Portal:United States
Parent Portals: Geography / North America / United States
Introduction
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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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The bombing of Yawata (Yahata kūshū) on the night of 15–16 June 1944 marked the beginning of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) strategic bombing campaign against the Japanese home islands during the Pacific War and was the first such raid to employ strategic bombers. The raid was undertaken by 75 Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers staging from bases in China. Only 47 of these aircraft dropped bombs near the raid's primary target, the Imperial Iron and Steel Works at Yawata in northern Kyūshū, and little damage was caused. Five B-29s were lost in accidents during the operation and two were destroyed by Japanese aircraft.
While the raid did not achieve its aims, it raised Japanese civilians' awareness that their country was being defeated and received positive media coverage in the United States. Intelligence gathered by the B-29s also revealed weaknesses in Japan's air defenses and the raid was the second of many on Japan. Yawata was attacked again by B-29s operating from China on 20 August 1944 and much of the city was destroyed in a firebombing raid conducted by B-29s based in the Mariana Islands on 8 August 1945. (Full article...) -
The 1804 dollar or Bowed Liberty Dollar was a dollar coin struck by the United States Mint, of which fifteen specimens are currently known to exist. Though dated 1804, none were struck in that year; all were minted in the 1830s or later. They were first created for use in special proof coin sets used as diplomatic gifts during Edmund Roberts' trips to Siam and Muscat.
Edmund Roberts distributed the coins in 1834 and 1835. Two additional sets were ordered for government officials in Japan and Cochinchina, but Roberts died in Macau before they could be delivered. Besides those 1804 dollars produced for inclusion in the diplomatic sets, the Mint struck some examples which were used to trade with collectors for pieces desired for the Mint's coin cabinet. Numismatists first became aware of the 1804 dollar in 1842, when an illustration of one example appeared in a publication authored by two Mint employees. A collector subsequently acquired one example from the Mint in 1843. In response to numismatic demand, several examples were surreptitiously produced by Mint officials. Unlike the original coins, these later restrikes lacked the correct edge lettering, although later examples released from the Mint bore the correct lettering. The coins produced for the diplomatic mission, those struck surreptitiously without edge lettering and those with lettering are known collectively as "Class I", "Class II" and "Class III" dollars, respectively. (Full article...) -
Hurricane Lane was a powerful tropical cyclone that brought torrential rainfall and strong winds to Hawaii during late August 2018. The storm was the wettest on record in Hawaii, with peak rainfall accumulations of 58 inches (1,473 mm) along the eastern slopes of Mauna Kea. The twelfth named storm, sixth hurricane, fourth major hurricane, and the first of three Category 5 hurricanes of the record-breaking 2018 Pacific hurricane season, Lane originated from an area of low pressure that formed well southwest of Mexico on August 13. Tracking west through a region of favorable atmospheric and oceanic conditions, the system steadily intensified over the following days. It reached an initial peak as a Category 4 hurricane on August 18. Temporarily inhibited by more hostile conditions, the hurricane weakened slightly before regaining strength and reaching Category 5 status on August 22 to the south of Hawaii. Lane peaked with winds of 160 mph (255 km/h) and a barometric pressure of 926 mbar (hPa; 27.34 inHg). Thereafter, the hurricane turned north and slowed. During this period, torrential rains battered much of the Hawaiian Islands. Unfavorable conditions again affected the hurricane, and it degraded to a tropical depression by August 28 before dissipating the following day.
Lane prompted the issuance of hurricane watches and warnings for every island in Hawaii. From August 22 to 26, Lane brought heavy rain to much of the Hawaiian Windward Islands, which caused flash flooding and mudslides. Effects were most significant in and around Hilo where multiple neighborhoods were flooded. Across the Big Island, 159 structures were damaged or destroyed. Strong winds downed trees and power lines on Maui, and brush fires ignited on both Maui and Oahu. One fatality occurred on Kauai. Landslides and flooding damaged roads statewide; repairs concluded in April 2019. Total economic losses from the hurricane exceeded $250 million. In September, President Donald Trump declared much of Hawaii a disaster area; the Federal Emergency Management Agency ultimately provided about $10 million in aid. (Full article...) -
Joseph Havens Richards SJ (born Havens Cowles Richards; November 8, 1851 – June 9, 1923) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who became a prominent president of Georgetown University, where he instituted major reforms and significantly enhanced the quality and stature of the university. Richards was born to a prominent Ohio family; his father was an Episcopal priest who controversially converted to Catholicism and had the infant Richards secretly baptized as a Catholic.
Richards became the president of Georgetown University in 1888 and undertook significant construction, such as the completion of Healy Hall, which included work on Gaston Hall and Riggs Library, and the building of Dahlgren Chapel. Richards sought to transform Georgetown into a modern, comprehensive university. To that end, he bolstered the graduate programs, expanded the School of Medicine and Law School, established the Georgetown University Hospital, improved the astronomical observatory, and recruited prominent faculty. He also navigated tensions with the newly established Catholic University of America, which was located in the same city. Richards fought anti-Catholic discrimination by Ivy League universities, resulting in Harvard Law School admitting graduates of some Jesuit universities. (Full article...) -
The Oregon State Capitol is the building housing the state legislature and the offices of the governor, secretary of state, and treasurer of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in the state capital, Salem. Constructed from 1936 to 1938 and expanded in 1977, the current building is the third to house the Oregon state government in Salem. The first two capitols in Salem were destroyed by fire, one in 1855 and the other in 1935.
New York architects Trowbridge & Livingston conceived the current structure's Art Deco stripped classical design in association with Francis Keally. Much of the interior and exterior is made of marble. The Oregon State Capitol was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 29, 1988. (Full article...) -
The 2012 Budweiser Shootout was the first exhibition stock car race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The 34th annual running of the Budweiser Shootout, it was held on February 18, 2012 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, before a crowd of 82,000 people. Kyle Busch of the Joe Gibbs Racing team won the 82-lap race. It was Busch's first victory in the event; Stewart-Haas Racing driver Tony Stewart finished second with Richard Petty Motorsports racer Marcos Ambrose third.
Pole position driver Martin Truex Jr. was immediately passed by Jeff Gordon before the first turn, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. led at the end of the first lap. On the ninth lap, a multiple-car accident prompted the first caution flag. Sixteen laps later the second caution was issued, with Jamie McMurray leading. During the caution period, all teams made pit stops. On lap 62 Gordon reclaimed the lead, holding it until he was involved in an accident (the race's final caution). Stewart led at the final restart, holding it until the final lap when Busch passed him to win. Five cautions were issued during the race, which saw twenty-six lead changes by thirteen different drivers and attracted 7.46 million television viewers. (Full article...) -
Harold Tommy Amaker Jr. (/ˈæməkər/; born June 6, 1965) is an American college basketball coach and the head coach of the Harvard University men's basketball team. He has also coached for the University of Michigan and Seton Hall University. He played point guard and later served as an assistant coach at Duke University under Mike Krzyzewski. An All-American player, Amaker set numerous records and earned many honors and awards. He took Seton Hall to the post season in each of his four seasons as their coach, helped Michigan win the National Invitation Tournament the year after a probationary ban from postseason play, and had the three highest single-season win totals in the history of Harvard basketball, the school's first six Ivy League championships and first NCAA tournament victory.
Amaker was a high school basketball star at W. T. Woodson High School from 1979 to 1983 under coach Paul (Red) Jenkins. Amaker led the Woodson Cavaliers to four straight Northern District titles, including victories over the national powerhouse DeMatha Catholic High School. A McDonald's All-American, Amaker also earned the Wooden Defensive Player of the Year award in 1983, awarded to the nation's best high school defensive player. He averaged almost 18 points, and contributed 7.5 assists and 3.5 steals per game while at Woodson. In December 1992, the Connection named Amaker to the Connection Dream Team, as a point guard.McDonald's All-American and a Parade All-American. As a college basketball player, he set most of the assists records and many steals records for Duke basketball. He also set the Atlantic Coast Conference single-season games played and games started records. Among his numerous accolades, he was the first winner of the NABC Defensive Player of the Year, and he was a third team All-American. (Full article...) -
Kes is a fictional character played by Jennifer Lien on the American science fiction television show Star Trek: Voyager. The series follows the crew of the starship USS Voyager, stranded far from home and struggling to get back to Earth. Kes joins the crew in the pilot episode "Caretaker", opening an aeroponics garden and working as the medical assistant to the artificial intelligence known as the Doctor. She is a member of a telepathic alien species known as the Ocampa who have latent psychic abilities and a life span of only nine years. Her storylines focus on encouraging the Doctor to develop his humanity and dealing with her Talaxian boyfriend Neelix's jealousy. She also seeks to expand upon her mental capabilities, leaving in the fourth season after her powers threaten to destroy the ship. She reappears in a season six episode and features in Star Trek: Voyager novels and short stories.
Voyager's creators Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor designed Kes to be a rapidly-aging character who would provide audiences with a different perspective on time. Although Kes is portrayed as fragile and innocent, she is also shown as having hidden strength and maturity. Voyager's producers reluctantly fired Lien after her personal issues affected her reliability on set. At the time, this was not openly discussed and her departure was attributed to other reasons; these ranged from Lien voluntarily leaving to pursue other roles to her being removed to make room for Jeri Ryan's introduction as Seven of Nine. (Full article...) -
The Battle for Henderson Field, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal or Battle of Lunga Point by the Japanese, took place from 23 to 26 October 1942 on and around Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. The battle was a land, sea, and air battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II and was fought between the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy and Allied forces, mainly U.S. Marines and Army. The battle was the last of three major land offensives conducted by the Japanese during the Guadalcanal campaign.
In the battle, U.S. Marine and Army forces repulsed an attack by the Japanese 17th Army under the command of Lieutenant General Harukichi Hyakutake.
The American forces were defending the Lunga perimeter that guarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, which the Allies had captured from the Japanese in landings on Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942. Hyakutake's force was sent to Guadalcanal in response to the Allied landings with the mission of recapturing the airfield and driving the Allied forces off the island. His soldiers conducted numerous assaults over three days at various locations around the Lunga perimeter, all repulsed with heavy Japanese losses. At the same time, Allied aircraft operating from Henderson Field successfully defended American positions on Guadalcanal from attacks by Japanese naval air and sea forces. (Full article...) -
Bernard A. Maguire SJ (February 11, 1818 – April 26, 1886) was an Irish-American Catholic priest and Jesuit who served twice as the president of Georgetown University. Born in Ireland, he emigrated to the United States at the age of six, and his family settled in Maryland. Maguire attended Saint John's College in Frederick, Maryland, and then entered the Society of Jesus in 1837. He continued his studies at Georgetown University, where he also taught and was prefect, until his ordination to the priesthood in 1851.
In 1852, Maguire was appointed president of Georgetown University. His tenure is regarded as successful; new buildings were erected, the number of students increased, and the preparatory division was partially separated from Georgetown College. Upon the end of his presidency in 1858, he engaged in pastoral and missionary work in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, and developed a reputation as a skilled preacher. In the aftermath of the American Civil War, which devastated the university, Maguire again became president of Georgetown in 1866. The long-planned Georgetown Law School was established at the end of his presidency. His term ended in 1870, and he returned to missionary work, traveling throughout the country. He died in Philadelphia in 1886. (Full article...) -
Interstate 182 (I-182) is an east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Washington. It serves as a connector from I-82 to the Tri-Cities region that crosses the Columbia River on the Interstate 182 Bridge between Richland and Pasco. I-182 is 15 miles (24 km) long and entirely concurrent with U.S. Route 12 (US 12); it also intersects State Route 240 (SR 240) and US 395.
Business leaders in the Tri-Cities began lobbying for a freeway in 1958 after early alignments for I-82 were routed away from the area. I-182 was created by the federal government in 1969 as a compromise to the routing dispute, which allowed for direct access to the Tri-Cities and a bypass for other traffic. The new freeway would also include construction of a bridge between Richland and Pasco, proposed since the 1940s at the site of an earlier cable ferry that ran until 1931. (Full article...) -
Alien vs. Predator (stylized as AVP: Alien vs. Predator) is a 2004 science fiction action horror film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, and starring Sanaa Lathan, Raoul Bova, Lance Henriksen, Ewen Bremner, Colin Salmon, and Tommy Flanagan. It is the first film installment of the Alien vs. Predator franchise, the fifth film in the Alien franchise and third film of the Predator franchise, adapting a crossover bringing together the eponymous creatures of the Alien and Predator series, a concept which originated in a 1989 comic book written by Randy Stradley and Chris Warner. Anderson wrote the story, with the creators of the Alien franchise, Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett receiving additional story credit due to the incorporation of elements from the Alien series, and Anderson and Shane Salerno adapted the story into a screenplay. Their writing was influenced by Aztec mythology, the comic book series, and the writings of Erich von Däniken. In the film, scientists are caught in the crossfire of an ancient battle between Aliens and Predators as they attempt to escape a bygone pyramid.
Alien vs. Predator was theatrically released on 13 August 2004. The film received negative critical reviews, but grossed $177.4 million worldwide against a production budget of $60–70 million. A direct sequel, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, was released in 2007. (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...) -
Thomas Carmichael Hindman Jr. (January 28, 1828 – September 28, 1868) was an American lawyer, politician, and a senior officer of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, he later moved to Mississippi and became involved in politics. He served in the Mexican–American War from 1846 to 1848. Hindman practiced law and in 1853 was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives. After his term expired in 1854, he moved to Helena, Arkansas where there were more opportunities for his political ambitions. Hindman opposed the Know-Nothing party and Arkansas's ruling Conway-Johnson dynasty. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1858, and supported slavery (and was a slaveholder himself) and secession. He was assassinated during the Reconstruction era.
Once the American Civil War began in 1861 and Arkansas seceded, Hindman joined the Confederate States Army, first commanding the 2nd Arkansas Infantry Regiment, then a brigade, and then an ad-hoc division at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862; he was wounded during the battle. Following Shiloh, Hindman was promoted to major general and sent to the Trans-Mississippi Department to command Arkansas, Missouri, the Indian Territory, and part of Louisiana. As commander of the region, his policies were sometimes legally questionable and were unpopular, although they were successful in building up the district from a basically indefensible state. Public outcry led to Hindman's removal from his regional command. He was defeated at the Battle of Prairie Grove in December. Transferred to the Army of Tennessee in 1863, he led a division at the Battle of Chickamauga in September, where he was again wounded. After recovering, he commanded a division during the early stages of the Atlanta campaign although he wished to be transferred elsewhere. (Full article...) -
DeLancey Walker Gill (July 1, 1859 – August 31, 1940) was an American drafter, landscape painter, and photographer. Gill first became noted for his landscape illustrations and watercolors, featuring subjects such as Native American pueblos in addition to his main focus on Washington, D.C. Characterized as detailed and meticulous in his landscapes, Gill captured views of working-class and rural areas of Washington not commonly depicted in art of the period. Despite his other work, he continued to paint throughout his life, and taught art classes at the Corcoran School.
Gill was employed as an illustrator and draftsman for the United States Treasury, followed by similar work for the United States Geological Survey. He was director of the Division of Illustration at the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) from 1889 to 1932. Following the resignation of two of the Smithsonian's photographers in 1898, Gill, while not trained in photography, took over these duties at the BAE. In this role, he produced thousands of photographs of Native American delegations for the Bureau, including notable figures such as Geronimo and Chief Joseph. Gill's photographic work was showcased in Smithsonian publications, the Panama–Pacific Exposition and on a 1923 postage stamp. His portraiture has been praised for its pictorialist qualities and strength of design. He frequently gave clothing (at times outdated or misattributed) to Native American delegates. While Gill's costuming of delegates was considered salvage ethnography in the period, it has been criticized in modern studies for reinforcing contemporary stereotypes and misrepresenting his subjects and their cultures. (Full article...) -
Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. (23 February 1915 – 1 November 2007) was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force. He is best known as the aircraft captain who flew the B-29 Superfortress known as the Enola Gay (named after his mother) when it dropped a Little Boy, the first of two atomic bombs used in warfare, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
Tibbets enlisted in the United States Army in 1937 and qualified as a pilot in 1938. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he flew anti-submarine patrols over the Atlantic. In February 1942, he became the commanding officer of the 340th Bombardment Squadron of the 97th Bombardment Group, which was equipped with the Boeing B-17. In July 1942, the 97th became the first heavy bombardment group to be deployed as part of the Eighth Air Force, and Tibbets became deputy group commander. He flew the lead plane in the first American daylight heavy bomber mission against German-occupied Europe on 17 August 1942, and the first American raid of more than 100 bombers in Europe on 9 October 1942. Tibbets was chosen to fly Major General Mark W. Clark and Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower to Gibraltar. After flying 43 combat missions, he became the assistant for bomber operations on the staff of the Twelfth Air Force. (Full article...) -
Kenesaw Mountain Landis (/ˈkɛnɪsɔː ˈmaʊntɪn ˈlændɪs/; November 20, 1866 – November 25, 1944) was an American jurist who served as a United States federal judge from 1905 to 1922 and the first commissioner of baseball from 1920 until his death. He is remembered for his resolution of the Black Sox Scandal, in which he expelled eight members of the Chicago White Sox from organized baseball for conspiring to lose the 1919 World Series and repeatedly refused their reinstatement requests. His iron rule over baseball in the near quarter-century of his commissionership is generally credited with restoring public confidence in the game.
Landis was born in Millville, Ohio. Raised in Indiana, he became a lawyer, and then personal secretary to Walter Q. Gresham, the new United States Secretary of State, in 1893. He returned to private practice after Gresham died in office. (Full article...) -
The Port Chicago disaster was a deadly munitions explosion of the ship SS E. A. Bryan on July 17, 1944, at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Port Chicago, California, United States. Munitions being loaded onto a cargo vessel bound for the Pacific Theater of Operations detonated, killing 320 sailors and civilians and injuring at least 390 others.
A month later, the unsafe conditions prompted hundreds of servicemen to refuse to load munitions, an act known as the Port Chicago Mutiny. More than 200 were convicted of various charges. Fifty of these men—called the "Port Chicago 50"—were convicted of mutiny and sentenced to 15 years of prison and hard labor, as well as a dishonorable discharge. Forty-seven of the 50 were released in January 1946; the remaining three served additional months in prison. During and after the mutiny court-martial, questions were raised about the fairness and legality of the proceedings. Owing to public pressure, the United States Navy reconvened the courts-martial board in 1945—that board re-affirmed convictions. Those convictions stood until 2024, when the Navy exonerated all 256 men convicted during the courts-martial, including the Port Chicago 50. (Full article...) -
The Olympic marmot (Marmota olympus) is a rodent in the squirrel family, Sciuridae. It occurs only in the U.S. state of Washington, at the middle elevations of the Olympic Peninsula. The closest relatives of this species are the hoary marmot and the Vancouver Island marmot. In 2009, it was declared the official endemic mammal of Washington state.
This marmot is about the size of a domestic cat, typically weighing about 8 kg (18 lb) in summer. The species shows the greatest sexual dimorphism found in marmots, with adult males weighing on average 23% more than females. It can be identified by a wide head, small eyes and ears, stubby legs, and a long, bushy tail. Its sharp, rounded claws aid in digging burrows. The coat color changes with the season and with age, but an adult marmot's coat is brown all over with small white areas for most of the year. (Full article...) -
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 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...) -
William McSherry SJ (July 19, 1799 – December 18, 1839) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who became the president of Georgetown College and a Jesuit provincial superior. The son of Irish immigrants, McSherry was educated at Georgetown College, where he entered the Society of Jesus. As one of the first Americans to complete the traditional Jesuit course of training, he was sent to Rome to be educated for the priesthood. There, he made several discoveries of significant, forgotten holdings in the Jesuit archives, which improved historians' knowledge of the early European settling of Maryland and of the language of Indian tribes there.
McSherry became the first provincial superior of the Jesuits' Maryland Province from 1833 to 1837, and laid the groundwork for the sale of the province's slaves in 1838. He then briefly became the president of Georgetown College in 1837, and was simultaneously made provincial superior for a second time in 1839, despite suffering illness to which he would succumb several months later. (Full article...) -
Garret Augustus Hobart (June 3, 1844 – November 21, 1899) was the 24th vice president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his death in 1899, under President William McKinley. A member of the Republican Party, Hobart was an influential New Jersey businessman, politician, and political operative prior to his vice presidency.
Hobart was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, on the Jersey Shore, and grew up in nearby Marlboro. He attended Rutgers College in New Brunswick, and read law under Paterson-based attorney Socrates Tuttle. He both studied with Tuttle and married his daughter, Jennie. Although he rarely set foot in a courtroom, Hobart became wealthy as a corporate lawyer. Hobart served in local governmental positions, and then successfully ran for office as a Republican, serving in both the New Jersey General Assembly, where he was elected Speaker in 1874, and the New Jersey Senate, where he became its president in 1881. (Full article...) -
Fight Club is a 1999 American film directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter. It is based on the 1996 novel Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. Norton plays the unnamed narrator, who is discontented with his white-collar job. He forms a "fight club" with a soap salesman, Tyler Durden (Pitt), and becomes embroiled with an impoverished but beguiling woman, Marla Singer (Bonham Carter).
Palahniuk's novel was optioned by Fox 2000 Pictures producer Laura Ziskin, who hired Jim Uhls to write the film adaptation. Fincher was selected because of his enthusiasm for the story. He developed the script with Uhls and sought screenwriting advice from the cast and others in the film industry. It was filmed in and around Los Angeles from July to December 1998. He and the cast compared the film to Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and The Graduate (1967), with a theme of conflict between Generation X and the value system of advertising. (Full article...) -
Cover of the April–May 1939 issue; artwork by Norman Saunders
Marvel Science Stories was an American pulp magazine that ran for a total of fifteen issues in two separate runs, both edited by Robert O. Erisman. The publisher for the first run was Postal Publications, and the second run was published by Western Publishing; both companies were owned by Abraham and Martin Goodman. The first issue was dated August 1938, and carried stories with more sexual content than was usual for the genre, including several stories by Henry Kuttner, under his own name and also under pseudonyms. Reaction was generally negative, with one reader referring to Kuttner's story "The Time Trap" as "trash". This was the first of several titles featuring the word "Marvel", and Marvel Comics came from the same stable in the following year.
The magazine was canceled after the April 1941 issue, but when a boom in science fiction magazines began in 1950, the publishers revived it. The first issue of the new series was dated November 1950; a further six issues appeared, the last dated May 1952. In addition to Kuttner, contributors to the first run included Arthur J. Burks and Jack Williamson; the second run published stories by Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Jack Vance, and L. Sprague de Camp, among others. In the opinion of science fiction historian Joseph Marchesani, the quality of the second incarnation of the magazine was superior to the first, but it was unable to compete with the new higher-quality magazines that had appeared in the interim. (Full article...) -
American Writers is a work of literary criticism by American writer and critic John Neal. Published by Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine in five installments between September 1824 and February 1825, it is recognized by scholars as the first history of American literature and the first substantial work of criticism concerning US authors. It is Neal's longest critical work and at least 120 authors are covered, based entirely on Neal's memory. With no notes or books for reference, Neal made multiple factually inaccurate claims and provided coverage of many authors that modern scholars criticize as disproportionate to their role in American literature. Scholars nevertheless praise the staying power of Neal's opinions, many of which are reflected by other critics decades later, notably "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses" by Mark Twain. Theories of poetry and prose in American Writers foreshadowed and likely influenced later works by Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman. Neal argued American literature relied too much on British precedent and had failed to develop its own voice. He offered sharp criticism of many authors while simultaneously urging critics not to offer writers from the US undeserved praise, lest it stifle the development of a truly distinct American literature. Poe's later critical essays on literature reflected these strictures.
Neal wrote the series in London, where he lived between 1824 and 1827. Having moved there from Baltimore, his goals were to establish himself as America's leading literary figure, encourage the development of a uniquely American writing style, and reverse British disdain for literature from the US. He soon became the first American published in any British literary journal, American Writers being the longest and best-remembered of his works on American topics in multiple UK periodicals. He wrote for Scottish publisher William Blackwood under an English pseudonym, which Neal assumed was convincing. Blackwood and British readers likely realized they were reading the work of an American, and multiple leading American periodicals revealed Neal as the author before the series was completed. (Full article...)
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Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University Library helped to create a public domain archive of sounds from Yellowstone National Park?
- ... that the Chinook Indian Nation became a federally recognized tribe in 2001, but had its status revoked the following year?
- ... that Nancy Reagan jumped out of her bath when she heard that her husband had been elected President of the United States?
- ... that the names of Harvey Meyerhoff, Elie Wiesel, and Bill Clinton are carved into the cornerstone of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, according to Meyerhoff's daughter?
- ... that Bill Shearer, a leader of the segregationist George Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign, also advocated for ballot access for the Socialist Workers Party?
- ... that Raymond Bushland and Edward F. Knipling won the 1992 World Food Prize for developing the sterile insect technique which eliminated parasitic screw-worms from the United States?
- ... that the success of the book Fifth Chinese Daughter led to the U.S. State Department translating the book into various Asian languages and sending its author on a speaking tour across Asia?
- ... that the January 2023 election of the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives was the longest speaker election since December 1859 – February 1860?
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On December 1, 1955, Parks became famous for refusing to obey bus driver James Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger. This action of civil disobedience started the Montgomery bus boycott, which is one of the largest movements against racial segregation. In addition, this launched Martin Luther King Jr., who was involved with the boycott, to prominence in the civil rights movement. She has had a lasting legacy worldwide.
Although Parks' autobiography recounts that some of her earliest memories are of the kindness of white strangers, her situation made it impossible to ignore racism. When the Ku Klux Klan marched down the street in front of her house, Parks recalls her grandfather guarding the front door with a shotgun. The Montgomery Industrial School, founded and staffed by white northerners for black children, was burned twice by arsonists, and its faculty was ostracized by the white community.
Parks received most of her national accolades very late in life, with relatively few awards and honors being given to her until many decades after the Montgomery bus boycott. For example, the Rosa Parks Congressional Gold Medal bears the legend "Mother of the Modern Day Civil Rights Movement".
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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. -
Photo: Pete SouzaSituation Room is a photograph taken by White House photographer Pete Souza in its namesake, the White House Situation Room, at 4:06 pm on May 1, 2011. It depicts U.S. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with members of the national security team, watching live drone feed of Operation Neptune Spear. A Navy SEAL team assaulted the compound of Osama bin Laden, the founder and head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, in Abbottabad, Pakistan. This concluded an almost decade-long hunt for bin Laden following the September 11 attacks in 2001. -
Photo credit: Alexander GardnerDavid Herold, one of the conspirators in the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, photographed at the Washington Navy Yard after his arrest in 1865. Herold assisted John Wilkes Booth to the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd, where Booth's broken leg (sustained after jumping from the balcony of Ford's Theatre) was set. He remained with Booth and continually aided him until the authorities caught up with them. Herold surrendered to the police, but Booth refused to lay down his arms and was shot dead. Herold was later hanged for his role in the plot. -
Photo credit: United States ArmyAfter being forced to leave the Philippines after the Japanese victory in 1942, General Douglas MacArthur vowed, "I shall return." 31 months later, he waded ashore at Palo Beach at the outset of the Battle of Leyte, fulfilling his pledge as the United States retook the island. -
Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew ShivaZachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was the 12th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1849, until his death in office the following year. He was previously a career officer in the United States Army, rose to the rank of major general and became a national hero as a result of his victories in the Mexican–American War. As a result, he won election to the White House despite his vague political beliefs.
On July 4, 1850, Taylor reportedly consumed copious amounts of raw fruit and iced milk while attending holiday celebrations during a fundraising event at the Washington Monument. Over the course of several days, he became severely ill with an unknown digestive ailment, several of his cabinet members being similarly affected. Despite treatment, Taylor died five days later. His vice-president Millard Fillmore assumed the presidency and completed his term in office. -
Photograph credit: Associated Press; restored by Adam CuerdenRosa Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement, best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks rejected a bus driver's order to relinquish her seat in the "colored section" to a white passenger after the whites-only section was filled, inspiring the African-American community to boycott the Montgomery buses for more than a year. Her act of defiance and the boycott became important symbols of the civil rights movement and resistance to racial segregation. After her conviction for disorderly conduct, her appeal became bogged down in the state courts, but the federal Montgomery bus lawsuit, Browder v. Gayle, succeeded in overturning bus segregation in November 1956. Upon her death, Parks became the first woman to lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol rotunda.
This photograph of Parks being fingerprinted was taken on February 22, 1956, when she was arrested again, along with 73 others, after a grand jury indicted 113 African Americans for organizing the Montgomery bus boycott. -
Photo credit: Dorothea LangeA 1935 photo of a family of migrant workers in California, United States, during the Great Depression. In the United States, the term "migrant worker" is commonly used to describe low-wage workers performing manual labor in the agriculture field. During the Great Depression, Okies who fled the Dust Bowl were a significant source of temporary farm labor. Outside the U.S., the modern definition of the term by the United Nations includes anyone working outside of their home country. -
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 credit: Edmonston; restored by Adam CuerdenLillian Ascough (1880–1974) was an American suffragist. She served as the Connecticut chair of the National Woman's Party (NWP) and the vice president of the Michigan branch of the NWP. She was a speaker in the Suffrage Special, an event created by the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage in 1916, which toured the "free states" which had already allowed women's suffrage in the United States. This formal photographic portrait of Ascough was taken around 1915 and published in the magazine The Suffragist. -
Photograph credit: J. Malcolm GreanyAnsel Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist, known for his black-and-white images of the American West. As a child, he visited Yosemite National Park with his family and was given his first camera. He was later tasked by the United States Department of the Interior to take photographs of national parks. For this work, and for his persistent advocacy, which helped expand the National Park system, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980. -
Photograph credit: NASA; restored by CoffeeandcrumbsSally Ride (May 26, 1951 – July 23, 2012) was an American physicist and astronaut. She joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983 became the first American woman in space. She was the third woman in space overall, after Soviet cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova (1963) and Svetlana Savitskaya (1982). Ride had completed eight months of training for her third flight when the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred. She served on the two panels that investigated this accident and the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. -
Engraving: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restoration: Andrew ShivaRutherford B. Hayes (1822–1893) was an American soldier and politician who was elected the 19th President of the United States, serving from 1877 to 1881. The election, at the end of the Reconstruction Era, was highly contentious and he was declared the winner through the Compromise of 1877. As president he ended Army support for Republican state governments in the South, promoted civil service reform, and attempted to reconcile the divisions left over from the Civil War and Reconstruction. -
Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew ShivaJohn Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of the American Revolution that achieved independence from Great Britain, and he served as the first vice president of the United States. Adams was a dedicated diarist and regularly corresponded with many important figures in early American history, including his wife and adviser, Abigail. His letters and other papers serve as an important source of historical information about the era.
This picture is a line engraving of Adams, 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. -
Photo credit: Johnson & RogersA panorama of Dallas, Texas, April 1, 1913. Dallas, which was incorporated on February 2, 1856, is the third-largest city in the state of Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. -
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.
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Selected culture biography -
Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields, such as cosmology and cryptography. Poe and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature, music, films, and television. A number of his homes are dedicated museums today.
Selected location -
The city's economy is currently dominated by education, high tech, and biotechnology. Average home prices and property taxes are well above the state and national medians. The city is also known for its political liberalism and its large number of restaurants and performance venues.
Ann Arbor was founded in January 1824 by John Allen and Elisha Rumsey, both of whom were land speculators. There are various accounts concerning the origin of the settlement's name; one states that Allen and Rumsey decided to name it "Annarbour" for their spouses, both named Ann, and for the stands of burr oak in the 640 acres (260 ha) of land they had purchased for $800 from the federal government. The regional Native Americans named the settlement Kaw-goosh-kaw-nick, after the sound of Allen's saw mill.
The Ann Arbor Land Company, a group of speculators, set aside 40 acres (16 ha) of undeveloped land and offered it to the State of Michigan as the site of the state capital, but lost the bid to Lansing. In 1837, the property was accepted instead as the site of the University of Michigan, forever linking Ann Arbor and its history with the university.
Selected quote -
Anniversaries for February 8
- 1693 – The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia is granted a charter by King William III and Queen Mary II. It is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States after Harvard University.
- 1820 – William Tecumseh Sherman (pictured), the American Union Army general who was later recognized by military historians as "the first modern general", is born.
- 1837 – Richard Johnson becomes the first Vice President of the United States chosen by the United States Senate.
- 1910 – The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce.
- 1922 – President Warren G. Harding introduces the first radio in the White House.
- 1960 – The first eight brass star plaques are installed in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Selected cuisines, dishes and foods -
The cuisine of the antebellum United States characterizes American eating and cooking habits from about 1776 to 1861. During this period different regions of the United States adapted to their surroundings and cultural backgrounds to create specific regional cuisines, modernization of technology led to changes in food consumption, and evolution of taverns into hotels led to the beginnings of an American temperance movement. By the beginning of the Civil War, the United States cuisine and food culture could define itself separately from that of the rest of the world. (Full article...)
Selected panorama -
The Chicago skyline as seen from Adler Planetarium.
More did you know? -
- ...that the Liberty ship SS George Washington Carver, (pictured) the second named for an African American, was sponsored by singer Lena Horne and constructed in 42 days from start to delivery?
- ...that Jacob Piatt Dunn in 1886 wrote the first scholarly history concerning the Indian Wars?
- ...that the Delaware at-large congressional district is the oldest congressional district in the country?
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