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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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Tropical Storm Bonnie was a tropical storm that made landfall on Florida in August 2004. The second storm of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season, Bonnie developed from a tropical wave on August 3 to the east of the Lesser Antilles. After moving through the islands, its fast forward motion caused it to dissipate. However, Bonnie later regenerated into a tropical storm near the Yucatán Peninsula. Bonnie attained its peak intensity with maximum 1-minute sustained winds of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 1001 mbar (29.56 inHg) on August 11 while located over the Gulf of Mexico. Afterwards, the storm turned to the northeast and hit Florida with winds of 45 miles per hour (72 km/h). The storm accelerated to the northeast and became an extratropical cyclone to the east of New Jersey. Bonnie was the first of five tropical systems in the 2004 season to make landfall in Florida, coming ashore the day before Hurricane Charley struck. Bonnie was also the second of a record eight storms to reach tropical storm strength during the month of August.
Bonnie's impact was minimal. Throughout the Caribbean Sea, the storm's effects consisted primarily of light rainfall, and in Florida, heavy rainfall caused flooding and minor damage. The tropical storm caused a tornado outbreak across the Southeastern United States which killed three people and inflicted over $1 million (2004 USD) in damage. (Full article...)- The 1979 Salvadoran coup d'état occurred on 15 October when junior officers of the Armed Forces of El Salvador's Military Youth Movement (MJM) bloodlessly overthrew General Carlos Humberto Romero, the president of El Salvador. The coup leaders established the Revolutionary Government Junta (JRG) that ruled El Salvador until 1982.
Since 1931, a military dictatorship had ruled El Salvador; from 1961, it was led by the National Conciliation Party (PCN). During the 1970s, leftist militant groups committed terrorist actions such as kidnappings and hit-and-run attacks, and mass organizations held peaceful demonstrations to oppose the military dictatorship. The dictatorship and death squads targeted and repressed members of these groups. The PCN remained in power after claiming to have won fraudulent presidential elections during the 1970s. (Full article...)
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (/duːˈbɔɪs/ doo-BOYSS; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American sociologist, writer, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relatively tolerant and integrated community. He completed graduate work at Harvard University, where he was the first African American to earn a doctorate. He was a professor at Atlanta University and over the course of his life wrote many books and articles. He spent the last years of his life in Ghana and died in Accra on August 27, 1963.
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 chance for advanced education to develop their leadership. Du Bois was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. Du Bois used his position in the NAACP to respond to racist incidents. (Full article...)
Samuel Adams (September 27 [O.S. September 16], 1722 – October 2, 1803) was an American statesman, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in colonial Massachusetts, a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence and other founding documents, and one of the architects of the principles of American republicanism that shaped the political culture of the United States. He was a second cousin to his fellow Founding Father, President John Adams. He founded the Sons of Liberty.
Adams was born in Boston, brought up in a religious and politically active family. A graduate of Harvard College, he was an unsuccessful businessman and tax collector before concentrating on politics. He was an influential official of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Boston Town Meeting in the 1760s, and he became a part of a movement opposed to the British Parliament's efforts to tax the British American colonies without their consent. His 1768 Massachusetts Circular Letter calling for colonial non-cooperation prompted the occupation of Boston by British troops, eventually resulting in the Boston Massacre of 1770. Adams and his colleagues devised a committee of correspondence system in 1772 to help coordinate resistance to what he saw as the British government's attempts to violate the British Constitution at the expense of the colonies, which linked like-minded Patriots throughout the Thirteen Colonies. Continued resistance to British policy resulted in the 1773 Boston Tea Party and the coming of the American Revolution. Adams was actively involved with colonial newspapers publishing accounts of colonial sentiment over British colonial rule, which were fundamental in uniting the colonies. Adams, the ringleader at the destruction of the East India Company's tea, was also actively involved in bribing British soldiers to desert and provided them with new clothes and the offer of land to cultivate.. (Full article...)
The Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State is a courthouse in the Flatiron District of Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. The courthouse is used by the First Department of the New York Supreme Court's Appellate Division. The original three-story building, at the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and 25th Street, was designed by James Brown Lord in the Renaissance Revival style and was finished in 1899. A six-story annex to the north, on Madison Avenue, was designed by Rogers & Butler and completed in 1955.
The facade of both the original building and its annex is made almost entirely out of marble. The courthouse's exterior was originally decorated with 21 sculptures from 16 separate artists; one of the sculptures was removed in 1955. The main entrance is through a double-height colonnade on 25th Street with a decorative pediment; there is also a smaller colonnade on Madison Avenue. The far northern end of the annex's facade contains a Holocaust Memorial by Harriet Feigenbaum, and the sculpture NOW by Shahzia Sikander is mounted atop the building. Inside the courthouse, ten artists created murals for the main hall and the courtroom. The interiors are decorated with elements such as marble walls, woodwork, and paneled and coffered ceilings; the courtroom also has stained-glass windows and a stained-glass ceiling dome. The remainder of the building contains various offices, judges' chambers, and other rooms. (Full article...)- The Grass Fight was a small battle during the Texas Revolution, fought between the Mexican Army and the Texian Army. The battle took place on November 26, 1835, just south of San Antonio de Béxar in the Mexican region of Texas. The Texas Revolution had officially begun on October 2 and by the end of the month the Texians had initiated a siege of Béxar, home of the largest Mexican garrison in the province. Bored with the inactivity, many of the Texian soldiers returned home; a smaller number of adventurers from the United States arrived to replace them. After the Texian Army rejected commander-in-chief Stephen F. Austin's call to launch an assault on Béxar on November 22, Austin resigned from the army. The men elected Edward Burleson their new commander-in-chief.
On November 26, Texian scout Deaf Smith brought news of a Mexican pack train, accompanied by 50–100 soldiers, that was on its way to Bexar. The Texian camp was convinced that the pack train carried silver to pay the Mexican garrison and purchase supplies. Burleson ordered Colonel James Bowie to take 45–50 cavalry and intercept the train. An additional 100 infantry followed. On seeing the battle commence, Mexican General Martín Perfecto de Cos sent reinforcements from Bexar. The Texians repulsed several attacks by Mexican soldiers, who finally retreated to Bexar. When the Texians examined the abandoned pack train they discovered that, instead of silver, the mules carried freshly cut grass to feed the Mexican Army horses. Four Texians were injured, and historian Alwyn Barr states that three Mexican soldiers were killed, although Bowie and Burleson initially claimed the number was much higher. (Full article...) 
In 1992, Ross Perot ran unsuccessfully as an independent candidate for President of the United States. Perot was a Texas industrialist who had never served as a public official, but he had experience as the head of several successful corporations and had been involved in public affairs for the previous three decades. Grass-root organizations sprang up in every state to help Perot achieve ballot access following his announcement on the February 20, 1992, edition of Larry King Live. James Stockdale, a retired Navy vice admiral and Medal of Honor recipient, was chosen as Perot's running mate.
Perot focused the campaign on his plans to balance the federal budget, further economic nationalism, strengthen the war on drugs, and implement "electronic town halls" throughout the nation for "direct democracy". His views were described as a combination of "East Texas populism with high-tech wizardry". Supporters saw him as a non-political and witty "folk hero", but critics described him as "authoritarian" and "short-tempered". (Full article...)
Judith Arlene Resnik (April 5, 1949 – January 28, 1986) was an American electrical engineer, software engineer, biomedical engineer, pilot and NASA astronaut who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. She was the fourth woman, the second American woman and the first Jewish woman of any nationality to fly in space, logging 145 hours in orbit.
Recognized while still a child for her intellectual brilliance, Resnik was accepted at Carnegie Institute of Technology after becoming only the 16th woman in the history of the United States to have attained a perfect score on the SAT exam. She graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon before attaining a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland. (Full article...)
Tara Kristen Lipinski (born June 10, 1982) is an American sports commentator and former competitive figure skater. A former competitor in women's singles, she was the 1997 U.S. national champion and world champion, a two-time Champions Series Final champion (1997–1998), and the 1998 Olympic champion. She is the youngest single skater Olympic champion and World champion ever, and until 2019 was the youngest to win the U.S. Nationals. She was the first woman to complete a triple loop–triple loop combination, which became her signature jump element, in competition.
Lipinski retired from competitive figure skating in 1998. She performed in live shows before retiring from figure skating in 2002. In 2014, Lipinski became one of NBC's primary figure skating commentators, alongside sports commentator Terry Gannon and fellow figure skater and good friend Johnny Weir. (Full article...)
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he represented California in both houses of the United States Congress before serving as the 36th vice president under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961. His presidency saw the reduction of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, détente with the Soviet Union and China, the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Nixon's second term ended early when he became the only U.S. president to resign from office, as a result of the Watergate scandal.
Nixon was born into a poor family of Quakers in Yorba Linda, Southern California. He graduated from Whittier College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1934 and from Duke University School of Law with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1937, practiced law in California, and then moved with his wife Pat to Washington, D.C., in 1942 to work for the federal government. After serving in the Naval Reserve during World War II, he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946. His work on the Alger Hiss case established his reputation as a leading anti-communist. In 1950, he was elected to the Senate. Nixon was the running mate of Eisenhower, the Republican Party's presidential nominee in the 1952 and 1956 elections. Nixon served for eight years as vice president, and his two terms saw an increase in the notability of the office. He narrowly lost the 1960 presidential election to John F. Kennedy. After his loss in the 1962 race for governor of California, Nixon announced his retirement from politics. However, he ran again for the presidency in 1968 and defeated the Democratic candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey. (Full article...)- 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...) - Michael Lee Capel (born October 13, 1961) is an American professional baseball player who was a pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Houston Astros. In 49 career games, Capel pitched 62+1⁄3 innings, struck out 43 batters, and had a career win–loss record of 3–4 with a 4.62 earned run average (ERA). While he played in MLB, Capel stood at 6 feet 1 inch (185 cm) and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg). A starting pitcher in college and parts of his Minor League Baseball career, he converted to relief pitching while in Chicago's minor league system.
The Philadelphia Phillies chose Capel in the 24th round of the 1980 MLB draft, but the 18-year-old did not sign with the team; instead, he opted to attend the University of Texas. Capel played on the 1982 USA College All-Star Team, which competed in the Amateur World Series in Seoul and placed third. The next year, Capel and the Texas Longhorns won the College World Series. After he was drafted by the Cubs, Capel left Texas and signed to play professional baseball; he played in six seasons of Minor League Baseball before he made his MLB debut in 1988. Capel spent the entire 1989 season in Triple-A, one level below the majors, but the Cubs released him at the end of the year. He agreed to terms with the Brewers and played in MLB after an injury opened a spot on Milwaukee's roster, but was again released at the end of the season. A free agent, the Astros signed Capel, and over the course of the season he pitched in 25 games for the team. He spent the final part of his career in the Astros farm system, and after he made the 1992 Triple-A All-Star team, Capel played his last season in 1993. After retirement, Capel worked as the general manager of a car dealership in Houston, Texas. (Full article...)
Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings CM (July 29, 1938 – August 7, 2005) was a Canadian and American television journalist. He was best known for serving as the sole anchor of ABC World News Tonight from 1983 until his death from lung cancer in 2005. Despite dropping out of high school, Jennings transformed himself into one of American television's most prominent journalists.
Jennings started his career early, hosting a Canadian radio show at age 9. He began his professional career with CJOH-TV in Ottawa during its early years, anchoring the local newscasts and hosting the teen dance show Saturday Date on Saturdays and then co-anchoring the CTV Television Network's national newscast. In 1965, ABC News tapped him to anchor its flagship evening news program. Critics and others in the television news business attacked his inexperience, making his job difficult. He became a foreign correspondent in 1968, reporting from the Middle East. (Full article...)
The Lewis and Clark Exposition Gold dollar is a commemorative coin that was struck in 1904 and 1905 as part of the United States government's participation in the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, held in the latter year in Portland, Oregon. Designed by United States Bureau of the Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber, the coin did not sell well and less than a tenth of the authorized mintage of 250,000 was issued.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, the first European-American overland exploring party to reach the Pacific Coast, was led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Between 1804 and 1806, its members journeyed from St. Louis to the Oregon coast and back, providing information and dispelling myths about the large area acquired by the United States in the Purchase. The Portland fair commemorated the centennial of that trip. (Full article...)
John William Beschter SJ (born Johann Wilhelm Beschter; German: [ˈjoːhan ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈbɛʃtɐ]; May 20, 1763 – January 6, 1842) was a Catholic priest and Jesuit from the Duchy of Luxembourg in the Austrian Netherlands. He emigrated to the United States as a missionary in 1807, where he ministered in rural Pennsylvania and Maryland. Beschter was the last Jesuit pastor of St. Mary's Church in Lancaster, as well as the pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church in Baltimore, Maryland. He was also a priest at several other German-speaking churches in Pennsylvania.
Beschter's ministerial work was punctuated by a time as master of novices at the new Jesuit novitiate at White Marsh Manor, as well as a brief term as president of Georgetown College in 1829. While in Maryland, he aligned himself with the Continental European Jesuits in the United States, who endorsed a monarchist view of ecclesiastical leadership. After his presidency, Beschter remained at Georgetown for a year as a professor of German, before returning to Paradise, Pennsylvania, where he lived out the last twelve years of his life as a priest. (Full article...)
Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 2, 1880. The Republican ticket of Representative James A. Garfield of Ohio and New York Republican Party chairman Chester A. Arthur defeated the Democratic ticket of major general Winfield Scott Hancock of Pennsylvania and former Representative William Hayden English of Indiana.
Incumbent President Rutherford B. Hayes did not seek reelection. After the longest convention in the party's history, the factionalized Republicans chose Representative Garfield of Ohio as their standard-bearer. The Democratic Party chose Major General Winfield Scott Hancock of Pennsylvania as their nominee. The dominance of the two major parties began to fray as an upstart left-wing party, the Greenback Party, nominated another Civil War general for president, Iowa Congressman James B. Weaver. In a campaign fought mainly over issues of Civil War loyalties, tariffs, and Chinese immigration, Garfield narrowly won both the electoral and popular vote. He and Hancock each took just over 48 percent of the popular vote, while Weaver and two other minor candidates, Neal Dow and John W. Phelps, together made up the remainder. (Full article...)- The seventeenth season of the American medical drama television series Grey's Anatomy was ordered in May 2019, by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), as part of a double renewal with the sixteenth season. Shortly after, Krista Vernoff signed an agreement to continue serving as the showrunner of the series. Filming on the series began in September 2020 while the season did not premiere until November 12, 2020, both dates being delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, for the 2020–2021 broadcast television season. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television only allowed seventeen episodes to be produced, the fewest of any season since the fourth season. Numerous safety protocols were also implemented across various areas of production to prevent COVID-19 transmission.
All starring cast members from the previous season returned with the exception of Justin Chambers, who departed early in the sixteenth season. In addition, Richard Flood and Anthony Hill, who both appeared in the sixteenth season in recurring and guest capacities, respectively, received promotions to the main cast. This season also marked the return of former series regulars Patrick Dempsey, T. R. Knight, Chyler Leigh, and Eric Dane to the series. Meanwhile, main cast members Giacomo Gianniotti, Jesse Williams, and Greg Germann all departed the series during the season. Former series regular Sarah Drew also appeared in the season as part of Williams' departure. (Full article...) - In 1896, William Jennings Bryan ran unsuccessfully for president of the United States. Bryan, a former Democratic congressman from Nebraska, gained his party's presidential nomination in July of that year after electrifying the Democratic National Convention with his Cross of Gold speech. He was defeated in the general election by the Republican candidate, former Ohio governor William McKinley.
Born in 1860, Bryan grew up in rural Illinois and in 1887 moved to Nebraska, where he practiced law and entered politics. He won election to the House of Representatives in 1890, and was re-elected in 1892, before mounting an unsuccessful US Senate run. He set his sights on higher office, believing he could be elected president in 1896 even though he remained a relatively minor figure in the Democratic Party. In anticipation of a presidential campaign, he spent much of 1895 and early 1896 making speeches across the United States; his compelling oratory increased his popularity in his party. (Full article...) - Melanie Barnett-Davis is a fictional character, portrayed by actress Tia Mowry, who appears in the American sitcom The Game, which aired on the CW Television Network and BET from 2006 to 2015. Introduced in a backdoor pilot on the sitcom Girlfriends as Joan Clayton's cousin, Melanie chooses to support her boyfriend Derwin Davis' career with the San Diego Sabres, a fictional National Football League (NFL) team, rather than attend medical school at Johns Hopkins University. The series focuses primarily on Melanie and Derwin's complicated relationship, with her fears of his infidelity at the center of many of the episodes' storylines. Mowry left the series in 2012 upon learning that her role would be reduced as a result of co-star Pooch Hall's decision to reduce his role on The Game to appear in the crime drama series Ray Donovan. Both actors reprised their roles in the series finale, in which Melanie gives birth to twins.
Melanie was created by producer Mara Brock Akil. While casting the character, Brock Akil had doubts about whether Mowry would be the best choice, given her wholesome image from starring as Tia Landry on the sitcom Sister, Sister, but hired the actress based on her strong work ethic and her desire to be part of the series. Mowry considered the character to be her first adult role and felt it emphasized her individuality and maturity. She identified closely with the part, observing parallels between Melanie's relationship with Derwin and her own marriage to actor Cory Hardrict. She cited The Game as an example of women receiving more lead roles on television. (Full article...) - The 2006 UAW-Ford 500 was a stock car race that took place on October 8, 2006. The 38th annual running of the event, it was held at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, United States, before 160,000 spectators. The 188-lap race was the 30th in the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the fourth in the ten-race, season-ending Chase for the Nextel Cup. Brian Vickers of Hendrick Motorsports won the race, his first career Cup series victory; Kasey Kahne finished second, and Kurt Busch came in third.
David Gilliland, who had the pole position, was passed immediately by teammate Dale Jarrett. The race lead changed 63 times, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. leading for the most laps (37). Earnhardt was leading on the final lap when he and Jimmie Johnson crashed after Vickers made contact with Johnson's right rear quarter panel, causing the race to end under caution flag conditions. Vickers (Johnson's teammate) was determined the race winner by NASCAR and was later criticized since the crash lowered Johnson in the points standings. (Full article...)
Ieoh Ming Pei (/ˌjoʊ mɪŋ ˈpeɪ/ YOH ming PAY; Chinese: 貝聿銘; pinyin: Bèi Yùmíng; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was a Chinese-American architect.
Born in Guangzhou into a Chinese family, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the garden villas at Suzhou, the traditional retreat of the scholar-gentry to which his family belonged. In 1935, he moved to the United States and enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania's architecture school, but quickly transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Unhappy with the focus on Beaux-Arts architecture at both schools, he spent his free time researching emerging architects, especially Le Corbusier. (Full article...)
The 68th New York Infantry Regiment served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Also known as the Cameron Rifles or the Second German Rifle Regiment, the men were mostly German immigrants. Organized in July 1861, three months after the outbreak of war, the 68th saw service in the Eastern and Western theaters.[1]
As a part of the Army of the Potomac, it was initially assigned to the defenses of Washington, D.C. Later, the 68th was transferred to the Shenandoah Valley and fought at the Battle of Cross Keys. The men of the 68th were then reassigned to central Virginia and found themselves in the thick of the fighting at Second Bull Run. After returning to the nation's capital, the regiment fought in Chancellorsville and was routed by Confederate forces. At Gettysburg, they saw battle on two of the three days and took heavy losses. (Full article...)
John Clarke Young (August 12, 1803 – June 23, 1857) was an American educator and pastor who was the fourth president of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. A graduate of Dickinson College and Princeton Theological Seminary, he entered the ministry in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1828. He accepted the presidency of Centre College in 1830, holding the position until his death in 1857, making him the longest-serving president in the college's history. He is regarded as one of the college's best presidents, as he increased the endowment of the college more than five-fold during his term and increased the graduating class size from two students in his first year to forty-seven in his final year.
Continuing to preach while in office, Young accepted the pastorate of the Danville Presbyterian Church in 1834 and founded the Second Presbyterian Church in Danville in 1852. He was a respected member of the church and was elected moderator of the Presbyterian Church's General Assembly in 1853. He published several sermons and speeches as part of this work, including one about temperance and several in support of the gradual emancipation of slaves. (Full article...)
The action of 1 August 1801 was a single-ship action of the First Barbary War fought between the American schooner USS Enterprise and the Tripolitan polacca Tripoli off the coast of modern-day Libya.
As part of Commodore Richard Dale's Mediterranean Squadron, Enterprise had been deployed with the American force blockading the Vilayet of Tripoli. Enterprise, under the command of Lieutenant Andrew Sterett, had been sent by Commodore Dale to gather supplies at Malta. While cruising towards Malta, Enterprise engaged Tripoli, commanded by Admiral Rais Mahomet Rous. Tripoli put up a stubborn fight and perfidiously feigned surrender three times in an engagement lasting three hours before the polacca was finally captured by the Americans. (Full article...)
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) South division. They play their home games at Bank of America Stadium in Uptown Charlotte, which also houses the team's headquarters. The franchise represents both North Carolina and South Carolina; while its Charlotte stadium was under construction, the Panthers played their inaugural 1995 season at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.
The NFL awarded the Carolinas its 29th franchise in 1993, and the Panthers began play in 1995 under founder Jerry Richardson. They reached the NFC Championship Game in their second season. The Panthers have won seven division titles and two NFC championships, advancing to Super Bowl XXXVIII after the 2003 season and Super Bowl 50 after the 2015 season, losing both. The 2015 team finished 15–1, and quarterback Cam Newton was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player. In 2025, Carolina won the NFC South with an 8–9 record and returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2017, losing 34–31 to the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card Round. (Full article...)
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Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that in 2025 the Pfizer Building was cited as the largest office-to-residential building conversion in the United States?
- ... that "Hardwired" was interpreted as a statement on the outcome of the 2016 United States presidential election?
- ... that Cecile Long Steele pioneered the broiler chicken industry in the United States after accidentally receiving 500 chickens?
- ... that James B. Tapp was the first United States Army Air Forces pilot to be recognized as a flying ace for flying very-long-range missions over Japan in P-51s during World War II?
- ... that American Colossus, a history book that describes how a banker bailed out the U.S. government in 1895, was published around a time when the U.S. government bailed out banks?
- ... that the scenes set in the United States in the Taiwanese film Daughter's Daughter were nearly omitted during the writing process but were retained at the insistence of lead actress Sylvia Chang?
- ... that The Source was the highest-selling music magazine on the newsstands in the United States?
- ... that Franklin Sonn was the first black South African ambassador to the United States?
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Born into the wealthy and established Bush family in Milton, Massachusetts, Bush was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut. He attended Phillips Academy and served as a pilot in the United States Navy Reserve during World War II before graduating from Yale and moving to West Texas, where he established oil company Zapata Corporation. Following an unsuccessful run for the United States Senate in 1964, he was elected to represent Texas's 7th congressional district in 1966. President Richard Nixon appointed Bush as the ambassador to the United Nations in 1971 and as chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1973. President Gerald Ford appointed him as the chief of the Liaison Office to the People's Republic of China in 1974 and as the director of central intelligence in 1976. Bush ran for president in 1980 but was defeated in the Republican presidential primaries by Reagan, who then selected Bush as his vice presidential running mate. In the 1988 presidential election, Bush defeated Democrat Michael Dukakis.
Foreign policy drove Bush's presidency as he navigated the final years of the Cold War and played a key role in the reunification of Germany. He presided over the U.S. invasion of Panama and the Gulf War, ending the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait in the latter conflict. Though the agreement was not ratified until after he left office, Bush negotiated and signed the North American Free Trade Agreement, which created a trade bloc consisting of the United States, Canada and Mexico. Domestically, Bush reneged on a 1988 campaign promise by enacting legislation to raise taxes that he justified as necessary to reducing the budget deficit. He championed and signed three pieces of bipartisan legislation in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Immigration Act and the Clean Air Act Amendments. He also appointed David Souter and Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. Bush lost the 1992 presidential election to Democrat Bill Clinton following an economic recession, his turnaround on his tax promise, and the decreased emphasis of foreign policy in a post–Cold War political climate. (Full article...)
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Photo credit: CacophonyThe skyline of Seattle, Washington at dusk, viewed from the south. The Columbia Center (middle) is the second tallest building on the West Coast of the United States, and the twelfth tallest in the United States. Smith Tower (left), completed 1914, was at one time the fourth tallest building in the world. The highway in the foreground is Interstate 5.
Photo credit: Clarence JackA 1909 panorama of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tulsa was first settled during the 1830s by the Creek Native American tribe. Shortly before Oklahoma's statehood on November 16, 1907, oil was discovered nearby and the city played a major role as one of the most important hubs for the American oil industry, eventually giving the city the nickname "Oil Capital of the World".
Check: Harriet Taylor Upton (image courtesy of the National Museum of American History)A check from the National American Woman Suffrage Association, payable to Rachel Foster Avery, which was filled out by hand by the Association's treasurer Harriet Taylor Upton and countersigned by Susan B. Anthony as president and Alice Stone Blackwell as recording secretary.
NAWSA, formed on February 18, 1890, to work for women's suffrage in the United States, was formally led by Anthony between 1892 and 1900. During her presidency, the small organization focused predominantly on women's rights at the state level—much to Anthony's chagrin. It also sent delegates to the World's Congress of Representative Women at the World's Columbian Exposition.
Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew ShivaHowell Cobb (September 7, 1815 – October 9, 1868) was an American politician and five-term member of the United States House of Representatives who served as Speaker of the House from 1849 to 1851. He also served as the 40th governor of Georgia from 1851 to 1853, and as Secretary of the Treasury under President James Buchanan from 1857 to 1860. Cobb is probably best known as one of the founders of the Confederacy, having served as president of the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States. This line engraving of Cobb was produced around 1902 by the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) as part of a BEP presentation album of the first 42 secretaries of the treasury.
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: W. W. Rice, after Robert Walter Weir; restored by Andrew ShivaArtists 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.
Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing, after John Vanderlyn; restored by Andrew ShivaArtists 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.
Engraving: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restoration: Andrew ShivaAbraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the nation through the Civil War, its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. Born in Kentucky into a poor family, Lincoln educated himself and worked as a lawyer in Illinois before entering politics. A powerful orator and astute politician, Lincoln used his Gettysburg Address to promote nationalism, republicanism, equal rights, liberty, and democracy. He has been consistently ranked as one of the greatest US presidents, by both scholars and the public.
Photograph credit: UnknownBessie Coleman (1892–1926) was a civil aviator. On June 15, 1921, she became the first African-American woman and the first Native American to earn an aviation pilot's license. Denied opportunity in the United States because of her race and sex, she had to go to France to learn to fly. Her career involved stunt flying and performing in air shows, and was cut short in 1926 when she was thrown from a plane in mid-air. Her death meant that her ambition to establish a school for young black aviators went unaccomplished, but her pioneering achievements served as an inspiration for a generation of African-American men and women.
Poster: J. Hale Powers & Co. Fraternity & Fine Art Publishers; restoration: TrialsanderrorsAn 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.
Photograph: Jack Weir; restoration: CarolSpearsApollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first two humans, commander Neil Armstrong and LM pilot Buzz Aldrin, on the Moon. On July 21, 1969, Armstrong became the first human to walk on the Moon. This mission quickly captured the public's imagination and became prominent in popular culture. Over 530 million viewers worldwide watched the Moon landing, and it received widespread newspaper coverage. For example, the July 21, 1969, edition of The Washington Post—shown here—used the main headline "'The Eagle Has Landed'—Two Men Walk on the Moon". In subsequent years, the Moon landing has been frequently depicted or referenced in media, including in literature, films, and video games.
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: Carl Van Vechten; restored by Adam CuerdenWilliam Grant Still (1895–1978) was an American composer of nearly 200 works, including five symphonies and nine operas. Often referred to as the "Dean of Afro-American Composers", Still was the first American composer to have an opera produced by the New York City Opera. His first symphony, entitled Afro-American Symphony, was until 1950 the most widely performed symphony composed by an American. Born in Mississippi, he grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, attended Wilberforce University and Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and was a student of George Whitefield Chadwick and later Edgard Varèse. Still was the first African American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra and the first to have an opera performed on national television. Due to his close association and collaboration with prominent African-American literary and cultural figures, he is considered to be part of the Harlem Renaissance movement.
This picture of Still was taken by Carl Van Vechten in 1949; the photograph is in the collection of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
Photograph: Unknown; Restoration: Chick BowenA pile of American bison skulls, waiting to be ground for fertilizer; a man stands atop the pile, with another in front of it. Bison, long a staple of Plains Indian tribal culture, were aggressively hunted by European settlers in the United States, nearly leading to the extinction of the species.
Seals of the U.S. states (1876)Image credit: A.J. Connell Litho.A lithograph from 1876, showing the seals of the then-47 U.S. states and territories as well as the District of Columbia. Some of these seals have changed since this image was created.
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Selected culture biography -
Vishniac was an extremely diverse photographer, an accomplished biologist and a knowledgeable collector and teacher of art history. Throughout his life, he made significant scientific contributions to the fields of photomicroscopy and time-lapse photography. Vishniac was very interested in history, especially that of his ancestors. In turn, he was strongly tied to his Jewish roots and was a Zionist later in life.
Roman Vishniac won international acclaim for his photography: his pictures from the shtetlach and Jewish ghettos, celebrity portraits, and images of microscopic biology. He is known for his book A Vanished World, published in 1983, which was one of the first such pictorial documentations of Jewish culture in Eastern Europe from that period and also for his extreme humanism, respect and awe for life, sentiments that can be seen in all aspects of his work.
Selected location -
There have been several major planned road projects that would affect the freeway's corridor, including a plan to extend I-68 to Moundsville, West Virginia (which, due to major funding issues, is unlikely to be completed As of 2010[update]) and the plan to construct the Mon-Fayette Expressway, a toll highway which, when completed, will meet I-68 east of Morgantown.
Selected quote -
Anniversaries for August 6
- 1926 – In New York, the Vitaphone system for adding audio to movies is heard in theaters for the first time with the premiere of the movie Don Juan.
- 1945 – The United States B-29 Enola Gay drops the atomic bomb "Little Boy" on the city of Hiroshima, killing 70,000 people instantly and afflicting tens of thousands of others with burns and radiation poisoning.
- 1965 – President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965, designed to end discriminatory practices that led to the disenfranchisement of African-Americans, into law.
- 1988 - The Tompkins Square Park Riot breaks out between NYPD officers and people protesting the imposition of a 1AM curfew of Tompkins Square Park. An investigation into the riot placed the bulk of the blame on the NYPD.
- 1996 – NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite (pictured), thought to originate from Mars, likely contained evidence that microbial life existed on Mars at one time.
Selected cuisines, dishes and foods -
The cuisine of the Mid-Atlantic states encompasses the cuisines of the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, as well as Washington, D.C. The influences on cuisine in this region of the United States are extremely eclectic, as it has been, and continues to be, a gateway for international culture as well as a gateway for new immigrants. (Full article...)
Selected panorama -
More did you know? -
- ... that Harold Bell co-created Woodsy Owl (pictured), mascot of the United States Forest Service, on the set of the television series Lassie?
- ... that University of Michigan gymnast Sam Mikulak won the 2011 NCAA all-around championship and represented the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro?
- ... that Vincent de Roulet, when serving as United States Ambassador to Jamaica, was declared persona non grata by the Prime Minister of Jamaica?
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- ↑ Dyer (1908), p. 1430; Federal Publishing Company (1908), pp. 100–101; Phisterer (1912), pp. 2673–2693.