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George W. Hill

George W. Hill

George William Hill (April 25 1895 - August 10 1934) was an American film director and cinematographer. He began his film career at age 13 with director, D. W. Griffith as a stagehand. He directed films and was a cintematographer from the 1920s until he committed suicide on August 10, 1934. William Hill, George William Hill, George William Hill, George William Hill, George Wlliam Hill, George

April 25

April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (116th in leap years). There are 250 days remaining.

Events

- 1607 - Eighty Years' War: Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar.
- 1707 - An Allied Austrian army is defeated by Bourbon army at Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession.
- 1719 - Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe is published.
- 1792 - Highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier becomes the first person executed by guillotine.
- 1792 - "La Marseillaise" (French national anthem) is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
- 1846 - Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican-American War.
- 1847 - The last survivors of the are out of the wilderness. See Donner Party for basic story and commentary on cannibalism; see Donner Party timeline for detailed chronology.
- 1849 - The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal's English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.
- 1859 - Ground is broken for the Suez Canal.
- 1862 - American Civil War: Forces under Union Admiral David Farragut capture the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Mark's Mills – Confederate forces seize a Union wagon supply train on its way to Camden, Arkansas forcing Union General Frederick Steele to withdraw his troops to Little Rock, Arkansas.
- 1881 - Caulfield Grammar School is founded in Melbourne, Australia.
- 1898 - Spanish-American War: The United States declares war on Spain.
- 1901 - New York becomes the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates.
- 1915 - The ANZAC tradition begins during World War I with a landing at Gallipoli on the Turkish coast.
- 1916 - Easter Rebellion: The United Kingdom declares martial law in Ireland.
- 1916 - ANZAC Day commemorated for the first time.
- 1926 - Reza Khan is crowned Shah of Iran under the name Reza Pahlavi.
- 1938 - U.S. Supreme Court delivers opinion in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and overturns a century of federal common law.
- 1940 - The Faroese flag Merkið is made the official flag for the Faroe Islands.
- 1943 - The Demyansk Shield for German troops in commemoration of Demyansk Pocket was instituted.
- 1944 - The United Negro College Fund is incorporated.
- 1945 - Elbe Day: United States and Russian troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two, a milestone in the approaching end of World War II in Europe.
- 1945 - Fifty nations gather in San Francisco, California to begin the United Nations Conference on International Organizations.
- 1953 - Francis Crick and James D. Watson publish Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid describing the double helix structure of DNA.
- 1959 - The St. Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping.
- 1961 - Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit.
- 1972 - Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive – The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum.
- 1974 - Carnation Revolution: A coup in Portugal restores democracy.
- 1975 - As North Vietnamese forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost ten years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam.
- 1981 - More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of a nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, Japan.
- 1982 - Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai peninsula per the Camp David Accords.
- 1983 - American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war.
- 1983 - Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto's orbit.
- 1988 - In Israel, John Demjanuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II. He was accused of being a notorious guard at the Treblinka extermination camp known as "Ivan the Terrible" by survivors.
- 1989 - James Richardson is freed from a Florida prison 21 years after being wrongfully convicted of the murder of his seven children.
- 1993 - 300,000 gay, lesbian, transgender, and allied activists march on Washington, DC demanding freedom from discrimination.
- 2005 - The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937.
- 2005 - Bulgaria and Romania sign ascession treaties gaining entrance into the European Union.
- 2005 - 107 die in Amagasaki rail crash in Japan.

Births

- 32 - Marcus Salvius Otho, Roman Emperor (d. 69)
- 1214 - King Louis IX of France (d. 1270)
- 1228 - Conrad IV of Germany (d. 1254)
- 1284 - King Edward II of England (d. 1327)
- 1287 - Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, de factor ruler of England (d. 1330)
- 1502 - Georg Major, German protestant theologian (d. 1574)
- 1545 - Yi Sun Shin, Korean admiral (d. 1598)
- 1599 - Oliver Cromwell, English statesman (d. 1658)
- 1608 - Gaston, Duke of Orléans, French politician (d. 1660)
- 1621 - Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, British soldier, statesman, and dramatist (d. 1679)
- 1694 - Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, English architect (d. 1753)
- 1710 - James Ferguson, Scottish astronomer (d. 1776)
- 1725 - Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel, British admiral (d. 1786)
- 1767 - Nicolas Oudinot, French marshal (d. 1847)
- 1770 - Georg Sverdrup, Norwegian philologist (d. 1850)
- 1840 (O.S.) - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer (d. 1893)
- 1849 - Felix Klein, German mathematician (d. 1925)
- 1874 - Guglielmo Marconi, Italian inventor, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 1937)
- 1900 - Wolfgang Ernst Pauli, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
- 1902 - Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist (d. 1964)
- 1903 - Andrey Nikolayevich Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician (d. 1987)
- 1906 - William J. Brennan, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1997)
- 1908 - Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (d. 1965)
- 1911 - Jack Ruby, American assassin (d. 1967)
- 1914 - Ross Lockridge, Jr., American writer (d. 1948)
- 1917 - Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (d. 1996)
- 1918 - Gerard Henri de Vaucouleurs, French astronomer (d. 1995)
- 1921 - Karel Appel, Dutch painter
- 1923 - Albert King, American musician
- 1925 - Sammy Drechsel, German journalist, film director, and cabaret performer (d. 1986)
- 1925 - Kay E. Kuter, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1927 - Albert Uderzo, French cartoonist
- 1930 - Paul Mazursky, American film director and writer
- 1932 - Meadlowlark Lemon, American basketball player
- 1933 - Jerry Leiber, American composer
- 1940 - Al Pacino, American actor
- 1945 - Björn Ulvaeus, Swedish singer and songwriter (ABBA)
- 1946 - Talia Shire, American actress
- 1946 - Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian politician
- 1947 - Johann Cruyff, Dutch footballer
- 1949 - Vicente Pernía, Argentine footballer
- 1952 - Ketil Bjørnstad, Norwegian pianist
- 1964 - Hank Azaria, American actor
- 1964 - Andy Bell, British musician (Erasure)
- 1965 - Eric Avery, American musician (Jane's Addiction)
- 1969 - Joe Buck, baseball and American football broadcaster
- 1969 - Darren Woodson, American football player
- 1969 - Renée Zellweger, American actress
- 1970 - Jason Lee, American actor
- 1973 - Fredrik Larzon, Swedish drummer (Millencolin)
- 1976 - Tim Duncan, West Indian basketball player
- 1976 - Rainer Schuettler, German tennis player
- 1989 - Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, 11th Panchen Lama

Deaths

- 1185 - Emperor Antoku of Japan (b. 1178)
- 1265 - Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester, English Crusader
- 1295 - King Sancho IV of Castile
- 1472 - Leon Battista Alberti, Italian artist, poet, and philosopher (b. 1404)
- 1516 - John Yonge, English diplomat (b. 1467)
- 1566 - Diane de Poitiers, mistress of King Henry II of France (b. 1499)
- 1566 - Louise Labé, French poet
- 1595 - Torquato Tasso, Italian poet (b. 1544)
- 1605 - Naresuan, King of Siam (b. 1555)
- 1644 - Chongzhen, Emperor of China (b 1611)
- 1660 - Henry Hammond, English churchman (b. 1605)
- 1690 - David Teniers the Younger, Flemish artist (b. 1610)
- 1744 - Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer (b. 1701)
- 1770 - Jean-Antoine Nollet, French abbot and physicist (b. 1700)
- 1800 - William Cowper, English poet (b. 1731)
- 1840 - Siméon-Denis Poisson, French mathematician (b. 1781)
- 1878 - Anna Sewell, English author (b. 1820)
- 1911 - Emilio Salgari, Italian novelist (b. 1862)
- 1937 - Michał Drzymała, Polish rebel (b.1857)
- 1943 - Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Russian theatre director (b. 1858)
- 1968 - John Tewksbury, American athlete (b. 1876)
- 1972 - George Sanders, British actor (b. 1906)
- 1982 - John Cardinal Cody, American cardinal (b. 1907)
- 1990 - Dexter Gordon, American saxophonist (b. 1923)
- 1995 - Art Fleming, American game show host (b. 1925)
- 1995 - Ginger Rogers, American actress and dancer (b. 1911)
- 1996 - Saul Bass, American graphics designer (b. 1920)
- 1998 - Morris Wright, American writer (b. 1910)
- 1999 - Lord Killanin, Irish International Olympic Committee president (b. 1914)
- 2000 - David Merrick, American theatrical producer (b. 1911)
- 2001 - Michele Alboreto, Italian race car driver (b. 1956)
- 2002 - Indra Devi, yoga teacher (b. 1899)
- 2003 - Samson Kitur, Kenyan athlete (b. (1966)
- 2005 - Swami Ranganathananda, Indian monk and president of the Ramakrishna Mission (b. (1908)

Holidays and observances

- ANZAC Day (Australia, New Zealand)
- Carnation Revolution commemorated in Portugal (National Holiday)
- Festa della Liberazione, (Italy), annual commemoration to mark the liberation of Italy at the end of the Second World War.
- Faroe Islands - National Flag Day
- Swaziland - National Flag Day
- Easter Sunday - 1886, 1943, 2038. In the Gregorian Calendar 25th April is the latest date on which Easter Sunday can fall (22nd March is the earliest)
- Feast day of St Mark
- Rastafari movement - Celebration of Haile Selassie's visit to Jamaica
- Roman Empire - Robigalia in honor of Robigus
- Official Red Hat Society day
- Alice Day - a holiday celebrated by some pedophiles

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/25 BBC: On This Day] ---- April 24 - April 26 - March 25 - May 25 – listing of all days ko:4월 25일 ms:25 April ja:4月25日 simple:April 25 th:25 เมษายน

August 10

August 10 is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 143 days remaining. The term "the 10th of August" is widely used by historians as a shorthand for the Storming of the Tuileries Palace on August 10 1792, the effective end of the French monarchy until it was restored in 1814.

Events

- 612 BC - Killing of Sinsharishkun, King of Assyrian Empire. Destruction of Nineveh.
- AD 955 - Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor defeats Magyars, ending 50 years of Magyar invasion of the West.
- 1519 - Ferdinand Magellan's five ships set sail from Seville to circumnavigate the globe.
- 1680 - Pueblo Revolt begins in New Mexico.
- 1792 - French Revolution: Storming of the Tuileries Palace. Louis XVI of France is arrested and taken into custody.
- 1809 - Quito, now the capital of Ecuador, declares independence from Spain.
- 1821 - Missouri is admitted as the 24th U.S. state.
- 1846 - The Smithsonian Institution is chartered by the U.S. Congress after $500,000 was given for such a purpose by scientist Joseph Smithson.
- 1856 - In Last Island, Louisiana, a hurricane kills about 400 people.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Battle of Wilson's Creek - The war enters Missouri when a band of raw Confederate troops defeat Union forces in the southwestern part of the state.
- 1893 - At Augsburg, Rudolf Diesel's prime model runs on its own power for the first time. Because of this, August 10 is the International Biodiesel Day.
- 1905 - Russian and Japanese peace negotiations begin in Portsmouth.
- 1913 - Second Balkan War ends: Delegates from Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece sign the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the war.
- 1920 - World War I: Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI's representatives sign the Treaty of Sevres which divides up the Ottoman Empire between the Allies.
- 1932 - A 5.1-kg (11.2-pound) chondrite-type meteorite breaks into at least seven pieces and lands near the town of Archie in Cass County, Missouri.
- 1944 - World War II: American forces defeat the last Japanese troops on Guam.
- 1948 - Candid Camera makes its television debut after being on radio for a year as Candid Microphone.
- 1949 - US President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Bill, streamlining the defense agencies of the United States government, and replacing the National Military Establishment with the United States Department of Defense.
- 1954 - At Massena, New York, the groundbreaking ceremony for the St. Lawrence Seaway is held.
- 1969 - A day after murdering Sharon Tate and four others, members of Charles Manson's cult kill Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.
- 1971 - Harmon Killebrew becomes the 10th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota.
- 1977 - In Yonkers, New York, 24-year-old postal employee David Berkowitz ("Son of Sam") is arrested for a series of killings in the New York City area over a year's period.
- 1981 - The head of John Walsh's son Adam is found in Hollywood, Florida. This event will later prompt the U.S. Congress to pass the Missing Children's Act, giving the Federal Bureau of Investigation greater authority to track the disappearance of children. It also makes Walsh a national spokesman against crime and eventually leads to the establishment of America's Most Wanted.
- 1988 - Japanese American Internment: US President Ronald Reagan signs the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, providing $20,000 payments to Japanese-Americans who were either interned or relocated by in the United States during World War II.
- 1990 - The Magellan space probe reaches Venus.
- 1995 - Oklahoma City bombing: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols are indicted for the bombing. Michael Fortier pleads guilty in a plea-bargain agreement for his testimony.
- 2003 - The highest temperature ever recorded in the UK, 38.1°C (100.5 °F), occurs in Kent and Greater London. It is the first time the UK has recorded a temperature over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
- 2003 - Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko became the first person to marry in space when he marries Ekaterina Dmitriev, on the ground in Texas, while he orbits 240 miles over New Zealand, on the International Space Station.

Births

- 1267 - King James II of Aragon (d. 1327)
- 1296 - John I, Count of Luxemburg (d. 1346)
- 1360 - Francesco Zabarella, Italian jurist (d. 1417)
- 1397 - Albert II of Germany, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1439)
- 1489 - Jacob Sturm von Sturmeck, German statesman and reformer (d. 1553)
- 1520 - Madeleine de Valois, queen of James V of Scotland (d. 1537)
- 1560 - Hieronymus Praetorius, German composer (d. 1629)
- 1645 - Eusebio Kino, Italian Catholic missionary (d. 1711)
- 1821 - Jay Cooke, American financier (d. 1905)
- 1845 - Abai Kunanbaev, Kazak poet (d. 1904)
- 1869 - Laurence Binyon, British poet (d. 1943)
- 1872 - Bill Johnson, American musician (d. 1972)
- 1874 - Herbert Hoover, President of the United States (d. 1964)
- 1877 - Frank Marshall, American chess player (d. 1944)
- 1878 - Alfred Döblin, German writer (d. 1957)
- 1880 - Robert L. Thornton, American businessman, philanthropist, and Mayor of Dallas, Texas (d. 1964)
- 1890 - Angus L. MacDonald, Canadian politician (d. 1954)
- 1898 - Jack Haley, American actor (d. 1979)
- 1900 - Arthur Espie Porritt, New Zealand politician and athlete (d. 1994)
- 1902 - Norma Shearer, Canadian actress (d. 1983)
- 1902 - Curt Siodmak, German-born author (d. 2000)
- 1902 - Arne Tiselius, Swedish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- 1905 - Era Bell Thompson, American journalist (d. 1986)
- 1909 - Leo Fender, American luthier (d. 1991)
- 1912 - Jorge Amado, Brazilian novelist (d. 2001)
- 1913 - Wolfgang Paul, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1993)
- 1914 - Jeff Corey, American actor (d. 2002)
- 1923 - Rhonda Fleming, American actress
- 1927 - Vernon Washington, American actors (d. 1988)
- 1928 - Jimmy Dean, American singer
- 1933 - Doyle Brunson, American poker player
- 1939 - Kate O'Mara, British actress
- 1940 - Bobby Hatfield, American singer (Righteous Brothers) (d. 2003)
- 1948 - Martha Ohliger, American artist
- 1943 - Ronnie Spector, American singer (Ronettes)
- 1945 - Harriet Miers, White House counsel
- 1947 - Ian Anderson, Scottish musician (Jethro Tull)
- 1947 - Anwar Ibrahim, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia
- 1948 - Martha Ohliger, American artist
- 1952 - Daniel Hugh Kelly, American actor
- 1959 - Rosanna Arquette, American model and actress
- 1960 - Antonio Banderas, Spanish actor
- 1963 - Andrew Sullivan, English-born journalist
- 1965 - Claudia Christian, American actress
- 1965 - Mike Smith, American jockey
- 1965 - John Starks, American basketball player
- 1967 - Riddick Bowe, American boxer
- 1967 - Mart Sander, Estonian singer and actor
- 1971 - Roy Keane, Irish footballer
- 1971 - Mario César Kindelán Mesa, Cuban amateur boxer
- 1971 - Justin Theroux, American actor
- 1972 - Angie Harmon, American model and actress
- 1974 - David Sommeil, French footballer
- 1980 - Kaysar Ridha, Reality TV Star
- 1982 - Devon Aoki, American model and actress

Deaths

- 612 BC - Sinsharishkun, Assyrian king
- AD 258 - Saint Lawrence, martyr
- 1535 - Ippolito de' Medici, ruler of Florence (poisoned) (b. 1509)
- 1633 - Anthony Munday, English writer (b. 1553)
- 1637 - Johann Gerhard, German Lutheran leader (b. 1582)
- 1653 - Maarten Tromp, Dutch admiral (b. 1598)
- 1655 - Alonso de la Cueva, Spanish cardinal and diplomat (b. 1572)
- 1723 - Guillaume Dubois, French cardinal and statesman (b. 1656)
- 1759 - King Ferdinand VI of Spain (b. 1713)
- 1784 - Allan Ramsay, Scottish painter (b. 1713)
- 1802 - Franz Aepinus, German scientist (b. 1724)
- 1806 - Michael Haydn, Austrian composer (b. 1737)
- 1839 - John St Aubyn, British fossil collector (b. 1758)
- 1862 - Shusaku Honinbo, Japanese Go player (b. 1829)
- 1875 - Karl Andree, German geographer (b. 1808)
- 1896 - Otto Lilienthal, German aviation pioneer (b. 1848)
- 1945 - Robert Goddard, American rocket scientist (b. 1882)
- 1948 - Montague Summers, English writer (b. 1880)
- 1963 - Estes Kefauver, U.S. Senator from Tennessee (b. 1903)
- 1980 - Yahya Khan, President of Pakistan (b. 1917)
- 1993 - Øystein Aarseth, Norwegian musician (Mayhem) (b. 1968)
- 1997 - Conlon Nancarrow, American composer (b. 1912)
- 2002 - Michael Houser, American guitarist (Widespread Panic) (b. 1962)
- 2002 - Kristen Nygaard, Norwegian computer scientist (b. 1926)
- 2003 - Carmita Jimenez, Puerto Rican singer

Holidays and observances

- Roman festivals - Opalia, festival in honor of Ops
- Ancient Latvia - Labrenca Diena held
- Independence Day in Ecuador -- Movement began in Quito in 1809. Independence not achieved till May 1822.

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/10 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050810.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- August 9 - August 11 - July 10 - September 10 -- listing of all days ko:8월 10일 ms:10 Ogos ja:8月10日 simple:August 10 th:10 สิงหาคม

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 lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.

Foreign relations and military

sovereign] The immense military and economic dominance of the United States has made foreign relations an especially important topic in its politics, with considerable concern about the image of the United States throughout the world. Reactions towards the United States by other nationalities are often strong, ranging from uninhibited admiration and mimicking of all things American to anti-Americanism. US foreign policy has swung about several times over the course of its history between the poles of strict isolationism and imperialism and everywhere in between. Three of the nation's four military branches are administered by the Department of Defense: the Army, the Navy (including the Marine Corps), and the Air Force. The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, but is placed under the Department of the Navy in time of war. The combined United States armed forces consist of 1.4 million active duty personnel, along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Military conscription ended in 1973. The United States Armed forces are considered to be the most powerful military (of any sort) on Earth and their force projection capabilities are unrivaled by any other nation. The 2005 defense budget amounted to $401.7 billion, which is an increase of 4% over 2004 and of 35% since 2001. Over 50% of that number is spent in research & development. (For comparison, in 2004 the European Union (considered as the second-largest military force) had a combined total of 1.6 million troops, and a defense budget of €160 billion, with less than 10% of that being spent on R&D.)

Largest cities

The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types — with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, although the top three would be unchanged. Note that some cities not listed (such as Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.) are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics. The twenty largest cities, based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, are as follows:

Economy

The United States has the largest single-country economy in the world, with a per-capita gross domestic product of $40,100. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. gross domestic product The largest industry of the U.S. is now service, which employs roughly three quarters of the U.S. work force. The United States has many natural resources, including oil and gas, metals, and such minerals as gold, soda ash, and zinc. In agriculture, the U.S. is a top producer of, among other crops, corn, soy beans, and wheat; the United States is a net exporter of food. The U.S. manufacturing sector produces goods such as, cars, airplanes, steel, and electronics, among many others. Economic activity varies greatly from one part of the country to another, with many industries being largely dependent on a certain city or region; New York City is the center of the American financial, publishing, broadcasting, and advertising industries; Silicon Valley is the country’s primary location for high-technology companies, while Los Angeles is the most important center for film production. The Midwest is known for its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, with Detroit, Michigan, serving as the center of the American automotive industry; the Great Plains are known as the "breadbasket" of America for their tremendous agricultural output; the intermountain region serves as a mining hub and natural gas resource; the Pacific Northwest for fish and timber, while Texas is largely associated with the oil industry; the Southeast is a major hub for both medical research and the textiles industry. Several countries continue to link their currency to the dollar or even use it as a currency (such as Ecuador), although this practice has subsided since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Many markets are also quoted in dollars, such as those of oil and gold. The dollar is also the predominant reserve currency in the world, and more than half of global reserves are in dollars. The largest trading partner of the United States is Canada (19%), followed by China (12%), Mexico (11%), and Japan (8%). More than 50% of total trade is with these four countries. In 2003, the United States was ranked as the third most visited tourist destination in the world; its 40,400,000 visitors ranked behind France's 75,000,000 and Spain's 52,500,000. Labor unions have existed since the 19th century, and grew large and powerful from the 1930s to the 1950s. See Labor history of the United States. Since 1970 they have shrunk in the private sector and now cover fewer than 8% of the workers. However union membership has grown rapidly in the public sector, especially among teachers, nurses, police, postal workers, and municipal clerks. There have been few strikes in recent years. The United States' imports exceed exports by 80%, leading to an annual trade deficit of $700,000,000,000, or 6% of gross domestic product. It is the largest debtor nation in the world, with total gross foreign debt of over $13,000,000,000,000 (2005 estimate); and it absorbs more than 50% of global savings annually. Since the 1980s, the U.S. has increased the use of neoliberal economic policies that reduce government intervention and reduce the size of the welfare state, backing away from the more interventionist Keynsian economic policies that had been in favor since the Great Depression. As a result, the United States provides fewer government-delivered social welfare services than most industrialized nations, choosing instead to keep its tax burden lower and relying more heavily on the free market and private charities. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the national level ($5.15 per-hour), including the highest, Washington State at $7.35. Twenty-six states are the same as the federal level; two--Ohio and Kansas--are below; and six do not have state laws. America's wealth is relatively highly concentrated. The average C.E.O. earns 500 times the typical amount a worker grosses, this is up from 25 times in the late 1970s. In terms of wealth the top 1% of Americans own 40% of all assets and 50.1% of the country's income goes to the top twenty percent of households. Average wages for the majority of employees have been largely stagnating since the 1970s. America's poverty line defined as a family of four earning less than $19,157 is at 12.7% of the general population. Approximately one out of every five children in the United States grows up below the official poverty line. Among racial groups; African Americans have the lowest median income while Asians had the highest. Regionally, the southern states had the lowest median incomes while the West Coast and New England had the highest. The current Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan remarked that the U.S.’s growing income inequality since the 1970s is, "not the type of thing which a democratic society - a capitalist democratic society - can really accept without addressing."[http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm] However, Greenspan also noted, "...you can look at the system and say it's got a lot of problems to it, and sure it does. It always has. But you can't get around the fact that this is the most extraordinarily successful economy in history."

Transportation

Alan Greenspan ]] Because the United States is a relatively young nation, most of the development of U.S. cities has taken place since the invention of the automobile. To link its vast territory, the United States built a network of high-capacity, high-speed highways, of which the most important element is the Interstate Highway system, commissioned in the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and modeled after the German Autobahn. The United States also has a transcontinental rail system, which is used for moving freight across the lower forty-eight states. Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak, which serves forty-six of the lower forty-eight states. Many cities in the United States have extensive mass-transit systems. New York City operates one of the world's largest and most heavily used subway systems. The regional rail and bus networks that extend into Long Island, New Jersey, Upstate New York, and Connecticut are among the most heavily used in the world. Air travel is often preferred for destinations over 300 miles (500 kilometers) away. In terms of passengers, seventeen of the world's thirty busiest airports in 2004 were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; in terms of cargo, in the same year, twelve of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Memphis International Airport. There are several major seaports in the United States; the three busiest are the Port of Los Angeles, California; the Port of Long Beach, California; and the Port of New York and New Jersey. Others include Houston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington; plus, outside the contiguous forty-eight states, Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Society

Demographics

Hawaii The mean center of the U.S. population continues to drift farther west and south. The fastest growing region is the western United States followed by the southern portion. According to Census 2000, the states that saw the greatest increases from 1990 were: Nevada (66.3%), Arizona (40%), Colorado (30.6%), Utah (29.6%), Idaho (28.5%), Georgia (26.4%), Florida (23.5%), Texas (22.8%), North Carolina (21.4%), and Washington (21.1%). [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t2/tab03.pdf]

Ethnicity and race

:Main article: Racial demographics of the United States The United States is a very racially diverse country. According to the 2000 census, it has 31 ethnic groups with at least one million members each, and numerous others represented in smaller amounts. The majority of Americans descend from white European immigrants who arrived at the establishment of the first colonies (most after Reconstruction). This majority--69.1% in 2000--decreases each year, and is expected to become a plurality within a few decades. The most frequently stated European ancestries are German (15.2%), Irish (10.8%), English (8.7%), Italian (5.6%) and Scandinavian (3.7%). Many immigrants also hail from Slavic countries such as Poland and Russia. Other significant immigrant populations came from eastern and southern Europe and French Canada. Russia Hispanics from Mexico and South and Central America are the largest minority group in the country, comprising 12.5% of the population (2000 census). People of Mexican descent made up 7.3% of the population in the 2000 census, and this proportion is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades. About 12.3% (2000 census) of the American people are African Americans (Blacks). African Americans are spread throughout the country, but their presence is largest in the South. Asian Americans--including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders--are a third significant minority (3.7% of the population in 2000). Most Asian Americans are concentrated on the West Coast and Hawaii. The largest groups are immigrants or descendants of emigrants from the Philippines, China, India, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan.