Portal:United States
Introduction
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that college debates in the United States were originally conducted entirely in Latin?
- ... that Esther Merle Jackson, as a specialist in theatre and dance education at the United States Office of Education, intended to expand theater's role in the Great Society?
- ... that English-born actress Frances Brett Hodgkinson became the highest-paid theater actress in the United States in 1800?
- ... that the International Fire Marshals Association is partly responsible for the ban on fireworks in some U.S. states?
- ... that the Metropolitan main line was the first electrified revenue rapid transit in the United States?
- ... that after Luigi Galleani was deported from the United States, his followers retaliated by carrying out a series of bomb attacks against government officials?
- ... that Bazzini, established in 1886, is the oldest extant nut company in the United States?
- ... that Jerold F. Lucey introduced phototherapy to the United States as a treatment for jaundice in newborns?
Selected society biography -
Burnham had little formal education, attending high school but never graduating. He began his career at 14 in the American Southwest as a scout and tracker for the U.S. Army in the Apache Wars and Cheyenne Wars. Sensing the Old West was getting too tame, as an adult Burnham went to Africa where this background proved useful. He soon became an officer in the British Army, serving in several battles there. During this time, Burnham became friends with Baden-Powell, and passed on to him both his outdoor skills and his spirit for what would later become known as Scouting.
Burnham eventually moved on to become involved in espionage, oil, conservation, writing and business. His descendants are still active in Scouting.
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Aspects of Jackson's personal life, including his changing appearance, personal relationships and behavior, have generated controversy. In 1993, he was accused of child sexual abuse, but the case was settled out of court and no formal charges were brought. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted of further sexual abuse allegations and several other charges after the jury ruled him not guilty on all counts. While preparing for his concert series This Is It, Jackson died on June 25, 2009, after suffering from cardiac arrest. Before his death, Jackson had reportedly been administered drugs such as propofol and lorazepam. The Los Angeles County Coroner declared his death a homicide, and his personal physician pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter. Jackson's death triggered a global outpouring of grief, and as many as one billion people around the world reportedly watched his public memorial service on live television. In March 2010, Sony Music Entertainment signed a US$250 million deal with Jackson's estate to retain distribution rights to his recordings until 2017, and to release seven posthumous albums over the decade following his death.
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The centers of all three branches of the U.S. federal government are located in the District, as are many of the nation's monuments and museums. Washington, D.C., is governed by a mayor and a 13-member city council. However, the United States Congress has supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. Residents of the District therefore have less self-governance than residents of the states.
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Anniversaries for August 7
- 1782 – General George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military Merit (pictured) to honor soldiers wounded in battle. It is later renamed the Purple Heart, after its appearance.
- 1927 – The Peace Bridge, a bridge between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York, opens.
- 1944 – IBM officially presents the electro-mechanical computer Harvard Mark I, (originally named the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator), to Harvard University. While not the first computer, the Mark I was comparatively fast and reliable among early computers, and has been called "the beginning of the era of the modern computer".
- 1964 – Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson broad war powers to deal with North Vietnamese attacks on American forces.
- 1978 – President Jimmy Carter declares that the situation at Love Canal, a residential community built on what had at one time been a toxic waste dump, is a federal emergency. The declaration would allow for federal emergency funds to be used in the cleanup of the site, marking the first time that federal emergency funds were used other than for the handling of natural disasters.
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More did you know? -
- ... that Operation Power Flite, in which three U.S. Air Force B-52s flew non-stop around the world (route pictured), was made to show that "the United States had the ability to drop a hydrogen bomb anywhere in the world"?
- ... that the United States Supreme Court has ruled that interscholastic athletic associations have police power?
- ... that the Bacon Deluxe sandwich from Wendy's topped a list of the five most unhealthful gourmet burgers sold by national fast food restaurant chains in the United States?
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