Portal:United States

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Parent Portals: Geography / North America / United States

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Introduction

Flag of the United States of America

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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  A 1980 Grant Wood one ounce gold medallion

  
  
  American Arts Commemorative Series Medallions are a series of ten gold bullion medallions that were produced by the United States Mint from 1980 to 1984. They were sold to compete with the South African Krugerrand and other bullion coins.
  
  The series was proposed by North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms after the United States Department of the Treasury began selling portions of the national stockpile of gold. Iowa Representative Jim Leach suggested that the medallions depict notable American artists. President Jimmy Carter signed the bill containing the authorizing legislation into law on November 10, 1978, despite objections from Treasury officials. (Full article...)
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  Major General Frederick Steele, who commanded the expedition

  
  Steele's Greenville expedition took place from April 2 to 25, 1863, during the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. Union forces commanded by Major General Frederick Steele occupied Greenville, Mississippi, and operated in the surrounding area, to divert Confederate attention from a more important movement made in Louisiana by Major General John A. McClernand's corps. Minor skirmishing between the two sides occurred, particularly in the early stages of the expedition. Over 1,000 slaves were freed during the operation, and large quantities of supplies and animals were destroyed or removed from the area. Along with other operations, including Grierson's Raid, Steele's Greenville expedition distracted Confederate attention from McClernand's movement. Some historians have suggested that the Greenville expedition represented the Union war policy's shifting more towards expanding the war to Confederate social and economic structures and the Confederate homefront. (Full article...)
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  William McKinley (January 29, 1843 – September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party, he led a realignment that made Republicans largely dominant in the industrial states and nationwide for decades. He successfully led the U.S. in the Spanish–American War, overseeing a period of American expansionism, with the annexations of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, and Hawaii. McKinley also rejected inflationary plans such as free silver in favor of keeping the nation on the gold standard, and raised protective tariffs.
  
  McKinley was the last president to have served in the American Civil War; he was the only one to begin his service as an enlisted man and ended it as a brevet major. After the war, he settled in Canton, Ohio, where he practiced law and married Ida Saxton. In 1876, McKinley was elected to Congress, where he became the Republican expert on the protective tariff, which he believed would bring prosperity. His 1890 McKinley Tariff was highly controversial and, together with a Democratic redistricting aimed at gerrymandering him out of office, led to his defeat in the Democratic landslide of 1890. He was elected governor of Ohio in 1891 and 1893, steering a moderate course between capital and labor interests. He secured the Republican nomination for president in 1896 amid a deep economic depression and defeated his Democratic rival William Jennings Bryan after a front porch campaign in which he advocated "sound money" (the gold standard unless altered by international agreement) and promised that high tariffs would restore prosperity. Historians regard McKinley's victory as a realigning election in which the political stalemate of the post-Civil War era gave way to the Republican-dominated Fourth Party System, beginning with the Progressive Era. (Full article...)
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  Angelou in 1993

  
  Maya Angelou (/ˈændʒəloʊ/ ^ⓘ AN-jə-loh; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. Angelou's series of seven autobiographies focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her international recognition and acclaim.
  
  She became a poet and writer after a string of odd jobs during her young adulthood. These included fry cook, sex worker, nightclub performer, Porgy and Bess cast member, Southern Christian Leadership Conference coordinator, and correspondent in Egypt and Ghana during the decolonization of Africa. Angelou was also an actress, writer, director, and producer of plays, movies, and public television programs. In 1982, she was named the first Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Angelou was active in the Civil Rights Movement and worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Beginning in the 1990s, she made approximately 80 appearances a year on the lecture circuit, something she continued into her eighties. In 1993, Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" (1993) at the first inauguration of Bill Clinton, making her the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961. (Full article...)
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  The Masked Singer (abbreviated as TMS) is an American reality singing competition television series that premiered on Fox on January 2, 2019. It is part of the Masked Singer franchise that originated from the South Korean version of the show King of Mask Singer, which features celebrities singing songs while wearing head-to-toe costumes and face masks concealing their identities. Hosted by Nick Cannon, the program employs panelists who guess the celebrities' identities by interpreting clues provided to them throughout each season. Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, Rita Ora, and Robin Thicke appear in each episode and vote alongside an audience for their favorite singer after all performances have concluded. The first least popular is eliminated, taking off their mask to reveal their identity.
  
  To prevent their identities from being revealed before each prerecorded episode is broadcast, the program makes extensive use of code names, disguises, non-disclosure agreements, and a team of security guards. While television critics have had mixed reviews for the series and particularly negative opinions of its panelists, the costumes have attracted praise. Inspired by haute couture, they were designed in the first six seasons by Marina Toybina, who won a Costume Designers Guild Award and two Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Other production staff won or received nominations for various labor union awards, and the show has won or been nominated for awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Critics Choice Association, and Hollywood Critics Association. (Full article...)
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  Aquaman is an American superhero unsold television pilot developed by Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar for The WB Television Network, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. The pilot show was produced by both DC Comics and Warner Bros. Television Studios, with the cooperation of Tollin/Robbins Productions. Millar Gough Ink, who was also known from producing the Superman prequel hit series, Smallville, also produced the film. Gough and Millar wrote the pilot, which was directed by Greg Beeman. Justin Hartley starred as Arthur "A.C." Curry, a young man living in a beachside community in the Florida Keys who learns about his powers and destiny as a monarch and protector of the underwater kingdom of Atlantis.
  
  The Aquaman pilot was expected to debut in the fall schedule of 2006, but following the merger of the WB and UPN, the resulting CW Network opted not to buy the series. After they passed on the pilot, it was made available online through iTunes in the United States on July 25, 2006 and became the number-one most downloaded television show on iTunes. It received generally favorable reviews, was later released on other online markets, and aired on Canada's YTV. (Full article...)
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  Jackson in 2015

  
  Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreography became a catalyst in the growth of MTV, enabling her to rise to prominence while breaking gender and racial barriers in the process. Lyrical content that focused on social issues and lived experiences set her reputation as a role model for youth.
  
  The tenth and youngest child of the Jackson family, Jackson starred in multiple television shows throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, including Good Times, Diff'rent Strokes, and Fame. She signed a recording contract with A&M Records in 1982 and became a pop icon following the releases of the albums Control (1986) and Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989). Her collaborations with record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis incorporated a variety of music genres, which led to crossover success in popular music and influenced the development of the new jack swing fusion genre. In the 1990s, Jackson became one of the highest-paid artists in the industry, signing two record-breaking multimillion-dollar contracts with Virgin Records. She established her image as a sex symbol with a leading role in the film Poetic Justice (1993), and the albums Janet (1993) and The Velvet Rope (1997). Billboard named her the second most successful artist of the decade in the United States after Mariah Carey. (Full article...)
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  The campaigns of the Texas Revolution

  
  The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) against the centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. Although the uprising was part of a larger one, the Mexican Federalist War, that included other provinces opposed to the regime of President Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexican government believed the United States had instigated the Texas insurrection with the goal of annexation. The Mexican Congress passed the Tornel Decree, declaring that any foreigners fighting against Mexican troops "will be deemed pirates and dealt with as such, being citizens of no nation presently at war with the Republic and fighting under no recognized flag". Only the province of Texas succeeded in breaking with Mexico, establishing the Republic of Texas. It was eventually annexed by the United States about a decade later.
  
  The revolution began in October 1835, after a decade of political and cultural clashes between the Mexican government and the increasingly large population of Anglo-American settlers in Texas. The Mexican government had become increasingly centralized and the rights of its citizens had become increasingly curtailed, particularly regarding immigration from the United States. Mexico had officially abolished slavery in Texas in 1829, and the desire of Anglo Texans to maintain the institution of chattel slavery in Texas was also a major cause of secession. Colonists and Tejanos disagreed on whether the ultimate goal was independence or a return to the Mexican Constitution of 1824. While delegates at the Consultation (provisional government) debated the war's motives, Texians and a flood of volunteers from the United States defeated the small garrisons of Mexican soldiers by mid-December 1835. The Consultation declined to declare independence and installed an interim government, whose infighting led to political paralysis and a dearth of effective governance in Texas. An ill-conceived proposal to invade Matamoros siphoned much-needed volunteers and provisions from the fledgling Texian Army. In March 1836, a second political convention declared independence and appointed leadership for the new Republic of Texas. (Full article...)
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  Worden in 1971

  
  Alfred Merrill Worden (February 7, 1932 – March 18, 2020) was an American test pilot, engineer and NASA astronaut who was command module pilot for the Apollo 15 lunar mission in 1971. One of 24 people to have flown to the Moon, he orbited it 74 times in the command module (CM) Endeavour.
  
  Worden was born in Michigan in 1932; he spent his early years living on farms and attended the University of Michigan for one year, before securing an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Graduating in 1955, he elected to be commissioned in the United States Air Force, though he had no piloting experience. He proved adept at flying fighter planes, and honed his skills, becoming a test pilot before his selection as a Group 5 astronaut in 1966. He served on the support crew for Apollo 9 and the backup crew for Apollo 12 before his selection for the Apollo 15 crew in 1970, with David Scott as commander and James Irwin as lunar module pilot. (Full article...)
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  The deep fryer in the Imperial Food Products plant where the fire started

  
  On September 3, 1991, an industrial fire caused by a failed improvised repair to a hydraulic line destroyed the Imperial Food Products chicken processing plant in Hamlet, North Carolina. Despite three previous fires in 11 years of operation, the plant had never received a safety inspection. The fire killed 25 people and injured 54, many of whom were unable to escape due to locked exits. It was the second deadliest industrial disaster in North Carolina's history.
  
  Imperial Food Products was a corporation owned by Emmett Roe, who acquired the Hamlet facility in 1980 to produce chicken products. The company had a poor safety record at one of its other plants, and the Hamlet building lacked a fire alarm or an operational fire sprinkler system. For reasons that remain disputed, Roe ordered several exterior doors of the plant locked in the summer of 1991—including a labeled fire exit—in violation of federal safety regulations and without notifying most workers. In September, the plant's maintenance workers attempted to replace a leaking hydraulic line, attached to the conveyor belt which fed chicken tenders into a fryer in the processing room, with improvised parts. On September 3 at around 8:15 am, they turned on the conveyor belt after altering the line; it separated from its connection and spewed hydraulic fluid around the room. The fluid vaporized and was ignited by the fryer's flame. Fire engulfed the facility in minutes, severing telephone lines and filling the plant with hydrocarbon-charged smoke and carbon monoxide. (Full article...)
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  Hendrix in 1967

  
  James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, songwriter and singer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 as a part of his band, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the institution describes him as "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music."
  
  Born in Seattle, Washington, Hendrix began playing guitar at age 15. In 1961, he enlisted in the US Army, but was discharged the following year. Soon afterward, he moved to Clarksville, then Nashville, Tennessee, and began playing gigs on the chitlin' circuit, earning a place in the Isley Brothers' backing band and later with Little Richard, with whom he continued to work through mid-1965. He then played with Curtis Knight and the Squires. (Full article...)
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  Missouri at sea in her 1980s configuration

  
  USS Missouri (BB-63) is an Iowa-class battleship built for the United States Navy (USN) in the 1940s and is a museum ship. Completed in 1944, she is the last battleship commissioned by the United States. The ship was assigned to the Pacific Theater during World War II, where she participated in the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and shelled the Japanese home islands. Her quarterdeck was the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan, which ended World War II.
  
  After World War II, Missouri served in various diplomatic, show of force and training missions. On 17 January 1950 the ship ran aground during high tide in Chesapeake Bay and after great effort was re-floated several weeks later. She later fought in the Korean War during two tours between 1950 and 1953. Missouri was the first American battleship to arrive in Korean waters and served as the flagship for several admirals. The battleship took part in numerous shore bombardment operations and also served in a screening role for aircraft carriers. Missouri was decommissioned in 1955 and transferred to the reserve fleet (also known as the "Mothball Fleet"). (Full article...)
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  Rutledge, c. 1943–1949

  
  Wiley Blount Rutledge Jr. (July 20, 1894 – September 10, 1949) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1943 to 1949. The ninth and final justice appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he is best known for his impassioned defenses of civil liberties. Rutledge favored broad interpretations of the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause, and the Equal Protection Clause, and he argued that the Bill of Rights applied in its totality to the states. He participated in several noteworthy cases involving the intersection of individual freedoms and the government's wartime powers. Rutledge served on the Court until his death at the age of fifty-five. Legal scholars have generally thought highly of the justice, although the brevity of his tenure has minimized his impact on history.
  
  Born in Cloverport, Kentucky, Rutledge attended several colleges and universities, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1922. He briefly practiced law in Boulder, Colorado, before accepting a position on the faculty of the University of Colorado Law School. Rutledge also taught law at the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri, of which he became the dean; he later served as dean of the University of Iowa College of Law. As an academic, he vocally opposed Supreme Court decisions striking down parts of the New Deal and argued in favor of President Roosevelt's unsuccessful attempt to expand the Court. Rutledge's support of Roosevelt's policies brought him to the President's attention: he was considered as a potential Supreme Court nominee and was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, where he developed a record as a supporter of individual liberties and the New Deal. When Justice James F. Byrnes resigned from the Supreme Court, Roosevelt nominated Rutledge to take his place. The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed Rutledge by voice vote, and he took the oath of office on February 15, 1943. (Full article...)
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  It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School is a 1996 American documentary film directed by Debra Chasnoff and Helen Cohen. It provides educators with information on how to teach elementary schoolchildren to be tolerant of gay and lesbian people. The film was noted as the "first of its kind" and was generally well received, although there was some backlash from conservatives. It was released in several film festivals, and had screenings in the 2000s.
  
  The documentary received little support from PBS, owing to backlash from the American Family Association. Prior to airing the film, television stations received calls, letters, and e-mails from people who did not want PBS program directors to broadcast It's Elementary. The film was awarded the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary, Best Documentary at the Reeling Film Festival, and the Silver Spire from the San Francisco International Film Festival, among other awards. The film had two sequels: That's a Family! and It's Still Elementary. (Full article...)
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  Brundage in 1964

  
  Avery Brundage (/ˈeɪvri ˈbrʌndɪdʒ/; September 28, 1887 – May 8, 1975) was the fifth president of the International Olympic Committee, serving from 1952 to 1972, the only American and first non-European to attain that position. Brundage is remembered as a zealous advocate of amateurism and for his involvement with the 1936 and 1972 Summer Olympics, both held in Germany.
  
  Brundage was born in Detroit in 1887 to a working-class family. When he was five years old, his father moved his family to Chicago and subsequently abandoned his wife and children. Raised mostly by relatives, Brundage attended the University of Illinois to study engineering and became a track star. He competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics, where he participated in the pentathlon and decathlon, but did not win any medals; both events were won by teammate Jim Thorpe. He won national championships in track three times between 1914 and 1918 and founded his own construction business. He earned his wealth from this company and from investments, and never accepted pay for his involvement in sports. (Full article...)
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  Kearsarge in 1899

  
  USS Kearsarge (BB-5), was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the United States Navy and lead ship of her class of battleships. She was named after the sloop-of-war Kearsarge, famous for sinking the CSS Alabama, and was the only United States Navy battleship not named after a state.
  
  Her keel was laid down by the Newport News Shipbuilding Company of Virginia, on 30 June 1896. She was launched on 24 March 1898, sponsored by Mrs. Elizabeth Winslow (née Maynard), the wife of Rear Admiral Herbert Winslow, and commissioned on 20 February 1900. (Full article...)
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  The regimental monument of the 22nd Massachusetts on Sickles Road, near the Wheatfield, on the Gettysburg Battlefield

  
  The 22nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union army during the American Civil War. The 22nd Massachusetts was organized by Senator Henry Wilson (future Vice-president during the Ulysses Grant administration) and was therefore known as "Henry Wilson's Regiment." It was formed in Boston, Massachusetts, and established on September 28, 1861, for a term of three years.
  
  Arriving in Washington in October 1861, the regiment spent the following winter in camp at Hall's Hill, near Arlington in Virginia. It became part of the Army of the Potomac, with which it would be associated for its entire term of service. The regiment saw its first action during the siege of Yorktown in April 1862. It was involved in the Peninsular campaign, particularly the Battle of Gaines' Mill during which it suffered its worst casualties (numerically) of the war. Their worst casualties in terms of percentages took place during the Battle of Gettysburg (60 percent). The 22nd Massachusetts was present for virtually all of the major battles in which the Army of the Potomac fought, including the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg and Lieutenant General Ulysses Grant's Overland campaign. The 22nd was especially proficient in skirmish drill and was frequently deployed in that capacity throughout the war. (Full article...)
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  An election for a seat in the United States House of Representatives took place in California's 12th congressional district on November 5, 1946, the date set by law for the elections for the 80th United States Congress. In the 12th district election, the candidates were five-term incumbent Democrat Jerry Voorhis, Republican challenger Richard Nixon, and former congressman and Prohibition Party candidate John Hoeppel. Nixon was elected with 56% of the vote, starting him on the road that would, almost a quarter century later, lead to the presidency.
  
  First elected to Congress in 1936, Voorhis had defeated lackluster Republican opposition four times in the then-rural Los Angeles County district to win re-election. For the 1946 election, Republicans sought a candidate who could unite the party and run a strong race against Voorhis in the Republican-leaning district. After failing to secure the candidacy of General George Patton, in November 1945 they settled on Lieutenant Commander Richard Nixon, who had lived in the district prior to his World War II service. (Full article...)
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  Eve is an American television sitcom created by Meg DeLoatch that originally aired for three seasons on UPN from September 15, 2003, to May 11, 2006. Featuring an ensemble cast consisting of Eve, Jason George, Ali Landry, Natalie Desselle-Reid, Brian Hooks, and Sean Maguire, the show revolves around two sets of male and female friends attempting to navigate relationships with the opposite sex. The executive producers were Robert Greenblatt and David Janollari; the series was produced by The Greenblatt/Janollari Studio and Mega Diva Inc. in association with Warner Bros. Television for UPN.
  
  The series was developed as a vehicle for Eve under the working title The Opposite Sex; UPN executives approached the rapper about a television project after the success of fellow musician Brandy in another of the network's sitcoms, Moesha. Eve's series was created as part of the network's attempt to appeal to a younger demographic. After being picked up, the show was renamed Eve to attract the rapper's fans. It was set in Miami, but filmed at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood. Eve has stated that she was intimidated at first by the process of preparing for and filming a sitcom, and she would later regret not fully committing to her character. The show aired on UPN in its original run, and later in syndicated reruns on TV One and Cleo TV. UPN had promoted Eve as part of its new comedy block, one of four new comedies developed by the network. (Full article...)
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  The Coinage Act of 1873 or Mint Act of 1873 was a general revision of laws relating to the Mint of the United States. By ending the right of holders of silver bullion to have it coined into standard silver dollars, while allowing holders of gold to continue to have their bullion made into money, the act created a gold standard by default. It also authorized a Trade dollar, with limited legal tender, intended for export, mainly to Asia, and abolished three small-denomination coins. The act led to controversial results and was denounced by critics as the "Crime of '73".
  
  By 1869, the Mint Act of 1837, enacted before the California gold rush or the American Civil War affected the monetary system of the United States, was deemed outdated. Treasury Secretary George Boutwell had Deputy Comptroller of the Currency John Jay Knox draft a revised law, introduced into Congress by Ohio Senator John Sherman. Silver's market price then exceeded the value at which the Mint would purchase the metal, suppressing the demand for bullion to be struck into silver dollars. However, Knox and others correctly forecast that development of the Comstock Lode and other rich silver mines would lower silver's market price, making the option of having bullion struck into legal-tender coins attractive. Congress considered the bill for almost three years before passage. During its consideration, it was rarely publicly mentioned, but also was not concealed, that the bill would establish a gold standard by ending bimetallism. The bill became the Act of February 12, 1873, with the signature of President Ulysses S. Grant, and became effective on April 1 of that year. (Full article...)
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  Circa 1820

  
  Isaac Shelby (December 11, 1750 – July 18, 1826) was an American politician and military officer who was the first and fifth Governor of Kentucky and served in the state legislatures of Virginia and North Carolina. He also fought in Lord Dunmore's War, the American Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812. While governor, he led the Kentucky militia in the Battle of the Thames, an action that was rewarded with a Congressional Gold Medal. Counties in nine states, and several cities and military bases, have been named in his honor. His fondness for John Dickinson's "The Liberty Song" is believed to be the reason Kentucky adopted the state motto "United we stand, divided we fall".
  
  Issac Shelby's military service began when he served as second-in-command to his father at the Battle of Point Pleasant, the only major battle of Lord Dunmore's War. He gained the reputation of an expert woodsman and surveyor and spent the early part of the Revolutionary War gathering supplies for the Continental Army. Later in the war, he and John Sevier led expeditions over the Appalachian Mountains against the British forces in North Carolina. He played a pivotal role in the British defeat at the Battle of Kings Mountain. For his service, Shelby was presented with a ceremonial sword and a pair of pistols by the North Carolina legislature, and the nickname "Old Kings Mountain" followed him the rest of his life. (Full article...)
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  J. Howard Miller's "We Can Do It!" poster from 1943

  
  "We Can Do It!" is an American World War II wartime poster produced by J. Howard Miller in 1943 for Westinghouse Electric as an inspirational image to boost female worker morale.
  
  The poster was little seen during World War II. It was rediscovered in the early 1980s and widely reproduced in many forms, often mistakenly called "Rosie the Riveter", which is a different depiction of a female war production worker. The "We Can Do It!" image was used to promote feminism and other political issues beginning in the 1980s. The image made the cover of the Smithsonian magazine in 1994 and was fashioned into a US first-class mail stamp in 1999. It was incorporated in 2008 into campaign materials for several American politicians, and was reworked by an artist in 2010 to celebrate the first woman becoming prime minister of Australia. The poster is one of the ten most-requested images at the National Archives and Records Administration. (Full article...)
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  The Battle of Helena was fought on July 4, 1863, near Helena, Arkansas, during the American Civil War. Union troops captured the city in July 1862, and had been using it as a base of operations. Over 7,500 Confederate troops led by Lieutenant General Theophilus Holmes attempted to capture Helena in hopes of relieving some of the pressure on the Confederate army besieged in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Helena was defended by about 4,100 Union troops led by Major General Benjamin Prentiss, manning one fort and four batteries of artillery.
  
  Differing interpretations of Holmes' order to attack at daylight resulted in Brigadier General James F. Fagan's troops attacking Battery D unsupported, and Major General Sterling Price's attack against the Union center was made after Fagan's had largely fizzled out. To the north, Confederate cavalry commanded by Brigadier Generals John S. Marmaduke and Lucius M. Walker failed to act in concert and accomplished little. The assaults failed, and Vicksburg fell the same day. Later in the year, Union troops used Helena as a staging ground for their successful campaign to capture Little Rock, Arkansas. (Full article...)
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  Cover of the official game program

  
  The 1921 Centre vs. Harvard football game was a regular-season collegiate American football game played on October 29, 1921, at Harvard Stadium in Boston, Massachusetts. The contest featured the undefeated Centre Praying Colonels, representing Centre College, and the undefeated Harvard Crimson, representing Harvard University. Centre won the game 6–0, despite entering as heavy underdogs, and the game is widely viewed as one of the largest upsets in college football history. The game is often referred to by the shorthand C6H0, after a Centre professor's remark that Harvard had been poisoned by this "impossible" chemical formula.
  
  The teams had met for the first time in the previous year. Centre, led by Charley Moran, shocked many by taking a tie into halftime but ultimately Bob Fisher's Harvard squad took control in the second half and won the game. Centre played well enough to warrant a rematch the following year, and the Colonels, led by quarterback Bo McMillin and halfback Norris Armstrong, again found themselves tied with the Crimson at halftime. Less than two minutes into the game's third quarter, McMillin rushed for a touchdown, the only score of the game, giving the visitors a 6–0 lead. The conversion failed but the Centre defense held for the remainder of the game. Harvard threatened and even reached the Centre 3-yard line at one point but were unable to score. Regaining possession with several minutes remaining in the game, the Praying Colonels ran out the clock to secure a six-point victory and maintain their perfect record. (Full article...)
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  "Donald Trump" is a segment of the HBO news satire television series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver that is devoted to Donald Trump, who later became the president of the United States. It first aired on February 28, 2016, as part of the third episode of Last Week Tonight's third season, when Trump was the frontrunner for the Republican Party nomination for the presidency. During the 22-minute segment, comedian John Oliver discusses Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and his career in business. Oliver outlines Trump's campaign rhetoric, varying political positions, and failed business ventures. The comedian also criticizes Trump for making offensive and false statements, and says the Trump family name was changed at one point from the ancestral name Drumpf.
  
  The satirical segment went viral on YouTube and Facebook. By Super Tuesday on March 1, two days after broadcast, Google searches for "Donald Drumpf" had surpassed those for both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, who were then competing against Trump for the Republican Party nomination. In eight days, the segment accumulated 19 million views on YouTube, making it Last Week Tonight's most popular segment there. By the end of March, it had received a combined 85 million views on YouTube and Facebook. (Full article...)

Did you know (auto-generated) -

• ... that an article by Dave Wasserman two months before the 2016 U.S. presidential election correctly predicted that Donald Trump would win despite losing the popular vote?
• ... that "Hardwired" was interpreted as a statement on the outcome of the 2016 United States presidential election?
• ... that the Guantanamo Migrant Operations Center, a facility for holding undocumented immigrants to the United States, is set to have its capacity expanded from about 130 to 30,000?
• ... that Rubel Phillips was the first Republican to run in the Mississippi gubernatorial election since 1947 when he ran in 1963?
• ... that after the McVey Fire, the United States Forest Service accidentally planted thousands of acres of non-native trees?
• ... that Joseph Bosworth was the last Republican speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives until the election of Jeff Hoover in 2017?
• ... 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 "Thriller" is the most popular Halloween song in the United States?

Selected society biography -

Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the thirty-third President of the United States (1945–1953). As vice president, he succeeded to the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

During World War I he served as an artillery officer. After the war he became part of the political machine of Tom Pendergast and was elected a county judge in Missouri and eventually a United States Senator. In 1945, Roosevelt replaced Henry A. Wallace as vice president with Truman for Roosevelt's fourth term.

As president, Truman faced challenge after challenge in domestic affairs. The tumultuous reconversion of the economy of the United States was marked by severe shortages, numerous strikes, and the passage of the Taft–Hartley Act over his veto. He confounded all predictions to win re-election in 1948, largely due to his famous Whistle Stop Tour of rural America. After his re-election he was able to pass only one of the proposals in his Fair Deal program. He used executive orders to begin desegregation of the U.S. armed forces and to launch a system of loyalty checks to remove thousands of communist sympathizers from government office, even though he strongly opposed mandatory loyalty oaths for governmental employees, a stance that led to charges that his administration was soft on communism. Truman's presidency was also eventful in foreign affairs, with the end of World War II and his decision to use nuclear weapons in combat, the founding of the United Nations, the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, the Truman Doctrine to contain communism, the beginning of the Cold War, the creation of NATO, and the Korean War. Corruption in Truman's administration reached the cabinet and senior White House staff. Republicans made corruption a central issue in the 1952 campaign.

Selected image -

• 
  Henry Mayer

  Cartoon credit: Henry Mayer; restored by Adam Cuerden

  This is a cartoon by the German-American cartoonist and animator Henry Mayer (1868–1954), entitled The Awakening, which first appeared in the magazine Puck in February 1915. Published in support of women's suffrage in the United States, the cartoon depicts Lady Liberty wearing a cape labeled "Votes for Women" and standing astride the states (colored white) that had granted women the right to vote. A poem by Alice Duer Miller is printed beneath.
• 
  The Grange Poster

  Poster: J. Hale Powers & Co. Fraternity & Fine Art Publishers; restoration: Trialsanderrors

  An 1873 print promoting the Grange, the oldest U.S. agricultural advocacy group with a national scope. In 2005 it had 160,000 members.
  
  The central scene shows a farmer with one foot on his shovel, captioned "I Pay for All". From left to right, the top insets show a farmer's fireside and the Grange in session; the bottom ones show a harvest dance, a broken-down cabin signposted "Ignorance" and "Sloth", and a Biblical scene of the gleaners Ruth and Boaz.
• 
  History of Dallas, Texas (1874-1929)

  Photo credit: Johnson & Rogers

  A 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.
• 
  Battle of Churubusco

  Artist: John Cameron; Restoration: Lise Broer

  The Battle of Churubusco took place on August 20, 1847, in Churubusco (now a suburb of Mexico City) during the Mexican–American War. Three Mexican battalions—including the Saint Patrick's Battalion made up of immigrants—took up defensive positions inside a convent and were able to repulse the American attacks until they ran out of ammunition.
• 
  Lillian Ascough

  Photograph credit: Edmonston; restored by Adam Cuerden

  Lillian 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.
• 
  Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

  Photo: Alexander Gardner; Restoration: Lise Broer

  On July 7, 1865, at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt (shown left-to-right) were hanged for their roles in the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Eight people were convicted for the crime; three others were sentenced to life imprisonment, with the last receiving a six-year sentence. Mary Surratt's son John was able to escape and was never convicted for his role. His mother was the first woman to be executed by the United States federal government.
• 
  First American Colored Senator and Representatives

  Lithograph: Currier and Ives; Restoration: Adam Cuerden

  An 1872 lithograph depicting seven early African Americans in the United States Congress, (from left to right) Senator Hiram Revels and Representatives Benjamin Turner, Robert DeLarge, Josiah Walls, Jefferson Long, Joseph Rainey, and Robert Elliott. During the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War, some several hundred African-American officeholders were elected – all of whom were members of the Republican Party.
• 
  Bryce Canyon National Park

  Photo credit: Daniel Mayer

  Bryce Canyon National Park is a national park located in southwestern Utah in the United States. Contained within the park is Bryce Canyon, a giant natural amphitheater created by erosion along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce Canyon was not formed from erosion initiated from a central stream, meaning it technically is not a canyon.
• 
  Pearl Harbor

  Satellite image credit: NASA

  Pearl Harbor is a complex embayment on the island of O'ahu, Hawai'i, west of Honolulu. Originally an extensive, shallow inlet or bay called Wai Momi, meaning "Water of Pearl", or Pu'uloa, by the Hawaiians, Pearl Harbor was regarded as the home of the shark goddess Ka'ahupahau and her brother Kahi'uka. Pearl Harbor is well known for the attack by Japan in 1941 which brought the United States into World War II.
• 
  Art and engraving on United States banknotes

  Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing, after John Vanderlyn; restored by Andrew Shiva

  Artists producing banknotes in Colonial America began experimenting with copper plates as an alternative to wood engraving in the early 18th century. Applied to the production of paper currency, copper-plate engraving, and later steel engraving, enabled banknote design and printing to rapidly advance during the 19th century. This engraved vignette appeared on certain United States five-dollar bills issued in 1875. Produced for the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the engraving is of John Vanderlyn's painting Landing of Columbus, which hangs in the United States Capitol rotunda. It depicts Christopher Columbus landing on San Salvador Island on October 12, 1492, on the first of his voyages to the New World.
• 
  Situation Room

  Photo: Pete Souza

  Situation 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.
• 
  Easter Monday

  Photo: Harris & Ewing; Restoration: Lise Broer

  Two 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.
• 
  Operation Ivy

  Photo: United States Department of Energy

  The mushroom cloud from the Ivy Mike nuclear test, one of two tests conducted as part of Operation Ivy at the Pacific Proving Grounds on Elugelab in the Marshall Islands. Mike was the first successful full-scale test of a multi-megaton thermonuclear weapon, and it left an underwater crater 6,240 ft (1,900 m) wide and 164 ft (50 m) deep where the island had been.
• 
  Art and engraving on United States banknotes

  Engraving credit: W. W. Rice, after Robert Walter Weir; restored by Andrew Shiva

  Artists producing art and engraving on United States banknotes began experimenting with copper plates as an alternative to wood engraving in the early 18th century. Applied to the production of paper currency, copper-plate engraving, and later steel engraving, enabled banknote design and printing to rapidly advance during the 19th century. This vignette, engraved by W. W. Rice, appeared on certain United States fifty-dollar bills issued in 1875. Produced for the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the engraving is of Robert Walter Weir's painting Embarkation of the Pilgrims, which hangs in the United States Capitol rotunda. It depicts the Pilgrims on the deck of the ship Speedwell as they depart Delfshaven in South Holland on July 22, 1620. They met additional colonists at Southampton, England, and transferred to the Mayflower before sailing to the New World.
• 
  Engrossed copy of the United States Declaration of Independence

  Document: Thomas Jefferson et al.

  The engrossed copy of the United States Declaration of Independence, which was ratified on July 4, 1776, and signed over the following months.
  
  The history of this document is one of reverence and neglect. After being signed, it was moved several times, first with the Continental Congress and later with the Secretary of State. When the British razed Washington during the War of 1812, it was evacuated to Virginia. From 1841 to 1876, the document was on public display in conditions which caused it to fade drastically. Consequently, from 1892 to 1922 it was stored between two glass plates and exhibited only rarely. After a period at the Library of Congress, the engrossed copy is now held by the National Archives. It is exhibited in a titanium-aluminum case filled with argon.

Selected culture biography -

Angelina Jolie (Angelina Jolie Voight on June 4, 1975) is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. Jolie promotes humanitarian causes, and is noted for her work with refugees as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She has been cited as one of the world's most attractive people, as well as the world's "most beautiful" woman, titles for which she has received substantial media attention.

Divorced from actors Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton, Jolie currently lives with actor Brad Pitt, in a relationship that has attracted worldwide media attention. Jolie and Pitt have three adopted children, Maddox, Pax, and Zahara, as well as three biological children, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne.

Selected location -

Atlanta (/ətˈlæntə/, stressed /ætˈlæntə/, locally /ætˈlænə/) is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia, with a 2010 population of 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, home to 5,268,860 people and the sixth largest metropolitan area in the country. Atlanta is the county seat of Fulton County, and a small portion of the city extends eastward into DeKalb County.

Atlanta was established in 1847 at the intersection of two railroad lines, and the city rose from the ashes of the Civil War to become a national center of commerce. In the decades following the Civil Rights Movement, during which the city earned a reputation as "too busy to hate" for the progressive views of its citizens and leaders, Atlanta attained international prominence. Atlanta is the primary transportation hub of the Southeastern United States via highway, railroad, and air, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being the world's busiest airport since 1998. Atlanta is considered an "alpha(-) world city," and, with a gross domestic product of US$270 billion, Atlanta’s economy ranks 15th among world cities and sixth in the nation. Although Atlanta’s economy is considered diverse, dominant sectors include logistics, professional and business services, media operations, government administration, and higher education. Geographically, Atlanta is marked by rolling hills and dense tree coverage. Revitalization of Atlanta's neighborhoods, initially spurred by the 1996 Olympics, has intensified in the 21st century, altering the city's demographics, politics, and culture.

Selected quote -

Anniversaries for April 3

• 1865 – In a major turning point of the American Civil War, Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America.
• 1948 – President Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan, authorizing $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.
• 1955 – The American Civil Liberties Union announces it will defend Allen Ginsberg's book Howl against obscenity charges.
• 1968 – Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech.
• 1973 – The first portable cell phone call is made in New York City, United States.
• 1996 – Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski is arrested at his cabin in Montana, United States.
• 2000 – In the case of United States v. Microsoft (testimony pictured), a federal judge rules that Microsoft violated United States antitrust laws by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on its competitors, and orders the corporation be split into two separate units.

Selected cuisines, dishes and foods -

The Hot Brown was first served in Louisville's Brown Hotel

The cuisine of Kentucky mostly resembles and is a part of traditional Southern cuisine. Some common dinner dishes are fried catfish and hushpuppies, fried chicken and country fried steak. These are usually served with vegetables such as green beans, greens, pinto beans (or "soup beans") slow-cooked with pork as seasoning and served with cornbread. Other popular items include fried green tomatoes, cheese grits, corn pudding, fried okra, and chicken and dumplings, which can be found across the commonwealth. (Full article...)

Selected panorama -

Landscape Arch is the longest of the many natural arches located in Arches National Park, Utah.

Landscape Arch is the longest of many natural arches located in Arches National Park, Utah.

More did you know? -

• ... that over 400 species of birds (state bird, Brown Thrasher, pictured) have been recorded in the American state of Georgia?
• ... that the book The Complex: How the Military Invades Our Everyday Lives explores U.S. military expenditures on items including Southern catfish restaurants and Dunkin' Donuts?
• ... that the book Beyond the First Amendment argues freedom of speech on the Internet is not easily addressed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution?

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