Portal:United States
Parent Portals: Geography / North America / United States
Introduction
.svg) |
|
| |
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.
Featured article -
This is a Featured article, which represents some of the best content on English Wikipedia.
-
U.S. Route 491 (US 491) is a north–south U.S. Highway serving the Four Corners region of the United States. It was created in 2003 as a renumbering of U.S. Route 666 (US 666). With the US 666 designation, the road was nicknamed the "Devil's Highway" because of the significance of the number 666 to many Christian denominations as the Number of the Beast. This Satanic connotation, combined with a high fatality rate along the New Mexico portion, convinced some people the highway was cursed. The problem was compounded by persistent sign theft. These factors led to two efforts to renumber the highway, first by officials in Arizona, then by those in New Mexico. There have been safety improvement projects since the renumbering, and fatality rates have subsequently decreased.
The highway, now a spur route of US 91 via its connection to US 191, runs through New Mexico, Colorado and Utah, as well as the tribal nations of the Navajo Nation and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. The highway passes by two mountains considered sacred by Native Americans: Ute Mountain and an extinct volcanic core named Shiprock. Other features along the route include Mesa Verde National Park and Dove Creek, Colorado, the self-proclaimed pinto-bean capital of the world. (Full article...) -
Jerome is a town in the Black Hills of Yavapai County in the U.S. state of Arizona. Founded in the late 19th century on Cleopatra Hill overlooking the Verde Valley, Jerome is more than 5,000 feet (1,500 m) above sea level. It is about 100 miles (160 km) north of Phoenix along State Route 89A between Sedona and Prescott. Supported in its heyday by rich copper mines, it was home to more than 10,000 people in the 1920s. As of the 2020 census, its population was 464.
The town owes its existence mainly to two ore bodies that formed about 1.75 billion years ago along a ring fault in the caldera of an undersea volcano. Tectonic plate movements, plate collisions, uplift, deposition, erosion, and other geologic processes eventually exposed the tip of one of the ore bodies and pushed the other close to the surface, both near Jerome. In the late 19th century, the United Verde Mine, developed by William A. Clark, extracted ore bearing copper, gold, silver, and other metals from the larger of the two. The United Verde Extension UVX Mine, owned by James Douglas Jr., depended on the other huge deposit. In total, the copper deposits discovered in Jerome's vicinity were among the richest ever found. (Full article...) -
Three of the five members of the Overman Committee in 1919 during hearings: Senator Josiah Oliver Wolcott (D-Del.), Chairman Lee Slater Overman (D-N.C.), Senator Knute Nelson (R-Minn.)
The Overman Committee was a special subcommittee of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary chaired by North Carolina Democrat Lee Slater Overman. Between September 1918 and June 1919, it investigated German and Bolshevik elements in the United States. It was an early forerunner of the better known House Un-American Activities Committee, and represented the first congressional committee investigation of communism.
The committee's final report was released in June 1919. It reported on German propaganda, Bolshevism, and other "un-American activities" in the United States and on likely effects of communism's implementation in the United States. It described German, but not communist, propaganda efforts. The committee's report and hearings were instrumental in fostering anti-Bolshevik opinion. (Full article...) -
William Henry Seward (/ˈsuːərd/; May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States senator. A determined opponent of the spread of slavery in the years leading up to the American Civil War, he was a prominent figure in the Republican Party in its formative years, and was praised for his work on behalf of the Union as Secretary of State during the Civil War. He also negotiated the treaty for the United States to purchase the Alaska Territory.
Seward was born in 1801 in the village of Florida, in Orange County, New York, where his father was a farmer and owned slaves. He was educated as a lawyer and moved to the Central New York town of Auburn. Seward was elected to the New York State Senate in 1830 as an Anti-Mason. Four years later, he became the gubernatorial nominee of the Whig Party. Though he was not successful in that race, Seward was elected governor in 1838 and won a second two-year term in 1840. During this period, he signed several laws that advanced the rights of and opportunities for black residents, as well as guaranteeing jury trials for fugitive slaves in the state. The legislation protected abolitionists, and he used his position to intervene in cases of freed black people who were enslaved in the South. (Full article...) -
Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest, second-costliest, and most intense hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed at least 469 people in Haiti before it struck the United States near the border between North and South Carolina as a Category 4 hurricane. After causing 95 fatalities in the US, Hazel struck Canada as an extratropical storm, which raised the death toll by 81 people, mostly in Toronto. As a result of the high death toll and the damage caused by Hazel, its name was retired from use for North Atlantic hurricanes.
In Haiti, Hazel destroyed 40 percent of the coffee trees and 50 percent of the cacao crop, which affected the economy for several years. The hurricane made landfall near Calabash, North Carolina, and destroyed most waterfront dwellings. It then traveled north along the Atlantic coast. Hazel affected Virginia; Washington, D.C.; West Virginia; Maryland; Delaware; New Jersey; Pennsylvania; and New York. It brought gusts near 160 km/h (100 mph) and caused $281 million (1954 USD) in damage. When it was over Pennsylvania, Hazel consolidated with a cold front and turned northwest towards Canada. When it hit Ontario as an extratropical storm, rivers and streams in and around Toronto overflowed their banks, which caused severe flooding. As a result, many residential areas in the local floodplains, such as the Raymore Drive area, were subsequently converted to parkland. In Canada alone, over C$135 million (2023: C$1.5 billion) of damage was incurred. (Full article...) -
The MAX Red Line is a light rail line serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Operated by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system, it is an airport rail link connecting Hillsboro, Beaverton, Portland City Center, and Northeast Portland to Portland International Airport. The Red Line serves 37 stations; it interlines with the Blue Line and partially with the Green Line from Hillsboro Airport/Fairgrounds station to Gateway/Northeast 99th Avenue Transit Center and then branches off to Portland Airport station. Service runs for 22 hours per day with headways of up to 15 minutes. The Red Line carried an average 10,310 passengers per weekday in September 2021, the second-busiest after the Blue Line.
Plans for light rail service to Portland International Airport surfaced in the 1980s, and efforts were accelerated during the airport's expansion in the 1990s. The Airport MAX project was conceived from an unsolicited proposal by Bechtel in 1997, and it was designed and built under a public–private partnership between a consortium of Bechtel and Trammell Crow, the Port of Portland, and local governments. Construction of the four-station, 5.5-mile (8.9 km) branch line began in 1999 and was completed in under two years due to the use of local and private financing and existing public right-of-way. (Full article...) -
Sawtooth National Forest is a National Forest that covers 2,110,408 acres (854,052 ha) in the U.S. states of Idaho (~96 percent) and Utah (~4 percent). Managed by the U.S. Forest Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it was originally named the Sawtooth Forest Reserve in a proclamation issued by President Theodore Roosevelt on May 29, 1905. On August 22, 1972, a portion of the forest was designated as the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA), which includes the Sawtooth, Cecil D. Andrus–White Clouds, and Hemingway–Boulders wilderness areas. The forest is managed as four units: the SNRA and the Fairfield, Ketchum, and Minidoka Ranger Districts.
Sawtooth National Forest is named for the Sawtooth Mountains, which traverse part of the SNRA. The forest also contains the Albion, Black Pine, Boise, Boulder, Pioneer, Raft River, Smoky, Soldier, Sublett, and White Cloud mountain ranges, as well as Hyndman Peak, the ninth-highest point in Idaho at 12,009 feet (3,660 m) above sea level. Sawtooth National Forest contains land cover types which include sagebrush steppe, spruce-fir forests, alpine tundra, and over 1,100 lakes and 3,500 miles (5,600 km) of rivers and streams. Plants and animals found only in the Sawtooth National Forest and adjacent lands include Christ's Indian paintbrush, Davis' springparsley, the South Hills crossbill, and the Wood River sculpin. (Full article...) -
The Gadsden Purchase half dollar was a proposed commemorative coin to be issued by the United States Bureau of the Mint. Legislation for the half dollar passed both houses of Congress in 1930 but was vetoed by President Herbert Hoover. The House of Representatives sustained his action, 96 votes in favor of overriding it to 243 opposed, well short of the necessary two-thirds majority. This was the first veto of Hoover's presidency and the first ever for a commemorative coin bill.
The proposal to commemorate the 1854 congressional ratification of the Gadsden Purchase was the brainchild of El Paso coin dealer Lyman W. Hoffecker, who wanted a commemorative coin he could control and distribute. He gained the support of several members of Congress from Texas and the Southwest, and a bill was introduced in Congress in April 1929, receiving a hearing 11 months later. Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon sent a letter and two officials in opposition to the bill, but it passed both houses of Congress without dissent. On April 21, 1930, Hoover vetoed the bill, deeming commemorative coins abusive. Although only one congressman spoke in favor of Hoover's action during the override debate in the House, the veto was easily sustained. (Full article...) -
1989 is the fifth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on October 27, 2014, by Big Machine Records. Executive-produced by Swift and the Swedish producer Max Martin, it was Swift's effort to recalibrate her artistic identity from country to pop.
Swift produced 1989 with an ensemble including Martin, Shellback, Jack Antonoff, Ryan Tedder, Nathan Chapman, and Imogen Heap. Recorded in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Sweden, the album was titled after Swift's birth year as a symbolic rebirth. Inspired by 1980s synth-pop, the production incorporates dense synthesizers, programmed drum machines, and processed electronic backing vocals—a stark contrast to the acoustic arrangements that had characterized Swift's past albums. The lyrics expand on her autobiographical songwriting about love and heartbreak, but they depict failed relationships from relatively lighthearted and more complex perspectives. (Full article...) -
Oganesson is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Og and atomic number 118. It was first synthesized in 2002 at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, near Moscow, Russia, by a joint team of Russian and American scientists. In December 2015, it was recognized as one of four new elements by the Joint Working Party of the international scientific bodies IUPAC and IUPAP. It was formally named on 28 November 2016. The name honors the nuclear physicist Yuri Oganessian, who played a leading role in the discovery of the heaviest elements in the periodic table. It is one of only two elements named after a person who was alive at the time of naming, the other being seaborgium, and the only element whose eponym is alive as of 2024[update].
Oganesson has the highest atomic number and highest atomic mass of all known elements as of 2024[update]. On the periodic table of the elements it is a p-block element, a member of group 18 and the last member of period 7. Its only known isotope, oganesson-294, is highly radioactive, with a half-life of 0.7 ms and, as of 2020,[update] only five atoms have been successfully produced. This has so far prevented any experimental studies of its chemistry. Because of relativistic effects, theoretical studies predict that it would be a solid at room temperature, and significantly reactive, unlike the other members of group 18 (the noble gases). (Full article...) -
Tropical Storm Bonnie was a tropical storm that made landfall on Florida in August 2004. The second storm of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season, Bonnie developed from a tropical wave on August 3 to the east of the Lesser Antilles. After moving through the islands, its fast forward motion caused it to dissipate. However, Bonnie later regenerated into a tropical storm near the Yucatán Peninsula. Bonnie attained its peak intensity with maximum 1-minute sustained winds of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 1,001 mbar (29.56 inHg) on August 11 while located over the Gulf of Mexico. Afterwards, the storm turned to the northeast and hit Florida with winds of 45 miles per hour (72 km/h). The storm accelerated to the northeast and became an extratropical cyclone to the east of New Jersey. Bonnie was the first of five tropical systems in the 2004 season to make landfall in Florida, coming ashore the day before Hurricane Charley struck. Bonnie was also the second of a record eight storms to reach tropical storm strength during the month of August.
Bonnie's impact was minimal. Throughout the Caribbean Sea, the storm's effects consisted primarily of light rainfall, and in Florida, heavy rainfall caused flooding and minor damage. The tropical storm caused a tornado outbreak across the Southeastern United States which killed three people and inflicted over $1 million (2004 USD) in damage. (Full article...) -
Judith Arlene Resnik (April 5, 1949 – January 28, 1986) was an American electrical engineer, software engineer, biomedical engineer, pilot and NASA astronaut who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. She was the fourth woman, the second American woman and the first Jewish woman of any nationality to fly in space, logging 145 hours in orbit.
Recognized while still a child for her intellectual brilliance, Resnik was accepted at Carnegie Institute of Technology after becoming only the sixteenth woman in the history of the United States to have attained a perfect score on the SAT exam. She graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon before attaining a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland. (Full article...) -
Blackrocks Brewery is a craft brewery in Marquette, Michigan, United States. Former pharmaceutical salesmen David Manson and Andy Langlois opened Blackrocks in 2010, taking the name from a local landmark. They originally brewed their products in the basement of a Victorian-style house and used the building's other two floors as a taproom.
By 2013, persistent demand for Blackrocks' beer led Manson and Langlois to add an outdoor patio and increase their brewing capacity. This included purchasing and converting a nearby former Coca-Cola bottling plant. In the early 2020s, they expanded the brewery's taproom into an adjacent property to double its available indoor area. As of 2024[update], Blackrocks is the largest craft brewery in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Their most popular beer is 51K, an American IPA. (Full article...) -
Operation PBHistory was a covert operation carried out in Guatemala by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It followed Operation PBSuccess, which led to the overthrow of Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz in June 1954 and ended the Guatemalan Revolution. PBHistory attempted to use documents left behind by Árbenz's government and by organizations related to the communist Guatemalan Party of Labor to demonstrate that the Guatemalan government had been under the influence of the Soviet Union, and to use those documents to obtain further intelligence that would be useful to US intelligence agencies. It was an effort to justify the overthrow of the elected Guatemalan government in response to the negative international reactions to PBSuccess. The CIA also hoped to improve its intelligence resources about communist parties in Latin America, a subject on which it had little information.
The first phase of the operation began soon after Árbenz's resignation on June 27, 1954: several agents were dispatched to Guatemala beginning on July 4. These included agents of the CIA and the Office of Intelligence Research (OIR). The first phase involved the collection of 150,000 documents from sources including Árbenz's personal possessions, trade union offices, and police agencies. The ruling military junta led by Carlos Castillo Armas aided these efforts. Following a presentation made to US President Dwight Eisenhower on July 20, a decision was taken to accelerate the operation, and the number of people working in Guatemala was increased. The new team members posed as unaffiliated with the US government to maintain plausible deniability. The operation helped set up the Guatemalan National Committee of Defense Against Communism, which was covertly funded by the CIA: agents of the committee became involved in PBHistory. The team studied over 500,000 documents in total, and finished processing documents on September 28, 1954. (Full article...) -
The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), also known simply as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey back, barred white underparts, and a black head. The peregrine is renowned for its speed. It can reach over 320 km/h (200 mph) during its characteristic hunting stoop (high-speed dive), making it the fastest animal on the planet. According to a National Geographic TV program, the highest measured speed of a peregrine falcon is 389 km/h (242 mph). As is typical for bird-eating (avivore) raptors, peregrine falcons are sexually dimorphic, with females being considerably larger than males.
The peregrine's breeding range includes land regions from the Arctic tundra to the tropics. It can be found nearly everywhere on Earth, except extreme polar regions, very high mountains, and most tropical rainforests; the only major ice-free landmass from which it is entirely absent is New Zealand. This makes it the world's most widespread raptor and one of the most widely found wild bird species. In fact, the only land-based bird species found over a larger geographic area owes its success to human-led introduction; the domestic and feral pigeons are both domesticate forms of the rock dove, which are a major prey species for Eurasian Peregrine populations. Due to their prevalence over most other bird species in cities, feral pigeons support many peregrine populations as a staple food source, especially in urban settings. (Full article...) -
The naval Battle of the Eastern Solomons (also known as the Battle of the Stewart Islands and in Japanese sources as the Second Battle of the Solomon Sea) took place on 24–25 August 1942 and was the third carrier battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II and the second major engagement fought between the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the Guadalcanal campaign. As at the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway, the ships of the two adversaries were never within sight of each other. Instead, all attacks were carried out by carrier-based or land-based aircraft.
After several damaging air attacks, the naval surface combatants from both America and Japan withdrew from the battle area. Although neither side secured a clear victory, the U.S. and its allies gained a tactical and strategic advantage. Japan's losses were greater and included dozens of aircraft and their experienced aircrews. Also, Japanese reinforcements intended for Guadalcanal were delayed and eventually delivered by warships rather than transport ships, giving the Allies more time to prepare for the Japanese counteroffensive and preventing the Japanese from landing heavy artillery, ammunition, and other supplies. (Full article...) -
The Appaloosa is an American horse breed best known for its colorful spotted coat pattern. There is a wide range of body types within the breed, stemming from the influence of multiple breeds of horses throughout its history. Each horse's color pattern is genetically the result of various spotting patterns overlaid on top of one of several recognized base coat colors. The color pattern of the Appaloosa is of interest to those who study equine coat color genetics, as it and several other physical characteristics are linked to the leopard complex mutation (LP). Appaloosas are prone to develop equine recurrent uveitis and congenital stationary night blindness; the latter has been linked to the leopard complex.
Artwork depicting prehistoric horses with leopard spotting exists in prehistoric cave paintings in Europe. Images of domesticated horses with leopard spotting patterns appeared in artwork from Ancient Greece and Han dynasty China through the early modern period. In North America, the Nez Perce people of what today is the United States Pacific Northwest developed the original American breed. Settlers once referred to these spotted horses as the "Palouse horse", possibly after the Palouse River, which ran through the heart of Nez Perce country. Gradually, the name evolved into Appaloosa. (Full article...) -
George Andrew Davis Jr. (December 1, 1920 – February 10, 1952) was a highly decorated fighter pilot and flying ace of the United States Army Air Forces in World War II, and later of the United States Air Force during the Korean War. He was killed in action during a combat mission in northwestern Korea, in an area nicknamed "MiG Alley". For his actions during the Korean War, Davis was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor and promoted from major to lieutenant colonel.
Born in Dublin, Texas, Davis joined the United States Army Air Corps in early 1942. He was sent to the Pacific Theater after pilot training and flew in the New Guinea and Philippine campaigns, scoring seven victories over Japanese aircraft. He quickly gained a reputation as a skilled pilot and accurate gunner whose "daredevil" flying style contrasted with his reserved personality. (Full article...) -
The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The 777 is the world's largest twinjet and the most-built wide-body airliner.
The jetliner was designed to bridge the gap between Boeing's other wide body airplanes, the twin-engined 767 and quad-engined 747, and to replace aging DC-10 and L-1011 trijets. Developed in consultation with eight major airlines, the 777 program was launched in October 1990, with an order from United Airlines. The prototype aircraft rolled out in April 1994, and first flew in June of that year. The 777 entered service with the launch operator United Airlines in June 1995. Longer-range variants were launched in 2000, and first delivered in 2004. (Full article...) -
On 29 September 2006, Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907, a Boeing 737-800 on a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Manaus, Brazil, to Brasília and Rio de Janeiro, collided mid-air with an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet flying on an opposite heading over the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. The winglet of the Legacy sliced off about half of the 737's left wing, causing the 737 to break up and crash into an area of dense jungle, killing all 154 passengers and crew. Despite sustaining serious damage to its left wing and tail, the Legacy landed with its seven occupants uninjured.
The accident was investigated by the Brazilian Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention Center (Portuguese: Centro de Investigação e Prevenção de Acidentes Aeronáuticos – CENIPA) and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and a final report was issued in 2008. CENIPA concluded that the accident was caused by air traffic control (ATC) errors, combined with mistakes made by the American pilots on the Legacy, including a failure to recognize that their traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) was not activated, while the NTSB determined that both flight crews acted properly and were placed on a collision course by ATC, deeming the Legacy pilots' disabling of their TCAS system to be only a contributing factor rather than a direct cause. (Full article...) -
The copper-nickel three-cent piece, often called a three-cent nickel piece or three-cent nickel, was designed by US Mint Chief Engraver James B. Longacre and struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint from 1865 to 1889. It was initially popular, but its place in commerce was supplanted by the five-cent piece, or nickel.
With precious metal federal coinage hoarded during the economic turmoil of the American Civil War, including the silver three-cent piece, and even the copper-nickel cent commanding a premium, Congress issued paper money in denominations as small as three cents to replace the hoarded coins in commerce. These small slips of paper became ragged and dirty, and the public came to hate "shinplasters". After the issuance in 1864 of a lighter bronze cent and a two-cent piece of that metal, both of which circulated freely, there were proposals for a three-cent piece in copper-nickel to replace the three-cent note. The advocates were led by Pennsylvania industrialist Joseph Wharton, who then controlled the domestic supply of nickel ore. On the last legislative day of the congressional session, March 3, 1865, a bill for a three-cent piece in copper-nickel alloy was introduced in Congress, passed both houses without debate, and was signed by President Abraham Lincoln. (Full article...) -
Apollo 13 (April 11–17, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank in the service module (SM) ruptured two days into the mission, disabling its electrical and life-support system. The crew, supported by backup systems on the lunar module (LM), instead looped around the Moon in a circumlunar trajectory and returned safely to Earth on April 17. The mission was commanded by Jim Lovell, with Jack Swigert as command module (CM) pilot and Fred Haise as lunar module (LM) pilot. Swigert was a late replacement for Ken Mattingly, who was grounded after exposure to rubella.
A routine stir of an oxygen tank ignited damaged wire insulation inside it, causing an explosion that vented the contents of both of the SM's oxygen tanks to space. Without oxygen, needed for breathing and for generating electric power, the SM's propulsion and life support systems could not operate. The CM's systems had to be shut down to conserve its remaining resources for reentry, forcing the crew to transfer to the LM as a lifeboat. With the lunar landing canceled, mission controllers worked to bring the crew home alive. (Full article...) -
Stephens City (/ˈstiːvənz/ STEE-vənz) is an incorporated town in the southern part of Frederick County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 2,016 at the time of the 2020 census, and an estimated population of 2,096 in 2022. Founded by Peter Stephens in the 1730s, the colonial town was chartered and named for Lewis Stephens (Peter's only son) in October 1758. It was originally settled by German Protestants from Heidelberg.
Stephens City is the second-oldest municipality in the Shenandoah Valley after nearby Winchester, which is about 5 mi (8 km) to the north. "Crossroads", the first free black community in the Valley in the pre-Civil War years, was founded east of town in the 1850s. Crossroads remained until the beginning of the Civil War when the freed African Americans either escaped or were recaptured. Stephens City was saved from intentional burning in 1864 by Union Major Joseph K. Stearns. The town has gone through several name changes in its history, starting as "Stephensburg", then "Newtown", and finally winding up as "Stephens City", though it nearly became "Pantops". Interstate 81 and U.S. Route 11 pass close to and through the town, respectively. (Full article...) -
The rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coastal rainbow trout (O. m. irideus) or Columbia River redband trout (O. m. gairdneri) that usually returns to freshwater to spawn after living two to three years in the ocean. Freshwater forms that have been introduced into the Great Lakes and migrate into tributaries to spawn are also called steelhead.
Adult freshwater stream rainbow trout average between 0.5 and 2.5 kilograms (1 and 5 lb), while lake-dwelling and anadromous forms may reach 9 kg (20 lb). Coloration varies widely based on subspecies, forms, and habitat. Adult fish are distinguished by a broad reddish stripe along the lateral line, from gills to the tail, which is most vivid in breeding males. (Full article...) -
Tropical Storm Henri was a moderate tropical storm that formed in 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 in early September, and crossed over Florida as a tropical depression. Its remnants later moved into the Mid-Atlantic before dissipating completely.
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, $21.5 million 2006 USD), but no deaths were reported. (Full article...)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_under_attack_and_burning_during_the_Battle_of_the_Eastern_Solomons_on_24_August_1942_(NH_97778).jpg)
.jpg)
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that Associate Justice John McLean is suspected of leaking internal United States Supreme Court deliberations in the landmark Dred Scott v. Sandford case to the New-York Tribune?
- ... that Bill Smyth fought as a Marine at Iwo Jima and later played four seasons for the Los Angeles Rams?
- ... that within years of Aza Arnold inventing a device to improve cotton roving, it was plagiarized across the United States and Europe?
- ... that opera composer and librettist Joseph Redding was also a chess expert and lawyer who argued a landmark decision before the United States Supreme Court?
- ... that Newark Liberty International Airport was the first commercial airport in the United States with a paved airstrip?
- ... that CBS executive Laurence Tisch found out on a tennis court in the U.S. Virgin Islands that rival network NBC had bought his company's affiliate station in Miami?
- ... that the United States' largest planned solar project, Mammoth Solar, is named after mastodon fossils rather than its size?
- ... that the area of responsibility of the 6th Military Police Group includes all of the United States west of the Mississippi River?
Selected society biography -
After the Civil War, Hancock's reputation as a soldier and his dedication to conservative constitutional principles made him a quadrennial Presidential possibility. His noted integrity was a counterpoint to the corruption of the era. This nationwide popularity led the Democrats to nominate him for President in 1880. Although he ran a strong campaign, Hancock was defeated by Republican James Garfield by the closest popular vote margin in American history.
Selected image -
-
Painting credit: Heinrich C. BerannHeinrich C. Berann (1915–1999) was an Austrian painter and cartographer. He achieved world fame with his panoramic maps that combined modern cartography with classical painting. Towards the end of his life, he created four panoramic posters of national parks which were published by the U.S. National Park Service. This 1994 panorama shows Denali National Park and Preserve in central Alaska, with Denali, the highest mountain on the continent, and the glaciers on its southern flanks. -
Phoenix, Arizona (1885)Image credit: C. J. DyerAn 1885 lithograph of a bird's-eye view of the city of Phoenix, Arizona, the fifth-most-populous city in the United States. The city was founded in 1868 on the site of lands formerly occupied by the Hohokam, who had abandoned the area roughly 400 years earlier. The name "Phoenix" was chosen as it described a city born from the ruins of a former civilization. -
Engraving: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restoration: Andrew ShivaJames K. Polk (1795–1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously served as the 13th speaker of the House of Representatives and as governor of Tennessee. A protege of Andrew Jackson, Polk was a member of the Democratic Party and an advocate of Jacksonian democracy and manifest destiny. During his presidency, the United States expanded significantly with the annexation of Texas, the Oregon Treaty, and the conclusion of the Mexican–American War. -
Credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew ShivaJames A. Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881, until his death by assassination six and a half months later. He had been shot at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C., on July 2 that year by Charles J. Guiteau, a disgruntled office seeker. According to some historians, Garfield might have survived his wounds had the doctors attending him had at their disposal today's medical research and techniques. Instead, they probed the wound with unsterilized fingers and equipment, trying to locate the bullet, and the resulting infection was a significant factor in his death.
This picture is a line engraving of Garfield, 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, which was reportedly given to Treasury Secretary Lyman J. Gage. -
Engraving credit: Charles Burt, after John Gadsby Chapman; restored by Andrew ShivaArtists producing art and engraving on United States banknotes transitioned to steel engraving, which enabled a rapid advance in banknote design and printing, during the 19th century. This vignette, engraved by Charles Burt for the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing, depicts the baptism of Pocahontas, and is a copy of an 1840 painting by John Gadsby Chapman on display in the United States Capitol rotunda. From 1875, the vignette was used on the reverse of twenty-dollar bills as part of the first issue of National Bank Notes. -
Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew ShivaHowell Cobb (September 7, 1815 – October 9, 1868) was an American politician and five-term member of the United States House of Representatives who served as Speaker of the House from 1849 to 1851. He also served as the 40th governor of Georgia from 1851 to 1853, and as Secretary of the Treasury under President James Buchanan from 1857 to 1860. Cobb is probably best known as one of the founders of the Confederacy, having served as president of the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States. This line engraving of Cobb was 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 42 secretaries of the treasury. -
Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew ShivaJames Madison (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat and philosopher who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. He is widely considered to be one of the most important Founding Fathers of the United States, and historians have generally ranked him as an above-average president.
This picture is a line engraving of Madison, 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, which was reportedly given to Treasury Secretary Lyman J. Gage. -
Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew ShivaAndrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American soldier and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. He has been widely revered in the United States as an advocate for democracy and the common man, but many of his actions proved divisive, garnering both fervent support and strong opposition from different sectors of society. His reputation has suffered since the 1970s, largely due to his pivotal role in the forcible removal of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands; however, surveys of historians and scholars have ranked Jackson favorably among U.S. presidents. -
Image: Nathaniel Currier; Restoration: Lise Broer"An Available Candidate: The One Qualification for a Whig President"—an editorial cartoon about the 1848 U.S. presidential election, showing a military man representing either Zachary Taylor or Winfield Scott, both of whom were generals in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War, atop a pile of skulls. The Whig Party only operated for about 20 years, but during their brief existence, they could boast a number of political luminaries such as Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and Abraham Lincoln, and would see three of their members become President of the United States (not including Lincoln, who was elected as a Republican). -
Photo credit: CacophonyThe skyline of Seattle, Washington at dusk, viewed from the south. The Columbia Center (middle) is the second tallest building on the West Coast of the United States, and the twelfth tallest in the United States. Smith Tower (left), completed 1914, was at one time the fourth tallest building in the world. The highway in the foreground is Interstate 5. -
Check: Harriet Taylor Upton (image courtesy of the National Museum of American History)A check from the National American Woman Suffrage Association, payable to Rachel Foster Avery, which was filled out by hand by the Association's treasurer Harriet Taylor Upton and countersigned by Susan B. Anthony as president and Alice Stone Blackwell as recording secretary.
NAWSA, formed on February 18, 1890, to work for women's suffrage in the United States, was formally led by Anthony between 1892 and 1900. During her presidency, the small organization focused predominantly on women's rights at the state level—much to Anthony's chagrin. It also sent delegates to the World's Congress of Representative Women at the World's Columbian Exposition. -
Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew ShivaAndrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American soldier and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. He has been widely revered in the United States as an advocate for democracy and the common man, but many of his actions proved divisive, garnering both fervent support and strong opposition from different sectors of society. His reputation has suffered since the 1970s, largely due to his pivotal role in the forcible removal of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands; however, surveys of historians and scholars have ranked Jackson favorably among U.S. presidents.
-
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. -
Engraving: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restoration: Andrew ShivaBenjamin Harrison (1833–1901) was a politician and lawyer who served as the 23rd President of the United States from 1889 to 1893. Before ascending to the presidency, Harrison established himself as a prominent local attorney, church leader, and politician in Indianapolis, Indiana, and as a Union Army soldier in the American Civil War. After a term in the U.S. Senate (1881–1887), the Republican Harrison was elected to the presidency in 1888. Hallmarks of his administration included unprecedented economic legislation, including the McKinley Tariff and Sherman Antitrust Act, as well as modernizing the U.S. Navy and admitting six new western states to the Union. -
Photo: Harris & Ewing; Restoration: Lise BroerTwo boys enjoy treats during the 1911 Easter egg roll at the White House lawn, the highest-profile event on Easter Monday in the United States. The day after Easter is a holiday in some largely Christian cultures, especially Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox cultures. The White House Easter egg roll has been held annually since 1814.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Selected culture biography -
Robinson was also known for his pursuits outside the baseball diamond. He was the first black television analyst in Major League Baseball, and the first black vice-president of a major American corporation. In the 1960s, he helped establish the Freedom National Bank, an African-American-owned financial institution based in Harlem, New York. In recognition of his achievements on and off the field, Robinson was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.
Selected location -
Historically a manufacturing center, education is the city's largest economic sector with Kent State University the city's, and one of the region's, largest employers. The city is governed by a council-manager system with a city manager, a nine-member city council, and a mayor. Kent has nearly 20 parks and preserves and hosts a number of annual festivals including ones related to Earth Day, folk music, and the U.S. Independence Day. In addition to the Kent State athletic teams, the city also hosts a number of amateur and local sporting events at various times during the year. Kent is part of the Cleveland-Akron media market and is the city of license for three local radio stations and three television stations and includes the regional affiliates for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
Selected quote -
Anniversaries for November 8
Selected cuisines, dishes and foods -
Native Americans, sometimes called American Indians, First Americans, or Indigenous Americans, are the Indigenous peoples of the land that the United States is located on. At its core, it includes peoples indigenous to the lower 48 states plus Alaska; it may include any Americans whose origins lie in any of the Indigenous peoples of North or South America. The United States Census Bureau publishes data about "American Indians and Alaska Natives", which it defines as anyone "having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America ... and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment." The census does not, however, enumerate "Native Americans" as such, noting that the latter term can encompass a broader set of groups, e.g. Native Hawaiians, which it tabulates separately. (Full article...)
Selected panorama -
Lower Manhattan as viewed from the Staten Island Ferry.
More did you know? -
- ...that members of the United States Marine Corps (pictured) that were stationed in Central America in the early 20th century have been credited with bringing the sport of baseball to Nicaragua, and popularizing it in the area?
- ...that the interchange between Interstate 476 and U.S. Route 30 in Radnor Township, Pennsylvania contains a large crushed-stone image of a griffin to commemorate Radnor's history as part of the Welsh Tract?
- ...that Negro league baseball executive Cum Posey organized the East-West League in 1932, but the league folded before the end of the season?
Topics
Categories
Select [►] to view subcategories
Featured content
List articles
|
Culture Education Economy |
Geography Government
History |
Law Media Natural history |
 People Protected areas Religion Transportation |
Tasks
Featured article candidatesTotal pages in content type is 7 Featured list candidatesTotal pages in content type is 2 Good article nominees
Total pages in content type is 72 | ||||
|
To create
To discuss on Articles for deletion
To expand To destub |
Assessment requests New articles Most Popular pages To find images |
Maintenance and cleanup
Other issues
| ||
Related portals
State-related
Region or city-related
.png){kind=small}
Sports-related
Transportation-related
Other US-related
Nearby areas
WikiProjects
| National |  | |
|---|---|---|
| States |
| |
| Territories / Federal District | ||
| Cities / Regions |
| |
| Borders | ||
| Culture / History / Sport |
| |
| Government | ||
| Society | ||
| Transportation | ||
| Related | ||
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
