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John McClernand

John McClernand

John Alexander McClernand (May 30 1812 – September 20 1900) was an American soldier and lawyer. McClernand was born in Breckinridge County, Kentucky. He was admitted to the bar in Shawneetown, Illinois, in 1832; in the same year served as a volunteer in the Blackhawk War, and in 1835 founded the Shawneetown Democrat, which he thereafter edited. As a Democrat he served in 1836 and in 1840-1843 in the Illinois House of Representatives, and in 1843-1851 and in 1859-1861 was a representative in Congress, where in his first term he vigorously opposed the Wilmot Proviso, but in his second term was a strong Unionist and introduced the resolution of the 15th of July 1861, pledging money and men to the national government. He resigned from Congress, raised in Illinois the McClernand Brigade, and was commissioned (May 17, 1861) brigadier general of volunteers. He was second in command at the battle of Belmont (Missouri) in November 1861, and commanded the right wing at Fort Donelson. On the 21st of March he became a major general of volunteers. At Shiloh he commanded a division which was practically a reserve to Sherman's. In October 1862 Edwin Stanton, secretary of war, ordered him north to raise troops for the expedition against Vicksburg; and early in January 1864, at Milliken's Bend, McClernand, who had been placed in command of one of the four corps of Ulysses S. Grant's army, superseded Sherman as the leader of the force that was to move down the Mississippi. On the 11th of January he took Arkansas Post. On the 17th, Grant, after receiving the opinion of Admiral Andrew H. Foote and General Sherman that McClernand was unfit, united a part of his own troops with those of McClernand and assumed command in person, and three days later ordered McClernand back to Millikens Bend. During the rest of this Vicksburg campaign there was much friction between McClernand and his colleagues; he undoubtedly intrigued for the removal of Grant; it was Grant's opinion that at Champion Hill (May 16, 1863) he was dilatory; and because a congratulatory order to his corps was published in the press (contrary to an order of the department and another of Grant) he was relieved of his command on the 18th of June, and was replaced by General Edward O. C. Ord. President Abraham Lincoln, who saw the importance of conciliating a leader of the Illinois War Democrats, restored him to his command in 1864, but McClernand resigned in November of that year. He was district judge of the Sangamon (Illinois) District in 1870-1873, and was president of the NationaI Democratic Convention in 1876. He died in Springfield, Illinois. His son, Edward John McClernand, was notable in the Indian Wars and later in the Philippines.

References


- McClernand, John Alexander McClernand, John Alexander McClernand, John Alexander

May 30

May 30 is the 150th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (151st in leap years). There are 215 days remaining.

Events


- 1416 - The Roman Catholic Church burns Jerome of Prague as a heretic.
- 1431 - In Rouen, France, 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake.
- 1434 - Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great were defeated and almost annihilated in the Battle of Lipany, effectively ending the Hussite Wars.
- 1536 - King Henry VIII of England marries Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two wives.
- 1539 - In Florida, Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold.
- 1574 - Henry III becomes King of France.
- 1588 - The last ship of the Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel.
- 1635 - Peace of Prague (30 Years War)
- 1806 - Andrew Jackson kills a man in a duel after the man had accused Jackson's wife of bigamy.
- 1814 - The First Treaty of Paris is signed returning French borders to their 1792 extent. Napoleon I of France is exiled to Elba on the same day.
- 1854 - The Kansas-Nebraska Act becomes law establishing the US territories of Nebraska and Kansas.
- 1871 - The Paris Commune falls.
- 1868 - Memorial Day (then known as "Decoration Day") is observed in the United States for the first time (it was proclaimed on May 5 by General John Logan).
- 1876 - Ottoman sultan Abd-ul-Aziz is deposed and succeeded by his nephew Murat V.
- 1879 - New York City's Gilmores Garden is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.
- 1879 - An F4 tornado struck Irving, Kansas, killing 18 and injuring 60.
- 1883 - In New York City, a rumor that the Brooklyn Bridge is going to collapse causes a stampede which crushes twelve people.
- 1911 - At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first Indianapolis 500 ends with Ray Harroun becoming the first winner of the 500-mile auto race in his Marmon Wasp.
- 1913 - First Balkan War: A peace treaty is signed in London ending the war. Albania becomes an independent nation.
- 1922 - In Washington, D.C., the Lincoln Memorial is dedicated.
- 1935 - Babe Ruth plays in his last baseball game, in the uniform of the Boston Braves.
- 1941 - World War II: Germany captures Crete.
- 1942 - World War II: 1000 British bombers launch a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany.
- 1948 - A dike along the flooding Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes. Fifteen people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.
- 1958 - The bodies of several unidentified soldiers killed in action during World War II and the Korean War are buried at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery.
- 1967 - At the Ascot Speedway in Gardena, California, daredevil Evel Knievel jumps his motorcycle over 16 cars lined-up in a row.
- 1967 - The Nigerian state of Biafra secedes, sparking a civil war.
- 1969 - Riots on the Caribbean island of Curaçao
- 1971 - Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched toward Mars.
- 1972 - The Angry Brigade goes on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout Britain.
- 1972 - In Tel Aviv, members of the Japanese Red Army carry out the Lod Airport Massacre, killing 24 people and injuring 78 others.
- 1976 - Johnny Rutherford wins a rain-shortened 60th Indianapolis 500 at the 102 lap (255 mile) mark, the shortest race in event history.
- 1982 - Baseball player Cal Ripken, Jr plays the first of 2,632 consecutive games. His streak will end on September 20, 1998.
- 1982 - Spain becomes the 16th member of NATO and the first nation to enter the alliance since West Germany's admission in 1955.
- 1989 - Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The 33-foot high "Goddess of Democracy" statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.
- 1998 - A 6.6 magnitude earthquake hits northern Afghanistan, killing up to 5,000.
- 2003 - The final flight of an Air France Concorde takes place.

Births


- 1010 - Emperor Renzong of China (d. 1063)
- 1423 - Georg Purbach, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1461)
- 1623 - John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater, English politician (d. 1686)
- 1672 (O.S.) - Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia (d. 1725)
- 1718 - Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, English politician (d. 1793)
- 1719 - Roger Newdigate, English politician (d. 1806)
- 1814 - Michael Bakunin, Russian anarchist (d. 1876)
- 1858 - Siegfried Alkan, German composer (d. 1941)
- 1879 - Colin Blythe, English cricketer (d. 1917)
- 1882 - Wyndham Halswelle, Scottish runner (b. 1915)
- 1895 - Maurice Tate, English cricketer (d. 1956)
- 1896 - Howard Hawks, American film director (d. 1977)
- 1899 - Irving Thalberg, American film producer (d. 1936)
- 1901 - Cornelia Otis Skinner, American writer and actress (d. 1979)
- 1902 - Stepin Fetchit, American dancer and actor (d. 1985)
- 1908 - Hannes Alfvén, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
- 1908 - Mel Blanc, American voice actor (d. 1989)
- 1909 - Benny Goodman, American clarinetist and bandleader (d. 1986)
- 1910 - Inge Meysel, German actress (b. 2004)
- 1912 - Julius Axelrod, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2004)
- 1912 - Erich Bagge, German physicist
- 1912 - Hugh Griffith, Welsh actor (d. 1980)
- 1918 - Guadalupe "Pita" Amor, Mexican poet (d. 2000)
- 1920 - Ralph Metcalfe, American athlete (d. 1978)
- 1920 - Franklin Schaffner, American film director (d. 1989)
- 1922 - Hal Clement, American writer (d. 2003)
- 1926 - Christine Jorgensen, activist (d. 1989)
- 1927 - Clint Walker, American actor
- 1934 - Aleksei Leonov, cosmonaut
- 1936 - Keir Dullea, American actor
- 1939 - Michael J. Pollard, American actor
- 1943 - James Chaney, American civil rights activist [d. 1964]
- 1943 - Gale Sayers, American football player
- 1951 - Stephen Tobolowsky, American actor
- 1953 - Colm Meaney, Irish actor
- 1955 - Topper Headon, British musician (The Clash)
- 1964 - Wynonna Judd, American singer
- 1964 - Tom Morello, American musician (Audioslave, Rage Against The Machine)
- 1966 - Stephen Malkmus, American musician (Pavement)
- 1972 - Manny Ramirez, Dominican-born Major League Baseball player
- 1973 - Leigh Francis, British comedian
- 1980 - Steven Gerrard English footballer
- 1981 - Devendra Banhart, American singer and songwriter
- 1986 - Craig, Scott, Ed Sutton The Noise Next Door

Deaths


- 1159 - Wladislaus II the Exile of Poland (b. 1105)
- 1252 - King Ferdinand III of Castile
- 1416 - Jerome of Prague, Czech theologian (executed) (b. 1379)
- 1431 - Joan of Arc, French peasant girl that joined the French royal army, heroine and saint (burned at the stake) (b. 1412)
- 1434 - Prokop the Great, Czech general
- 1574 - King Charles IX of France (b. 1550)
- 1576 - Harada Naomasa, Japanese retainer and samurai
- 1593 - Christopher Marlowe, English playwright (b. 1564)
- 1640 - Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish painter (b. 1577)
- 1696 - Henry Capell, 1st Baron Capell, First Lord of the British Admiralty (b. 1638)
- 1718 - Arnold Joost van Keppel, 1st Earl of Albemarle, Dutch favorite of William III of England (b. 1670)
- 1730 - Arabella Churchill, English mistress of James II of England (b. 1648)
- 1744 - Alexander Pope, English writer (b. 1688)
- 1770 - François Boucher, French painter (b. 1703)
- 1778 - Voltaire, French philosopher and author (b. 1694)
- 1865 - John Catron, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
- 1925 - Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, German historian (b. 1876)
- 1934 - Togo Heihachiro, Japanese admiral (b. 1848)
- 1951 - Hermann Broch, Austrian author (b. 1886)
- 1953 - Dooley Wilson, American musician and actor (b. 1886)
- 1960 - Boris Pasternak, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (declined) (b. 1890)
- 1961 - Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, dictator of the Dominican Republic (b. 1891)
- 1964 - Leó Szilárd, Hungarian-born nuclear physicist (b. 1898)
- 1967 - Claude Rains, English actor (b. 1889)
- 1971 - Marcel Dupré, French composer (b. 1886)
- 1975 - Steve Prefontaine, American runner (b. 1951)
- 1980 - Carl Radle, American bass guitarist (b. 1942)
- 1986 - Perry Ellis, fashion designer (b. 1940)
- 1993 - Sun Ra, American musician (b. 1914)
- 2000 - Tex Beneke, American bandleader, singer, and saxophone player (b. 1914)
- 2003 - Mickie Most, English musician (b. 1938)
- 2005 - Tomasz Pacyński, Polish writer (b. 1958)

Holidays and observances


- Peru – National Potato Day [http://www.cipotato.org/news_more.asp?cod=11&lang=eng]
- United States – Memorial Day (originally – currently last Monday in May)
- Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna Day in Fiji (last Monday in May)

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/30 BBC: On This Day] ---- May 29 - May 31 - April 30 - June 30 - listing of all days ko:5월 30일 ms:30 Mei ja:5月30日 simple:May 30 th:30 พฤษภาคม

1812

:This article is about the year 1812. For the overture by Tchaikovsky, see 1812 Overture. 1812 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar).

Events


- January 1 - the Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, the Austrian civil code enters into force in the Austrian Empire
- February 2 - Russia establishes a fur trading colony at Fort Ross, California
- February 7 - The last New Madrid Earthquake strikes New Madrid, Missouri, with an estimated moment magnitude of over 8
- February 11 - Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry invents gerrymandering
- March 15 - Luddites attack wool processing factory of Frank Vickerman in West Yorkshire
- March 26 - An earthquake destroys Caracas, Venezuela.
- April 30 - Louisiana is admitted as the 18th U.S. state.
- May 11 - Bankrupt banker assassinates British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval in the lobby of the British House of Commons.
- May 25 - Mine explosion at Felling colliery near Jarrow, England - 92 dead
- June 1 - War of 1812: U.S. President James Madison asks the U.S. Congress to declare war on the United Kingdom.
- June 4 - Following Louisiana's admittance as a U.S. state, the territory by that name was renamed to Missouri Territory.
- June 18 - The War of 1812 begins between the United States and the United Kingdom.
- June 24 - Napoleon's Grande Armée crosses the Niemen river and invades Russia (see Patriotic War of 1812)
- July 12 - Americans invade Canada at Windsor, Ontario.
- July 22 - Peninsular War: Battle of Salamanca - British forces led by Lord Wellington defeat French troops near Salamanca in Spain.
- August 5 - War of 1812: Tecumseh's Indian force ambushes Thomas Van Horne's 200 Americans at Brownstone Creek, causing them to flee and retreat.
- August 12 - Peninsular War: Wellington enters Madrid following the Battle of Salamanca.
- August 16 - War of 1812: American General William Hull surrenders Fort Detroit without a fight to the British Army.
- August 19 - War of 1812: USS Constitution defeats the British frigate Guerrière off the coast of Nova Scotia. The British shot is said to have bounced off the Constitution 's sides, earning her the nickname "Old Ironsides".
- September 7 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Borodino - Napoleon defeats the Russian army of Alexander I near the village of Borodino.
- September 14 - Napoleon's troops enter Moscow but the retreating Russian troops burn the city.
- October 9 - War of 1812: In a naval engagement on Lake Erie, American forces capture two British ships; HMS Detroit and HMS Caledonia.
- October 13 - War of 1812: Battle of Queenston Heights - On the Niagara frontier in Ontario, Canada, United States forces under General Stephen Van Rensselaer are repulsed from invading Canada by British and native troops led by Sir Isaac Brock (although he dies during the battle).
- October 19 - Napoleon begins his retreat from Moscow
- October 24 - Napoleonic Wars - Battle of Maloyaroslavets - an indecisive encounter between the French vanguard and a Russian force leads Napoleon to decide to retreat along the same line as his advance, with disastrous results.
- November - James Madison defeats De Witt Clinton in U.S. presidential election
- Bishop James Madison Society founded at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.
- Spanish Cortes, in exile at Cádiz, create the first modern Spanish constitution.
- The Old Oscar Pepper Distillery (now the Labrot & Graham Distillery), the oldest Kentucky Bourbon distillery, is established along Glenn's Creek in Woodford County, Kentucky.
- Coffee is banned in Sweden.
- Cholera in Jessore, India
- Capital of Finland moved from Turku to Helsinki.

Ongoing events


- Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815)-Peninsular War/Sixth Coalition/Patriotic War of 1812
- War of 1812 (1812-1815)

Births


- January 10 - Hong Xiuquan, Chinese rebel (d. 1864)
- January 13 - Victor de Laprade, French poet and critic (d. 1883)
- February 7 - Charles Dickens, English writer (d. 1870)
- February 11 - Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Vice President of Confederate States of America (d. 1883)
- February 15 - Charles Lewis Tiffany, American jeweler (d. 1902)
- March 1 - Augustus Pugin, English-born architect (d. 1852)
- March 6 - Aaron Lufkin Dennison American watch manufacturer (d. 1895)
- March 22 - Stephen Pearl Andrews, American anarchist and abolitionist (d. 1886)
- April 22 - Solomon Caesar Malan, Swiss-born orientalist (d. 1894)
- April 27 - Friedrich von Flotow, German composer (d. 1883)
- May 7 - Robert Browning, English poet (d. 1889)
- June 9 - Johann Gottfried Galle, German astronomer (d. 1910)
- July 2 - Nathaniel de Rothschild, French wine grower (d. 1870)
- November 14 - Aleardo Aleardi, Italian poet (d. 1878)
- December 24 - Karl Eduard Zachariae, German jurist (d. 1894)
- Mohan Lal (Zutshi), Indian traveler (d. 1877)

Deaths


- January 23 - Robert Craufurd, British general (mortally wounded in battle) (b. 1764)
- May 11 - Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (assassinated) (b. 1762)
- September 19 - Mayer Amschel Rothschild, German banker (b. 1744)
- October 13 - Isaac Brock, British general (killed in battle) (b. 1769)
- December 20 - Sacagawea, Shoshone guide
- December 24 - George Beck, American artist and poet (b. 1749) Category:1812 ko:1812년 ms:1812 simple:1812

1900

1900 (MCM) is a common year starting on Monday.

Events

January


- January 1 - Chris Smith Born in 1972
- January 2 - John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.
- January 2 - Chicago Canal opens.
- January 5 - Irish leader John Edward Redmond calls for a revolt against British rule.
- January 6 - It is reported that millions are starving in India.
- January 6 - Boers attack Ladysmith - over 1000 people were killed.
- January 8 - United States President William McKinley places Alaska under military rule.
- January 13 - Kaiser of Germany declares that German is the command language in the German army
- January 14 - Premier presentation of opera Tosca in Rome - actors have received death threats and nameless letters.
- January 16 - The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounced its claims to the Samoan islands.
- January 24 - Battle of Spion Kop in Second Boer War.
- January 24 - The governments in London and Pretoria begin negotiations to end the Boer Wars.
- January 27 - Boxer rebellion: Foreign diplomats in Peking China demand that the Boxer rebels be disciplined.
- January 29 - The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs is organized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with 8 founding teams.
- January 30 - United Kingdom forces fighting Boers in South Africa ask for reinforcements.

February

South Africa
- February 3 - Gubernatorial candidate William Goebel is assassinated in Frankfort, Kentucky. Former-Secretary of State Caleb Powers was later found guilty in a conspiracy to kill Goebels.
- February 7 - The British Labour Party is formed.
- February 8 - British troops are defeated by Boers at Ladysmith, South Africa.
- February 9 - Richard Wigginton Thompson, U.S. congressman, dies.
- February 14 - Russia responds to international pressure to free Finland by tightening imperial control over the country.
- February 14 - Boer War: In South Africa, 20,000 British troops invade the Orange Free State.
- February 17 - Battle of Paardeberg in the Second Boer War
- February 22 - Hawaii officially becomes a territory of the United States.
- February 23 - Boer War: Battle of Hart's Hill - In South Africa the Boers and British troops battle.
- February 27 - Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronje.
- February 27 - Ramsay MacDonald appointed secretary of newly formed British Labour Party.

March


- March 3 - Mining strike ends in Germany.
- March 6 - A coal mine explosion in West Virginia traps 50 coal miners.
- March 9 - Women in Germany demand right to participate in university entrance exams
- March 11 - Boer War: Boer leader Paul Kruger's peace overtures are rejected by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Lord Salisbury.
- March 13 - Boer War: British forces occupy Bloemfontein, Orange Free State.
- March 13 - In France, length of a workday for women and children is limited to 11 hours by law
- March 14 - The Gold Standard Act is ratified placing United States currency on the gold standard.
- March 16 - Sir Arthur Evans discovers the ruins of Knossos on Crete
- March 24 - New York City Mayor Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground "Rapid Transit Railroad" that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.

April


- April 1 - Every French policeman is assigned to carry a gun.
- April 1 - Irish Guards formed by Queen Victoria
- April 4 - Anarchist shoots at the Prince of Wales during his visit to Belgium in the birthday celebrations of the king of Belgium.
- April 14 - Paris World Exhibition opens.

May


- May 1 - Explosion of blasting powder in coal mine in Scofield, Utah kills 200
- May 2 - Oscar II, King of Sweden, declares support for Britain at the time of the Boer War.
- May 17 - Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking
- May 17 - Boxers destroy three villages near Peking and kill 60 Chinese Christians
- May 18 - Boer delegation travels to USA to ask for assistance
- May 18 - The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.
- May 21 - Russia invades Manchuria
- May 23 - Sergeant William Harvey Carney becomes the first African American to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor (awarded for heroism in the Battle of Fort Wagner during the American Civil War).
- May 24 - Boer War: British annex Orange Free State as Orange River Colony.
- May 25 - Boer soldiers vote for the continuance of the war
- May 28 - Boxers attack Belgian personnel in the Fengtai railway station
- May 29 - Chinese government condemns Boxers
- May 30 - Boxers occupy Tientsin
- May 31 - Peacekeepers from various European countries arrive in China
- May 31 - British under Lord Robert occupy Johannesburg

June


- June 1 - Carrie Nation demolishes 25 saloons in Medicine Lodge
- June 5 - Boer War: British soldiers take Pretoria, South Africa.
- June 14 - The Reichstag approves a second law that allows the expansion of the German navy.
- June 20 - The Boxers gather about 20,000 people near Peking and kill hundreds of European citizens, including the German ambassador.
- June 30 - Piers of North German Lloyd Steamship line burned in Hoboken, New Jersey - 326 dead

July

Hoboken, New Jersey
- July 2 - First zeppelin flight on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany
- July 5 - Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act passes British Parliament
- July 9 - Queen Victoria gives royal assent to Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act
- July 13 - Boxer Rebellion: In China, Tientsin is retaken by European Allies from the rebelling Boxers
- July 29 - In Italy, King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by Italian-born anarchist Gaetano Bresci.
- July 30 - The Duke of Albany becomes Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as Carl Eduard following the death of his uncle, Duke Alfred

August


- August 14 - An international contingent of troops, under British command, invades Peking and frees the Europeans taken hostage.
- August 27 - British defeat Boer commandos at Bergendal

September


- September 8 - Galveston Hurricane of 1900: a powerful hurricane hits Galveston, Texas killing about 8,000 people.
- September 17 - Philippine-American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham at Mabitac.

October


- October - The Norwegian inventor Johann Vaaler demands a patent for his invention, the paperclip.

November


- November 3 - the first automobile show in the United States opened at New York's Madison Square Garden under the auspices of the Automobile Club of America.
- November 6 - U.S. presidential election, 1900: Republican incumbent William McKinley is reelected by defeating Democrat challenger William Jennings Bryan.

Births

January


- January 5 - Yves Tanguy, French painter (d. 1955)
- January 26 - Karl Ristenpart, German conductor (d. 1967)
- January 27 - Hyman Rickover, American admiral (d. 1986)

February


- February 4 - Jacques Prévert, French lyricist and author (d. 1977)
- February 5 - Adlai Stevenson, American politician (d. 1965)
- February 11 - Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher (d. 2002)
- February 12 - Roger J. Traynor, American judge (d. 1983)
- February 19 - Giorgos Seferis, Greek writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- February 22 - Luis Buñuel, Spanish film director (d. 1983)
- February 28 - Wolfram Hirth, German pilot and aircraft designer (d. 1959)

March


- March 9 - Howard Aiken, American computing pioneer (d. 1973)
- March 19 - Frédéric Joliot, French physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 1958)
- March 23 - Erich Fromm, German-born psychologist and philosopher (d. 1980)
- March 29 - John McEwen, eighteenth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1980)
- March 31 - Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (d. 1974)

April-June


- April 2 - Roberto Arlt, Argentinian writer (d. 1942)
- April 5 - Spencer Tracy, American actor (d. 1967)
- April 25 - Wolfgang Ernst Pauli, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
- April 26 - Charles Richter, American geophysicist and inventor (d. 1985)
- April 30 - Cecily Lefort, English World War II heroine (executed) (d. 1945)
- May 1 - Ignazio Silone, Italian author (d. 1978)
- May 12 - Helene Weigel, Austrian actress (d. 1971)
- May 28 - Tommy Ladnier, American jazz trumpeter (heart attack) (d. 1939)
- June 3 - Rolland Fisher, American temperance movement leader (d. 1982)
- June 5 - Dennis Gabor, Hungarian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
- June 15 - Paul Mares, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1949)
- June 29 - Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French pilot and writer (d. 1944)

July-September


- July 13 - George Lewis, American jazz clarinetist (d. 1969)
- July 29 - Eyvind Johnson, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976)
- August 3 - Ernie Pyle, American journalist (d. 1945)
- August 4 - Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, queen of King George VI of the United Kingdom (d. 2002)
- August 6 - Cecil H. Green, British-born geophysicist and businessman (d. 2003)
- August 10 - Arthur Espie Porritt, New Zealand politician and athlete (d. 1994)
- August 15 - Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet (d. 1966)
- August 22 - Sergei Ozhegov, Russian lexicographer (d. 1964)
- August 25 - Sir Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1981)
- August 26 - Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (d. 1980)
- September 3 - Urho Kekkonen, President of Finland (d. 1986)
- September 6 - W.A.C. Bennett, Canadian politician (d. 1979)

October-December


- October 6 - Stan Nichols, English cricketer (d. 1961)
- October 7 - Heinrich Himmler, Nazi official and leader of the SS (d. 1945)
- October 30 - Ragnar Granit, Finnish neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1991)
- November 5 - Martin Dies, Jr., American politician (d. 1972)
- November 8 - Charlie Paddock, American athlete (d. 1943)
- November 8 - Margaret Mitchell, American writer (d. 1949)
- November 11 - Halina Konopacka, Polish athlete (d. 1989)
- November 14 - Aaron Copland, American composer (d. 1990)
- December 3 - Ulrich Inderbinen, Swiss mountain guide (d. 2004)
- December 3 - Richard Kuhn, Austrian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
- December 12 - Sammy Davis, Sr., American dancer (d. 1988)

Deaths


- January 20 - John Ruskin, English writer and social critic (b. 1819)
- March 6 - Gottlieb Daimler, German inventor and automotive pioneer (b. 1834)
- April 5 - Joseph Louis François Bertrand, French mathematician (b. 1822)
- April 24 - George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll, British politician (b.1823)
- April 30 - Casey Jones, American train wreck victim (b. 1864)
- May 18 - Jean Gaspard Felix Ravaisson-Mollien, French philosopher (b. 1813)
- June 3 - Mary Kingsley, English explorer and writer (b. 1862)
- June 5 - Stephen Crane, American author (b. 1871)
- June 11 - Belle Boyd, American Confederate spy and actress (b.1843)
- July 29 - Umberto I, King of Italy (assassinated) (b. 1844)
- July 30 - Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1844)
- August 10 - Charles Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen, Lord Chief Justice of England (b.1832)
- August 12 - Wilhelm Steinitz, Austrian-born chess player (b. 1836)
- August 16 - Eça de Queirós, Portuguese writer (b. 1845)
- August 25 - Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher and writer (b. 1844)
- August 25 - Kuroda Kiyotaka, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1840)
- September 23 - William Marsh Rice, American philanthropist and university founder (murdered) (b. 1816)
- September 29 - Samuel Fenton Cary, American politician and temperance movement leader (b. 1814)
- October 15 - Zdeněk Fibich, Czech composer (b. 1850)
- October 22 - John Sherman, American politician (b.1823)
- November 22 - Sir Arthur Sullivan. English composer (b. 1842)
- November 30 - Oscar Wilde, Irish writer (b. 1854)

Month/day unknown


- Henry D. Cogswell, American philanthropist and temperance movement pioneer (b. 1820)

Notes


- 1900 is not a leap year even though the number is divisible by 4. It is one of the dropped leap years of the Gregorian Calendar.
- ko:1900년 ms:1900 ja:1900年 simple:1900 th:พ.ศ. 2443

United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there. During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655. This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule. British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]] In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed. From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded1 from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments. Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]] During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946. During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics. In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Government

Iraq of the United States.]]

Republic and suffrage

The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.

Federal government

The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.

The Congress

necessary and proper The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."

The President

necessary-and-proper clause At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.

The Courts

George W. Bush The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law. Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.

State and local governments

supreme court of each state. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]] The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system. The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.

Political divisions

With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Since the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole. In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships. The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The U.S. is divided into three distinct sections:
- the "continental United States," also known as "the Lower 48" and more accurately termed the conterminous, coterminous or contiguous United States
- Alaska, which is physically connected only to Canada
- the archipelago of Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean. The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the United States' only incorporated territory; it is unorganized and uninhabited. The United States Navy has held a base at a portion of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 1898. The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate. The present Cuban government of Fidel Castro disputes this arrangement, claiming Cuba was not truly sovereign at the time of the signing. The United States argues this point moot because Cuba apparently ratified the