arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, just as Henry Clinton had begun his siege of the city. Scott was taken as a prisoner of war when Charleston surrendered. Paroled in March 1781 and exchanged for Lord Rawdon in July 1782, Scott managed to complete a few recruiting assignments before the war ended.
After the war, Scott visited the western frontier in 1785 and began to make preparations for a permanent relocation. He resettled near present-day Versailles, Kentucky, in 1787. Confronted by the dangers of Indian raids, Scott raised a company of volunteers in 1790 and joined Josiah Harmar for an expedition against the Indians. After Harmar's Defeat, President Washington ordered Arthur St. Clair to prepare for an invasion of Indian lands in the Northwest Territory. In the meantime, Scott, by now holding the rank of brigadier general in the Virginia militia, was ordered to conduct a series of preliminary raids. In July 1791, he led the most notable and successful of these raids against the village of Ouiatenon. St. Clair's main invasion, conducted later that year, was a failure. Shortly after the separation of Kentucky from Virginia in 1792, the Kentucky General Assembly commissioned Scott as a major general and gave him command of the 2nd Division of the Kentucky militia. Scott's division cooperated with "Mad" Anthony Wayne's Legion of the United States for the rest of the Northwest Indian War, including their decisive victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. (Full article...) -
The Banker horse is a breed of feral horse (Equus ferus caballus) living on barrier islands in North Carolina's Outer Banks. It is small, hardy, and has a docile temperament. Descended from domesticated Spanish horses and possibly brought to the Americas in the 16th century, the ancestral foundation bloodstock may have become feral after surviving shipwrecks or being abandoned on the islands by one of the exploratory expeditions led by Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón or Sir Richard Grenville. Populations are found on Ocracoke Island, Shackleford Banks, Currituck Banks, Cedar Island, and in the Rachel Carson Estuarine Sanctuary.
Bankers are allowed to remain on the islands due to their historical significance even though they can trample plants and ground-nesting animals and are not considered to be indigenous. They survive by grazing on marsh grasses, which supply them with water as well as food, supplemented by temporary freshwater pools. (Full article...) -
The U.S. state of Illinois held an election on November 3, 1964, for all 177 members of the state's House of Representatives for the 74th Illinois General Assembly, alongside other state and federal elections. Due to the state's failure to redistrict, all of the seats were elected at-large by plurality block voting, with voters choosing up to 177 candidates to support. Each party was only allowed to nominate 118 candidates. All 118 Democratic candidates won, flipping control of the chamber to Democrats with a two-thirds supermajority.
From 1901 to 1954, the state had failed to conduct legislative redistricting, at which point a constitutional amendment to force regular redistricting of the House was passed. Under its provisions, if the legislature and a backup redistricting commission failed to enact a map, an election would be held at-large. For the 1960 redistricting cycle, the state's governor was Democrat Otto Kerner Jr., while both chambers of the legislature were controlled by Republicans. The legislature passed a map along partisan lines which was vetoed by Kerner, and the commission faced similar partisan deadlock. Following a ruling by the Supreme Court of Illinois, an at-large election was held. (Full article...) -
The 8th Missouri Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. From May 1861, the war began affecting events in the state of Missouri. In 1862, Confederate recruiting activities took place in Missouri, and a cavalry regiment was formed in Oregon County, the nucleus being former members of the Missouri State Guard. On September 2, the unit entered Confederate service, but it was reclassified as infantry ten days later. After many of the men transferred to other units, the regiment was reclassified as a battalion on October 19 and named the 7th Missouri Infantry Battalion, also known as Mitchell's Missouri Infantry. It participated in a Confederate offensive at the Battle of Prairie Grove on December 7. During the battle, the unit made several charges against the Union lines but was repeatedly repulsed by artillery fire. The regiment spent most of early 1863 encamped near Little Rock and Pine Bluff in Arkansas.
On July 23, 1863, the unit was officially named the 8th Missouri Infantry Regiment. Later that year, it was part of the abortive Confederate defense of Little Rock before retiring to Camp Bragg near Camden. In March 1864, the regiment was sent south into Louisiana to help defend against the Red River campaign. It was part of a failed attack at the Battle of Pleasant Hill on April 9. After the Union troops involved in the Red River campaign retreated, the 8th Missouri Infantry was sent back to Arkansas, where it pursued the retreating Union soldiers led by Major General Frederick Steele. The regiment took part in a failed attack against Steele on April 30 at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry. For the remainder of 1864 and the first half of 1865, the unit was stationed at several points in Louisiana and Arkansas. The Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department surrendered on June 2, 1865, and the men of the 8th Missouri Infantry Regiment were paroled on June 7, ending the regiment's military service. (Full article...) -
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, and is considered one of the most influential bands from that decade, dubbed "the most popular American rock and roll band of the '90s". Since 1998, the band's lineup has comprised bassist Jeff Ament, guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready, vocalist/guitarist Eddie Vedder and drummer Matt Cameron; keyboardist Boom Gaspar has also been a session and touring member with the band since 2002. Drummers Dave Krusen, Matt Chamberlain, Dave Abbruzzese, and Jack Irons are former members of the band.
Formed after the demise of Gossard and Ament's previous bands, Green River and Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam broke into the mainstream with their debut album - Ten - in 1991. Ten stayed on the US Billboard 200 chart for nearly five years, and has gone on to become one of the highest-selling rock albums ever, being certified 13× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Released in 1993, Pearl Jam's second album, Vs., sold over 950,000 copies in its first week of release, setting the record for most copies of an album sold in its first week of release at the time. Their third album, Vitalogy (1994), became the second-fastest-selling CD in history at the time, with more than 877,000 units sold in its first week. (Full article...) -
SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in Lake Superior during a storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29 men. When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes and remains the largest to have sunk there. She was located in deep water on November 14, 1975, by a U.S. Navy aircraft detecting magnetic anomalies, and found soon afterwards to be in two large pieces.
For 17 years, Edmund Fitzgerald carried taconite (a variety of iron ore) from mines near Duluth, Minnesota, to iron works in Detroit, Michigan; Toledo, Ohio; and other Great Lakes ports. As a workhorse, she set seasonal haul records six times, often breaking her own record. Captain Peter Pulcer was known for piping music day or night over the ship's intercom while passing through the St. Clair and Detroit rivers (between Lake Huron and Lake Erie), and entertaining spectators at the Soo Locks (between Lakes Superior and Huron) with a running commentary about the ship. Her size, record-breaking performance, and "DJ captain" endeared Edmund Fitzgerald to boat watchers. (Full article...)
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Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that during the Great Flood of 1951, the United States Air Force airlifted a transmitter to put Kansas radio station KTOP back on the air within 24 hours?
- ... that actress Edna May Sperl's fiancé was arrested on the day of her wedding by a federal marshal because her fiancé's father opposed the marriage?
- ... that a Wisconsin radio station used to collect rent from the United States Congress?
- ... that Annie Nathan Meyer's Black Souls was one of the first "lynching dramas" created by a white woman?
- ... that trains lost traction during the Locust Plague of 1874 in the United States due to the tracks being "slick with grasshopper guts"?
- ... that soprano Vera Curtis was the first singer trained exclusively in the United States to perform with the Metropolitan Opera?
- ... that Bazzini, established in 1886, is the oldest extant nut company in the United States?
- ... that Born in the U.S.A. was the first compact disc to be manufactured in the United States for commercial release?
Selected society biography -
During World War I he served as an artillery officer. After the war he became part of the political machine of Tom Pendergast and was elected a county judge in Missouri and eventually a United States Senator. In 1945, Roosevelt replaced Henry A. Wallace as vice president with Truman for Roosevelt's fourth term.
As president, Truman faced challenge after challenge in domestic affairs. The tumultuous reconversion of the economy of the United States was marked by severe shortages, numerous strikes, and the passage of the Taft–Hartley Act over his veto. He confounded all predictions to win re-election in 1948, largely due to his famous Whistle Stop Tour of rural America. After his re-election he was able to pass only one of the proposals in his Fair Deal program. He used executive orders to begin desegregation of the U.S. armed forces and to launch a system of loyalty checks to remove thousands of communist sympathizers from government office, even though he strongly opposed mandatory loyalty oaths for governmental employees, a stance that led to charges that his administration was soft on communism. Truman's presidency was also eventful in foreign affairs, with the end of World War II and his decision to use nuclear weapons in combat, the founding of the United Nations, the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, the Truman Doctrine to contain communism, the beginning of the Cold War, the creation of NATO, and the Korean War. Corruption in Truman's administration reached the cabinet and senior White House staff. Republicans made corruption a central issue in the 1952 campaign.
Selected image -
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Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew ShivaTheodore Roosevelt (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919) was the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He had previously been the 33rd governor of New York, from 1899 to 1900, and then the 25th vice president of the United States, from March to September 1901. As a leader of the Republican Party, he became a driving force for the Progressive Era in the United States in the early 20th century. In 1912, he ran for a third term as president. When he could not secure the Republican nomination, he formed his own party, the Progressive or "Bull Moose" Party, which drew enough votes away from the Republican nominee, incumbent President William Howard Taft, to give their Democratic opponent Woodrow Wilson a large victory in the electoral vote. Roosevelt was a distant cousin of the 32nd president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the uncle of Franklin's wife Eleanor Roosevelt. His face is depicted on Mount Rushmore, alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.
This picture is a line engraving of Roosevelt, produced around 1902 by the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) as part of a BEP presentation album of the first 26 presidents. -
Photograph: Dorothea Lange. Restoration: Adam Cuerden.The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. Drought and a failure to apply dryland farming methods to prevent wind erosion caused the phenomenon. The drought came in three waves, 1934, 1936, and 1939–1940, but some regions of the high plains experienced drought conditions for as many as eight years.
This photograph, titled Broke, baby sick, and car trouble!, was taken by Dorothea Lange in 1937 and depicts a Missouri migrant family's jalopy stuck near Tracy, California. -
Image: Northwestern Litho. Co.; Restoration: NativeForeignerA campaign poster from the 1900 United States presidential election for the incumbent William McKinley, who would eventually win. The poster shows McKinley standing on a gold coin, representing the gold standard, with support from soldiers, businessmen, farmers and professionals, claiming to restore prosperity at home and victory abroad. The election was a repeat of the 1896 election, pitting McKinley against William Jennings Bryan. -
Engraving: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restoration: Andrew ShivaJames Monroe (1758–1831) was an American statesman and Founding Father who served as the fifth President of the United States from 1817 to 1825. Monroe was the last president of the Virginia dynasty, and his presidency ushered in what is known as the Era of Good Feelings. An anti-federalist, Monroe had opposed ratification of the United States Constitution, claiming it gave too much power to the central government. After time as a senator in the first United States Congress and as Governor of Virginia, Monroe was easily elected president in 1816, winning over 80 percent of the electoral vote and becoming the last president during the First Party System era of American politics. During his presidency, he sought to ease partisan tensions and extend the country's reach from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He also supported the founding of colonies in Africa for freed slaves, and his declaration of the Monroe Doctrine became a landmark in American foreign policy. -
Engraving: Paul RevereA depiction of the Boston Massacre, an incident on March 5, 1770, in which British Army soldiers killed five male civilians and injured six others in Boston, Massachusetts. Eight soldiers, one officer, and four civilians were arrested and charged with murder, though all but two were acquitted; two soldiers were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to branding. During the era of discontent that led to the American Revolution, this event was used for anti-British propaganda. -
Photograph credit: Tony JinBryce Canyon National Park is an American national park located in southwestern Utah. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. This panoramic view, as seen from Inspiration Point, shows the colorful Claron Formation, from which the park's delicate hoodoos are carved; the sediments were laid down in a system of streams and lakes that existed from 63 to about 40 million years ago (from the Paleocene to the Eocene epochs). The brown, pink and red colors are from hematite, the yellows from limonite, and the purples from pyrolusite. -
Cartoon: James Wales; Restoration: JujutacularAn 1881 editorial cartoon of Charles J. Guiteau, an American lawyer who assassinated President James A. Garfield on July 2, 1881. Guiteau, depicted here holding a note that reads "An office or your life!", believed himself to be largely responsible for Garfield's victory, and demanded an ambassadorship in return, but his requests were rejected. Despite the use of the insanity defense in his trial, he was found guilty and executed by hanging on June 30, 1882. -
Lithograph: Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler and James Moyer; restoration: Adam CuerdenA lithograph by Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler and James Moyer showing the town of Altoona, Pennsylvania, in 1895. Founded in 1849 by the Pennsylvania Railroad as the site for a shop and maintenance complex, Altoona was incorporated in 1868. It grew rapidly, from a population of approximately 2,000 in 1854 to almost 20,000 in 1880. Presently the Altoona metropolitan area is home to 127,089, and the local economy has diversified to include healthcare and retail. -
Engraving: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restoration: Andrew ShivaAbraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the nation through the Civil War, its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. Born in Kentucky into a poor family, Lincoln educated himself and worked as a lawyer in Illinois before entering politics. A powerful orator and astute politician, Lincoln used his Gettysburg Address to promote nationalism, republicanism, equal rights, liberty, and democracy. He has been consistently ranked as one of the greatest US presidents, by both scholars and the public. -
Lithograph: Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler; restoration: Adam CuerdenA bird's eye view of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in a 1902 lithograph by Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler. At this point in its history, Pittsburgh was an industrial and commercial powerhouse, with extensive railroad connections to the rest of the United States. Together with the rest of Allegheny County, it produced massive amounts of steel and steel products: by 1911 they reached 24% of the national output of pig iron, 34% of Bessemer steel, 44% of open hearth steel, 53% of crucible steel, 24% of steel rail, and 59% of structural shape. -
Map: C.E. Miller; restoration: AwardgiveA map of the United States Naval Academy, as it appeared in 1924. Established in 1845, the service academy educates and prepares officers for commissioning into the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. During the 1920s, the academy's athletics program began its era of success, taking a gold medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics and tying the University of Washington in the 1924 Rose Bowl. -
Engraving: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restoration: Andrew ShivaChester A. Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 21st President of the United States from 1881 to 1885. Born in Vermont and raised in upstate New York, Arthur practiced law in New York City before serving as a quartermaster general in the Civil War. He became active in the Republican party after the war, was elected vice president on the ticket of President James A. Garfield, and assumed the presidency upon Garfield's assassination six months into his presidency. He effected a reform of the civil service during his presidency, as well as navy reform and an act to prohibit immigration by Chinese laborers and deny citizenship to those already in the US. Due to his poor health, Arthur did not seek a second term. -
Banknote design credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; photographed by Andrew ShivaSilver certificates are a type of representative money issued between 1878 and 1964 in the United States as part of its circulation of paper currency. This $20 silver certificate, part of the series of 1886, depicts Daniel Manning, an American businessman, journalist, and politician most notable for having served as the 37th secretary of the treasury. The series is known for the ornate engraving on the reverse of the notes. This banknote is part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. -
National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History; photographed by Jaclyn NashThe half eagle is a United States coin that was produced for circulation from 1795 to 1929 and in commemorative and bullion coins since the 1980s. Composed almost entirely of gold, it has a face value of five dollars. It was the first gold coin to be minted by the United States, its production being authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792. The design and composition of the half eagle changed many times over the years, but this version was designed by Christian Gobrecht and produced in 1866. The obverse design depicts a portrait of Liberty facing to the left, and the reverse depicts a modified eagle, with the addition of the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST" above the eagle.
Other designs:
'"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000023-QINU`"' -
Photo credit: Cody PopeThe Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is the only marsupial found in North America. A solitary and nocturnal animal about the size of a domestic cat, it is a successful opportunist and is found throughout North America from coast to coast (introduced to California in 1910), and from Central America and Mexico to southern Canada.
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Selected culture biography -
Pei has won a wide variety of prizes and awards in the field of architecture, including the AIA Gold Medal in 1979, the first Praemium Imperiale for Architecture in 1989, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in 2003. In 1983, he won the Pritzker Prize, sometimes called the Nobel Prize of architecture.
Selected location -
Brockway Mountain was named for David D. Brockway, one of the pioneer residents of the area. The road was constructed by the county road commission with funding through Depression-era work programs in 1933. It was briefly used as a connection for the parallel state highway after it opened. Since it opened, Brockway Mountain Drive has been recognized in several publications and other venues for its scenic nature, dating back to the mid-20th century. Newspaper profiles of Keweenaw County or the Upper Peninsula have discussed the scenic value of the roadway and its environment.
Selected quote -
Anniversaries for April 22
- 1864 – The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act which mandates that the inscription "In God We Trust" (pictured) be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.
- 1876 – The Boston Red Stockings defeat the Philadelphia Athletics 6-5 in the first National League Baseball game.
- 1889 – At high noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Rush of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.
- 1930 – The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.
- 1954 – The Army–McCarthy hearings begin. MrCarthy's hunt for communists within the government was a core component of the Red Scare.
- 1970 – First Earth Day celebrated.
Selected cuisines, dishes and foods -
The cuisine of the American Midwest draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas, and is influenced by regionally and locally grown foodstuffs and cultural diversity. (Full article...)
Selected panorama -
Portland skyline
More did you know? -
- ... that a 1996 National Geographic magazine map of the United States labeled the High Desert region of southeast Oregon (pictured) as the Great Sandy Desert?
- ... that centenarian Dorothy Geeben was the oldest mayor in the United States until her death on January 10, 2010?
- ... that Louis Merrilat played football with Dwight Eisenhower at West Point, trained Iran's Persian Guard, and served as a soldier of fortune in China and with the French Foreign Legion?
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