tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31021585347984184522024-03-17T18:46:32.442-07:00American History BlogHistory never looks like history while you are living through it.....John W. GardnerUncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.comBlogger190125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-84018959416646110682013-07-04T15:03:00.000-07:002013-07-04T15:03:00.202-07:00The Fourth of July<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On July 4, 1777, the night sky of Philadelphia shone with the blaze of bonfires below. Candles illuminated the windows of houses and public buildings. Church bells and volleys from ship cannons broke the quiet. The city was celebrating the first anniversary of the founding of the United States. One year earlier, on July 4, 1776, American patriots had signed the Declaration of Independence, which announced to the world that the 13 colonies no longer belonged to England.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The Fourth of July soon became the main patriotic holiday of the entire country. Veterans of the Revolutionary War made a tradition of gathering on the Fourth to remember their victory. In towns and cities, the American flag flew; shops displayed red, white, and blue decorations; and people marched in parades that were followed by public readings of the Declaration of Independence. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Declared a federal holiday in 1941, the Fourth of July is still a day for celebrating America's birth. It is also a day for picnics, parades, swimming, and games. In the evening, many Americans gather to watch fireworks that light up the sky. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">John Adams, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the second President, thought that Americans should observe " a great anniversary festival with pomp and parade....with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations...from time to time forward forevermore."</span>Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-65082724245118268132013-07-03T14:52:00.000-07:002013-07-03T14:52:00.468-07:00Kentucky<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdU1CFzKSK-QtjW3tDGpPBDUB6TuhXwnoC4aZ9AllUSwOH2iuW3WacMKtb5eam-yiYSHRGUupl00NiM455grbTZLMeuNwBKmfSz2onocTsaUTwlfwfodJNZUqIz6YHGwo_1yMsgBDsEAE/s1600/kentucky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdU1CFzKSK-QtjW3tDGpPBDUB6TuhXwnoC4aZ9AllUSwOH2iuW3WacMKtb5eam-yiYSHRGUupl00NiM455grbTZLMeuNwBKmfSz2onocTsaUTwlfwfodJNZUqIz6YHGwo_1yMsgBDsEAE/s200/kentucky.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The name "Kentucky" comes from an Iroquois Indian word, <em>kenta</em>, which probably meant meadowland. If so, it is a good name for a state that is famous for its meadows. Some of the world's fastest racehorses have grazed on Kentucky's bluegrass pastures. The grass isn't really blue. But in spring, it produces tiny blue flowers that give a blue cast to the lush fields and lawns.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Kentucky's first people, the Cherokees and other Native Americans, were pushed west after white settlers began arriving in the 1770s. Daniel Boone guided some of the first settlers across the Appalachian Mountains into Kentucky.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Over the years, Kentucky became known for its coal mines, tobacco fields, bourbon whiskey, and racehorses. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The Kentucky Derby, one of the world's top horse races, is run each year at Churchill Downs near Louisville, the state's largest city. Kentucky has other special places, too. Mammoth Cave National Park, in central Kentucky, is the largest cave system in the world. And at Fort Knox, near Louisville, the U.S. government stores billions of dollars' worth of gold in heavily guarded vaults.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Two men born in Kentucky led the opposing sides in the Civil War: Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States and Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy.</span>Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-58651515691791452822013-07-02T14:36:00.000-07:002013-07-02T14:36:00.743-07:00Anne Hutchinson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ5eI7cijQ0IRox0M_9t9UxlgvXdVAp_B_xWqdOIid1ArKcZTENoPtJGC_SvW9Hszn8owVkTh1SiLu-t9rIImvDAmhMzikwQHnMKf5jwTeIwXNDyWAG01oT7C0kEwjUFS3zTH1h4fAcLo/s1600/annehutchinson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ5eI7cijQ0IRox0M_9t9UxlgvXdVAp_B_xWqdOIid1ArKcZTENoPtJGC_SvW9Hszn8owVkTh1SiLu-t9rIImvDAmhMzikwQHnMKf5jwTeIwXNDyWAG01oT7C0kEwjUFS3zTH1h4fAcLo/s200/annehutchinson.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Freedom of religion is a constitutional right that many Americans take for granted. But in the early days of settlement, it was dangerous to disagree with the religious views of colonial leaders. One person who had the courage to stand up for her beliefs was Anne Hutchinson.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Hutchinson and her family came from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634. The Puritans who controlled the colony believed that people could win salvation only by obeying the teachings of the Bible and the Puritan ministers. Hutchinson believed that people could communicate directly with God, without the help of a church or a minister. She held meetings in her home to explain her beliefs and began to attract supporters. The colony's governor, John Winthrop, and the Puritan clergy saw Hutchinson as a threat to their church. They tried her for heresy (denying the teachings of the church) and forced her to leave the colony in 1638. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Anne Hutchinson and her family moved to Rhode Island, a colony that welcomed freethinkers and allowed religious freedom. Later, she moved to New York, where she was killed in an Indian attack in 1643.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Anne Hutchinson came from a family of religious dissenters. In England, her father was twice suspended from the Anglican church for questioning its teachings. </span><br />
Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-46379519300337300402013-07-01T14:06:00.000-07:002013-07-01T14:06:00.320-07:00The Puerto Ricans in America<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWdxHPf3cmrbCosTw6nmwL0STyav1Puabv3KOgS1A-H47CF2zIBLWWY_wGIM-3IS70OdYI_M3GrjOFFxvfS_WkKyspo8901AsGpIeVB05BkWJ7oXSu599zSw8i92iXrcD39TvRZU9JF4E/s1600/puertoricans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWdxHPf3cmrbCosTw6nmwL0STyav1Puabv3KOgS1A-H47CF2zIBLWWY_wGIM-3IS70OdYI_M3GrjOFFxvfS_WkKyspo8901AsGpIeVB05BkWJ7oXSu599zSw8i92iXrcD39TvRZU9JF4E/s200/puertoricans.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In parts of New York City and other cities in the Northeast and Midwest, Spanish is heard as often as English. These cities are home to many of the 2.7 million Puerto Ricans who live on the U.S. mainland. Like the 4 million people who live in Puerto Rico, they are U.S. citizens.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The U.S. gained control of Puerto Rico in 1898 in the Spanish-American War, and by an act of Congress, Puerto Ricans became citizens in 1917. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Puerto Ricans form the second-largest Latino group in the U.S., after Mexican-Americans. Some Puerto Ricans came to the U.S. before 1945. But after World War II, the number of arrivals swelled. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The establishment of regular airline service made the trip easy and inexpensive. Because economic conditions on the island were bleak, many Puerto Ricans moved to the mainland in search of work. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Many found life hard in American cities. They faced discrimination and poverty. Today, some Puerto Ricans still lead difficult lives in the U.S., but others have overcome their hardships and have established themselves in America's mainstream, while still observing their cultural traditions. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Many Puerto Ricans travel back and forth between the mainland and the island on a regular basis.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Notable Americans of Puerto Rican birth or decent include performers Rita Moreno, Jimmy Smits, and Rosie Perez; talk-show host Geraldo Rivera; and the late baseball star Roberto Clemente.</span>Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-19309184075601544622013-06-28T14:04:00.000-07:002013-06-28T14:04:00.189-07:00The U.S. Air Force <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7p29COQkLy5chQwwix5wnV1AFQml4Uh4OD3KHxIbKiZgT_-3QS5LWji72nomlGDIn5jtM6YGgzO6JMnOh2A2G_y9M_SEhn5liFh1huPwr3V7NU0qLqVbMhiZrcmlpPFElDBfWo_nfimY/s1600/air+force.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7p29COQkLy5chQwwix5wnV1AFQml4Uh4OD3KHxIbKiZgT_-3QS5LWji72nomlGDIn5jtM6YGgzO6JMnOh2A2G_y9M_SEhn5liFh1huPwr3V7NU0qLqVbMhiZrcmlpPFElDBfWo_nfimY/s200/air+force.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Five years after Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful airplane flight in 1903, they signed a contract with the U.S. Department of War for the first military airplane. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">From that small start grew the U.S. Air Force, one of the most powerful fighting forces in the world.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">At first, military aviation was part of the U.S. Army. During World War I, pilots such as Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, who shot down 23 German planes over France, became national heroes. But few people foresaw the crucial role air power would play in future wars. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">One who did was General Billy Mitchell, who urged the U.S. to create a strong air force. He was proved right during World War II, when the ability of the U.S. to control the air was a key factor in its victories.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In 1947, the U.S. Air Force became a separate branch of the U.S. armed forces. Since then, its pilots have performed expertly in Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, and wherever conflicts have arisen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Also in 1947, the U.S. Air Force pilot Chuck Yeager, flying a rocket-powered X-1, became the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Air Force men and women have placed key roles in the development of new aircraft and technology. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Today, about 500,000 people serve in the U.S. Air Force, which is divided into 12 commands, including the Strategic Air Command and the Tactical Air Command. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span>Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-1219417362380421132013-06-27T13:55:00.000-07:002013-06-27T13:55:01.096-07:00Nat Turner's Rebellion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLhoMoG5cuzCQ-1jnMPRuMA0FR-miT01qBuhqtVm7eahXO89XDP5n0IZCi86AqzYFTxZv9npQcM6o6KQHxorsutoaCbec-IWyN624zij_1ZNKkU_ftMHFqD5hRZ_6OKe4UTvvEwgQ5UI8/s1600/nat+turner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLhoMoG5cuzCQ-1jnMPRuMA0FR-miT01qBuhqtVm7eahXO89XDP5n0IZCi86AqzYFTxZv9npQcM6o6KQHxorsutoaCbec-IWyN624zij_1ZNKkU_ftMHFqD5hRZ_6OKe4UTvvEwgQ5UI8/s200/nat+turner.jpg" width="151" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the night of August 21, 1831, Nat Turner led a small band of fellow slaves into the Southhampton, Virginia, home of Joseph Travis, his owner. The slaves killed Travis and his family, and launched the bloodiest slave revolt in American history. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Nathaniel Turner was born into slavery on October 2, 1800. Recognizing the boy's intelligence, Travis allowed him to learn to read and write -- skills forbidden too most slaves. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">When he was in his twenties, Turner began to have visions. In one, he saw "white spirits and black spirits engaging in battle". He knew, he later said, that he had been chosen by God to lead the slaves to freedom. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Turner himself planned the uprising. On that deadly night in 1831, Turner first killed the Travis family and then headed for Jerusalem, Virginia, enlisting more slaves along the way. During the next two days, violence reigned. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Some 70 slaves were killed nearly 60 white men, women, and children before the rebellion was stopped. As a result of the revolt, more than 100 slaves, many of them innocent, were shot to death or later tried and hanged. Turner was captured on October 30 and hanged on November 11, 1831. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">As a result of Turner's rebellion, southern states enacted harsher slave laws. But the revolt strengthened the antislavery movement in the North.</span>Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-26081716463463211372013-06-26T13:41:00.000-07:002013-06-26T13:41:00.175-07:00The Signing of the Mayflower Compact<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZObd3InwiC_guHvLYFAsVb_7qP4krCy24T7nw2mRR4Inf2W0V1X4oKgp6dEE-s7DTm5MoGH02cbxuv9BqzHXjKWPals7o6Zl2itI1FNq1uRuaE5Xv9e9vlnDCrGdgxHFRUpgR8DFThmQ/s1600/mayflower+compact.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZObd3InwiC_guHvLYFAsVb_7qP4krCy24T7nw2mRR4Inf2W0V1X4oKgp6dEE-s7DTm5MoGH02cbxuv9BqzHXjKWPals7o6Zl2itI1FNq1uRuaE5Xv9e9vlnDCrGdgxHFRUpgR8DFThmQ/s200/mayflower+compact.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After two long months at sea, the mood on the Mayflower was as foul as the weather. The ship had left Plymouth England, carrying two groups of passengers. One group, the "Saints," wanted to practice their religion far from England's established church. The other, the "Strangers," came to America seeking a better life. Now, with land in sight, the two groups argued about how they would run their colony.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">William Bradford, the leader of the Saints, worried that the Strangers would not obey a government created by his group. So he proposed that all adult men on board pledge to accept whatever government was formed in the new colony. The Strangers agreed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">On November 11, 1620, the Mayflower Compact was signed by 41 men, Saints and Strangers. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In the compact, the groups agreed to "...combine ourselves into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation....and to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal laws....as shall be thought most...convenient for the general good of the colony."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">With the Mayflower Compact, the Saints and Strangers created a model for people, who voluntarily came together to form a democratic government.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Today, the Saints and Strangers are known as the Pilgrims. Among the original Strangers were Captain Myles Standish, John Alden, and Priscilla Mullins.</span>Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-14579649527103842832013-06-25T13:25:00.000-07:002013-06-25T13:25:01.093-07:00Samuel Langley's Aerodrome<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr25qxYR9zJOrGk4N-5YVC5UGaEUcejrltz2uRt3DzDm5Mf1AHu5cgM4tz30kqhhDaaiRu6pTh0HO1HVbDTgsqLIQyZQQKLY7haixn152zGXDwvSNxKSg6wIRp7SFaDm0qOvBQ345iZG4/s1600/langley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr25qxYR9zJOrGk4N-5YVC5UGaEUcejrltz2uRt3DzDm5Mf1AHu5cgM4tz30kqhhDaaiRu6pTh0HO1HVbDTgsqLIQyZQQKLY7haixn152zGXDwvSNxKSg6wIRp7SFaDm0qOvBQ345iZG4/s200/langley.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On May 6, 1896, spectators lined the banks of Washington’s
Potomac River to watch the grand experiment. Using a catapult on top of a
houseboat, Samuel Langley launched<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>his “aerodrome,”
a 16-foot-long, 25-pound unmanned aircraft with two sets of silk-covered wings.
Powered by a steam engine and two propellers, the craft rose 100 feet above the
water and flew half<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a mile down the
river before dropping gently to the water. This was the first sustained flight
by a heavier-than-air, powered vehicle.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Langley was an astrophysicist whose studies of solar radiation
had earlier won him international recognition. In 1887, he had become secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. There he began studying how
surfaces move through the air. Working with model planes powered<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by rubber bands, he experimented with
different designs until he launched his “aerodrome” in 1896. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Langley’s efforts to launch an aircraft with a man aboard were
not successful, probably because<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of
structural weaknesses in his designs. But he lived to see his dream of manned,
powered flight come true when the Wright brothers made their historic flight at
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The U.S. Navy’s first aircraft carrier, the <em>USS Langley</em>, honored
Langley’s pioneering work, Langley Air Force Base in Virginia is also named for
him.</span></span></div>
Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-53593117980700136022013-06-24T13:18:00.000-07:002013-06-24T13:18:01.027-07:00The Cubans in America<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiIqldTbubPLK2235wvn5uBJ1EmQZ_gQs9p2ElsDmai9_X0qGhiBoLErKP3j0MCeBOr-Lo4EcYOTmzWhJP-vWMFhr2Wz9rWKujckC7kJH4OoVMeHMPvyC3ydBN7etjVIzyFx2_FWjsVnY/s1600/cubanamerican.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiIqldTbubPLK2235wvn5uBJ1EmQZ_gQs9p2ElsDmai9_X0qGhiBoLErKP3j0MCeBOr-Lo4EcYOTmzWhJP-vWMFhr2Wz9rWKujckC7kJH4OoVMeHMPvyC3ydBN7etjVIzyFx2_FWjsVnY/s200/cubanamerican.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before Fidel Castro's Communist regime took power in Cuba in 1959, only 50,000 Cubans lived in the U.S.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Since then, hundreds of thousands of Cubans have fled the repression and economic problems of their homeland. Today, there are more than one million Cubans in the United States. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Many Cuban-Americans live in New York City, New Jersey, and California. But the vast majority live in and around Miami, Florida. There, about 150 miles from Havana, Cuba's capital, Cuban culture has taken root. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The heart of Miami's Cuban community is an area known as Little Havana. Spanish is the language of commerce there, and the Cuban way life prevails. Because many Cuban immigrants are well-educated professionals and skilled workers. Cuban-Americans are among the most prosperous of immigrant groups. They are a vital link between the United States and Latin American business communities, and a powerful political force in Florida and the nation. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">American culture has been enriched by such Cuban-Americans as actor Andy Garcia, singer Gloria Estefan, writer Oscar Hijuelos, and the late Desi Arnaz, co-creator of television's <em>I Love Lucy</em>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Although some Cuban-Americans look forward to returning to Cuba when Castro's government collapses and economic conditions improve, most plan to remain in their new homeland.</span>Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-12163440721913399022013-06-22T14:28:00.000-07:002013-06-22T14:28:34.770-07:00Grand Canyon National Park<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBQnpz7vEYj5fTDfI-MSHaB_KGgJbhR2HHo1eRq4Sn6N168rOk-Ox5o8W41gtA-B7-oZz6zX-xrIjOEXBv9fYeglj3rf0mtRj2MZDar9c2TB5Nde_bwpOvlypP4c54_DQi4ncNC85T2ZU/s1600/grand+canyon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBQnpz7vEYj5fTDfI-MSHaB_KGgJbhR2HHo1eRq4Sn6N168rOk-Ox5o8W41gtA-B7-oZz6zX-xrIjOEXBv9fYeglj3rf0mtRj2MZDar9c2TB5Nde_bwpOvlypP4c54_DQi4ncNC85T2ZU/s200/grand+canyon.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Grand Canyon in northern Arizona is nature's greatest sculpture. Up to 18 miles wide, a mile deep, and 280 miles long, this breathtaking gorge contains fantastically shaped peaks, buttes, and ravines. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Equally spectacular are the canyon's colors. The overall red glow changes in hue depending on the time of the day and the cloud cover. The many layers of rock sometimes glisten int he sun and make up dazzling rainbow of purples, pinks, greens, grays, and yellows.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The "sculptor" of the Grand Canyon is the winding Colorado River. Its rapid current sweeps tons of sand and gravel over the riverbed every minute, scraping and pounding as the grit tumbles downstream. Over the eons, the river has cut steadily downward, while volcanic and seismic forces have thrust the earth upward on either side. Amazingly, the rock layers exposed by the river reveal nearly two billion years of geological history.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">More than four million visitors view the Grand Canyon each year. Some hike the Bright Angel Trail to the bottom of the canyon. Others descend by mule, or ride through on river rafts. Park headquarters and year-round campsites are found on the South Rim. Because of heavy snow, the thickly forested North Rim is closed in the winter. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The land that is now the Grand Canyon once lay beneath a sea. As a result, fossil hunters can find the remains of prehistoric sea creatures in the canyon's walls.</span>Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-31967119249471354882013-02-06T07:31:00.000-08:002013-02-06T07:31:39.724-08:00The Triangle Fire<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdnv2X2o5ed5NHjZOwU16kL97GGIbhNW5mL5Hpx-i6kVvbZluE8ubAy2BZdFtboWCYNX3LD8AWnSX7bW9ln-N06IglN39r17_RssGou15nY5Un33Dp-MxkyxR_9InAG21fxN3F3CCSmhs/s1600/triangle.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdnv2X2o5ed5NHjZOwU16kL97GGIbhNW5mL5Hpx-i6kVvbZluE8ubAy2BZdFtboWCYNX3LD8AWnSX7bW9ln-N06IglN39r17_RssGou15nY5Un33Dp-MxkyxR_9InAG21fxN3F3CCSmhs/s200/triangle.gif" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the early 1900s,
immigrants poured into New York City. They took whatever jobs they could find.
Many worked long hours at sewing machines in sweatshops which were often
crowded lofts that turned out clothing for the garment industry. One such
sweatshop was the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. It occupied the eighth, ninth
and tenth floors of a building in Manhattan.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On March 25, 1911,
as 500 of its young women workers were preparing to leave for the day, a fire
broke out on the eighth floor. Within minutes, the fire had spread out of
control. Workers panicked. Some crowded into freight elevators. Others rushed
to the narrow stairwells. There, they found their way blocked – the company had
locked most exits to prevent workers from stealing. A single fire escape
collapsed under the weight of the fleeing women. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fire trucks rushed
to the scene, but their ladders were too short to reach the loft. Horrified
bystanders watched as workers, many with their clothes and hair on fire, jumped
from the windows to their death on the street below. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In less than 30
minutes, 146 people were killed. Investigators failed to determine the cause of
the fire. But they found many people at fault – the factory owners, the fire
department, and city officials. The tragedy drew attention to unsafe factory
conditions and helped start a reform movement.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the fire, New
York City passed laws to improve workplace safety.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-1977664788898379892013-02-04T17:59:00.000-08:002013-02-04T17:59:00.832-08:001997<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieFCnc3oM5NMMxVYKnh__X2xck1cjs8e08enpqESNcdW6_cwZhG7rv2zimGcN_KhnD42mZb3eZ7lPx-K4HEkoj82VajdQy6ZK1C0ys0-440TsasriSEluXG4gXXvJZAV5gw95ySrIs4DI/s1600/HaleBopp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieFCnc3oM5NMMxVYKnh__X2xck1cjs8e08enpqESNcdW6_cwZhG7rv2zimGcN_KhnD42mZb3eZ7lPx-K4HEkoj82VajdQy6ZK1C0ys0-440TsasriSEluXG4gXXvJZAV5gw95ySrIs4DI/s200/HaleBopp.jpg" width="153" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of 1997’s news
headlines seemed to come straight from science-fiction novels. Scottish
scientists produced the first clone of an animal, a sheep; a robotic vehicle,
the <em>Sojourner</em>, toured the surface of Mars, sending back close-up pictures; and
comet Hale-Bopp, a brilliant three-tailed visitor from space glowed in the
night sky. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Americans mourned
two much-loved world figures in 1997. Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a Paris
car crash on August 31. Widely admired for her warmth and her charitable work,
the former wife of Prince Charles of Britain was just 36 when she was killed.
Then, on September 5, news came of the death of 87-year-old Mother Teresa, a
Roman Catholic nun who had devoted her life to helping the poor and sick in
India and elsewhere in the world. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">U.S.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>President Bill Clinton started his second
term amid a controversy over campaign financing, and investigations continued
through the year. In April, Minnesota and the Dakotas were hit with devastating
floods after a severe winter. And in June, a jury found Timothy McVeigh guilty
in the 1995 bombing of a federal office building in Oklahoma City – the worst
terrorist act in U.S. history.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tara Lipinski, 14,
became the youngest-ever world figure-skating champion in 1997; and Tiger
Woods, 21, became the youngest pro to win the prestigious Masters golf
tournament.</span></span></div>
Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-54427414157094633572013-01-29T09:34:00.002-08:002013-01-29T09:34:26.280-08:00Shay's Rebellion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijMOxP1Bo828Crc558cE9j9RD1ztc0ga5RZKm4Bbo70cGqDxq6GO3FqTJFGF63bPRJezTopk_PClwPK24X9jJ9eY-7x3mW-_PVAhzBWgOGf2bKynBovcSZrcNA4BJXQc32_MTe2gesf4Q/s1600/daniel+shays.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijMOxP1Bo828Crc558cE9j9RD1ztc0ga5RZKm4Bbo70cGqDxq6GO3FqTJFGF63bPRJezTopk_PClwPK24X9jJ9eY-7x3mW-_PVAhzBWgOGf2bKynBovcSZrcNA4BJXQc32_MTe2gesf4Q/s200/daniel+shays.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Daniel Shays was
angry. The Massachusetts farmer had fought bravely in the Revolution. But five
years after the war, he believed that he and his neighbors were being treated
unfairly by the state. Farmers were earning less and paying more taxes. Many
were deeply in debt. They asked the state for relief, but got none. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So Daniel Shays took
action.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";">Late in 1786, Shays
led 600 angry people to the courthouse in Springfield. They wanted the judges
to stop putting debtors in jail. The state militia scattered the crowd, but the
unrest spread. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In January, 1787,
Shays led a band of men against the arsenal in Springfield. The militia opened
fire and routed the rebels. Shays fled to Vermont and conducted raids across
the border. But he was soon captured. Although he and 13 others were condemned
to death, they were eventually pardoned.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";">Shays’ Rebellion
pointed out the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, the loose
association of states that was adopted after the Revolution. Many Americans
felt they needed a stronger federal government, with the power to deal with the
rebellions that crossed state borders. When the new U.S. Constitution was
proposed in 1787, it was quickly ratified by Massachusetts.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is rarely taught
that Daniel Shays had fought during the Revolution and while doing so he met
the Marquis de Lafayette.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Marquise
gave Shays a valuable sword.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately,
Shays had to sell the sword during the postwar hard times. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";">The image with this post is Daniel Shays, on the left....as portrayed in <em>Bickerstaff's Boston Almanack.</em></span></div>
Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-34524506278036270022013-01-22T10:29:00.002-08:002013-01-22T10:29:15.790-08:00Hurricane Andrew<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjR_3IDisTHDjFECIdHJhyNVM8VIyoxFHsiV3tAH8jVpqCtgvth2ldiT9EeFJpDxl8cSyf2SoxVuzTOP2FVCBabIVY686gParKLLqQ1efppfWZndd6L31cddGl4gNNEVY71mLdANVhlSE/s1600/Hurricane+Andrew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjR_3IDisTHDjFECIdHJhyNVM8VIyoxFHsiV3tAH8jVpqCtgvth2ldiT9EeFJpDxl8cSyf2SoxVuzTOP2FVCBabIVY686gParKLLqQ1efppfWZndd6L31cddGl4gNNEVY71mLdANVhlSE/s320/Hurricane+Andrew.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every year between
May and November, people in the eastern U.S. watch for hurricanes. These vast
tropical storms in the Carribean Sea travel northwest, striking at the
Caribbean islands and sometimes at the mainland of North America. One of the
most terrible of these storms was Hurricane Andrew, which struck in August of
1992.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andrew first hit the
islands of the Bahamas and then moved northwest toward Florida. Modern weather
prediction gave people a day or two to prepare. But there was no way to prepare
for a storm as large as Andrew. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The center of the
storm struck south of Miami on August 24. With wind gusts up to 165 miles an
hour, Andrew leveled whole communities in a few hours. The winds uprooted
trees, threw trucks on top of buildings, and reduced mobile homes to splinters.
Driving rains flooded low-lying areas an swelled rivers to torrents. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The storm lost force
as it crossed Florida, but when it reached the Gulf of Mexico it regained
strength. On the evening of August 25, it slammed into the coast of
southwestern Louisiana, causing still more destruction.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andrew killed 14
people and left 250,000 homeless. Damage was estimated at $30 billion, making
it the most destructive storm in U.S. history.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andrew was the first
storm of 1992.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-456689241539607922013-01-15T06:47:00.000-08:002013-01-15T06:47:31.303-08:00Paul Revere's Ride<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPEkVGDsR7vJEPXxBvSQj_cnyqPHw6EHigUmjuFpGOjHUMhKiN2Z7nBdn9gsBbgpzSn4OthyphenhyphenKSe3OLEhH1kQxdcRD1hwxQBcbk2wUlu4zjfMT1OHYUinPCbAZV9l2UI5p-lBexVKZU_Kg/s1600/Revere1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPEkVGDsR7vJEPXxBvSQj_cnyqPHw6EHigUmjuFpGOjHUMhKiN2Z7nBdn9gsBbgpzSn4OthyphenhyphenKSe3OLEhH1kQxdcRD1hwxQBcbk2wUlu4zjfMT1OHYUinPCbAZV9l2UI5p-lBexVKZU_Kg/s200/Revere1.jpg" width="127" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During 1775, the
year the American Revolution began, tensions rose between the American colonist
and the British army. The situation was most explosive in Massachusetts, where
the Patriots were organizing to oppose British rule. In April, 1775, the British
general in Boston decided to march his troops to the villages of Lexington and
Concord to seize the Patriot leaders and capture their weapons. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paul Revere, a
Boston silversmith learned of the British plans. On the night of April 18,
Revere set out on horseback for Lexington and Concord to warn the Patriots. Through
the moonlit night Revere galloped, spreading the alarm. “In Medford, I awaked
the Captain of the Minute Men,” Revere said, “and after that, I alarmed almost
every House, until I got to Lexington.” There Revere warned two important
Patriot leaders, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, that the British were coming;
the two escaped. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Later, Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow made Paul Revere’s ride famous in a poem known by every
American schoolchild: <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Listen my children, and you shall hear, <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere……<o:p></o:p></span></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paul Revere would be
famous even if his midnight ride had never happened. He was a superb
silversmith, and today his silver bowls and other works may be seen in leading
museums.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.kellscraft.com/EarlyAmericanCraftsmen/EarlyAmericanCraftsmenCh08.html">This website</a> has
several images of Revere silver including this one:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQlJ0SJuM-FvqYnlevJMZE44baTWPFs4c4E5CL-qti_yU_Ej60pjH7vWqNPy9o7iR0VC4w6S_hCo0C1IMCrsr045Znet_H8w5U4jYUoNcEm0HMcDIRaXGYjKNIonDrCulwU3ZWaF65mdM/s1600/revere.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQlJ0SJuM-FvqYnlevJMZE44baTWPFs4c4E5CL-qti_yU_Ej60pjH7vWqNPy9o7iR0VC4w6S_hCo0C1IMCrsr045Znet_H8w5U4jYUoNcEm0HMcDIRaXGYjKNIonDrCulwU3ZWaF65mdM/s320/revere.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s a silver tea
set that was made in 1799, and presented to Edmund Hart who was the man who
constructed the ship <em>Boston</em>. The tea service can be seen at the Museum of Fine
Art in Boston<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-70320926053626277202013-01-14T13:07:00.000-08:002013-01-14T13:07:00.798-08:00The Donner Party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifWx9DhF6p6BJ_YkbSL2NfcQOOaDKOTpXd2KMmm0rC6SV6a5CDfwiZNepo19lq5EaNSdFycY3vIOZu3CMFVVZtJP2R0u6-2HNZR4_jIS5jO8mTmCDM7T5hW3xAVmzsWHwwv16t2HKYdIQ/s1600/Donner+Party.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifWx9DhF6p6BJ_YkbSL2NfcQOOaDKOTpXd2KMmm0rC6SV6a5CDfwiZNepo19lq5EaNSdFycY3vIOZu3CMFVVZtJP2R0u6-2HNZR4_jIS5jO8mTmCDM7T5hW3xAVmzsWHwwv16t2HKYdIQ/s200/Donner+Party.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In July, 1846, a
group of 87 westward-bound pioneers made a bold decision. They would take a new
shortcut to California instead of using the Oregon Trail. Named for its leader,
George Donner, the Donner party was seeking a new life in a new land. Instead,
it found disaster.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The new trail turned
out to be no shortcut. The trip was hard and slow, and some families had to
abandon their supply wagons. The party also had to travel west across
Utah’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Salt Desert. Food was scarce when
the party reached the Sierra Nevada mountains in October, much later than it
had planned. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The trail the Donner
party followed<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was called Hastings
Cutoff. It was named for Lansford Hastings, a well, known western guide. A book
by Hastings praising the shortcut helped convince the Donner party to take the trail.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An early blizzard
trapped the Donner party in the mountains. The settlers hoped the weather<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>would improve, but more snow fell. In
December, some party members left on snowshoes to find help. The rest ate their
animals and then the animals’ hides. Some of the settlers starved to death.
Some survived by eating the flesh of their dead comrades. Only 40 people
survived the terrible winter in the mountains. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can access a teacher’s
guide and some other information <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/donner/">here<o:p></o:p></a> and find diary entries <a href="http://here./">here.</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-64196030305840153242013-01-11T14:13:00.000-08:002013-01-11T14:13:43.378-08:00John Wesley Powell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5MgGIKuh6tg3Nq3oU-JC_-woh-JBYwWjSW5PqcyiIQjuphABKjIQjCdpkxMTPvln0KXk6JXToNfTGqM8BnMzQQhsa4sHzzVJjZBiu9FTx4uuV2B2LL5UuQnHHdbZwJLJ2bFbEBEUROe8/s1600/John+Wesley+Powell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5MgGIKuh6tg3Nq3oU-JC_-woh-JBYwWjSW5PqcyiIQjuphABKjIQjCdpkxMTPvln0KXk6JXToNfTGqM8BnMzQQhsa4sHzzVJjZBiu9FTx4uuV2B2LL5UuQnHHdbZwJLJ2bFbEBEUROe8/s200/John+Wesley+Powell.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John Wesley Powell
was one of the most daring explorers of the American West. In 1869, he
personally financed and launched a bold expedition to study the Colorado River
and the Grand Canyon. Powell’s four-boat flotilla completed the perilous
900-mile journey down the Green and Colorado rivers in 14 days.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The expedition was
so successful that the U.S. government financed a second trip in 1871. This
time, the party included photographers, and the images they captured gave most
Americans their first look at the splendors of the West. Later, as a member of
the U.S. Geological Survey, Powell made more than 30 trips through Arizona,
Colorado, and Utah. His detailed reports and precise maps set the standard for
generations of geographers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1878, Powell had
turned his attention to preserving the land he knew so well. He sought
government protection for natural resources and lobbied against irrigation,
which he predicted would disrupt the fragile ecology. Powell also worked to
preserve the culture of vanishing Native American tribes. He created the first
classification system for Indian languages and, in 1878, became the first
director of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_American_Ethnology">Bureau of Ethnology</a> at the Smithsonian Institution. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS PMincho";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Powell is
remembered for his exploration and preservation exploits it is not as well
known that during the Civil War he served in the Union army and lost an arm at
Shiloh. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-16589070932778523682012-09-30T19:10:00.000-07:002012-09-30T19:10:00.343-07:001849<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_eJ8lepPJMwY6_xHwtM5koR5-Cqnsgmkw0bBlm6aIQH3pG5Y3k3HfGx6l37aCqrwSV29SpQ9WuRbXG59RQX-bFP03MxECocvqcsjBNgaOSmkUynxdULbTzczF8p6IEw7lD5tjx41Xs6M/s1600/1849.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_eJ8lepPJMwY6_xHwtM5koR5-Cqnsgmkw0bBlm6aIQH3pG5Y3k3HfGx6l37aCqrwSV29SpQ9WuRbXG59RQX-bFP03MxECocvqcsjBNgaOSmkUynxdULbTzczF8p6IEw7lD5tjx41Xs6M/s200/1849.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In 1849,
Zachary Taylor began his term as President of the United States.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Elizabeth Blackwell became America’s first
woman doctor.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Stagecoach service began
between independence, Missouri, and Santa Fe in the Southwest.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And the steamship </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">California</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> arrived in San Francisco with the first gold seekers from the East.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The great California gold rush was onl</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Actually
the precioius metal had been first discovered in California a year earlier on
January 24, 1848. At John Sutter’s
sawmill on the American River, a worker named James Marshall found a yellow
nugget of what he thought was gold. He
showed it to Sutter, who said, “Well, it lks like gold. Let us test it.” The nugget passed all the tests. There was gold in California =- mre gold than anyone had ever imagined.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The news
was slow to reach the rest of the US, but by 1849 people by the thousands were
hurrying to California from every corner of the country. They came by ship and they came by wagon
train, and they were called forty-niners.
Gold was found all thrugh the mountains and many forty-niners Gold was found all through the mountains
and many forty-niners became rich. But
not James Marshall. His search for more
gold failed and he died a poor man. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In 1849,
when the gold rush began, there were 14,000 people in California. Three eyars later there were 250,000.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-6829722098220055452012-09-27T19:04:00.000-07:002012-09-27T19:04:00.739-07:00Edgar Allan Poe<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi5dUT7KPEvl_93qYFCF7Cca6crB4CGKPcLFJYRa-BtC-cDmTj8UUUR9BMDcBkEQ2o8Bf0NEtvroD1IpqDY1_I8o4GsyCU6AiN7IiIYCDZPnCX_nO3dMcdswoOqeoVTjrj9ygkHgsc40c/s1600/Edgar+Allan+Poe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi5dUT7KPEvl_93qYFCF7Cca6crB4CGKPcLFJYRa-BtC-cDmTj8UUUR9BMDcBkEQ2o8Bf0NEtvroD1IpqDY1_I8o4GsyCU6AiN7IiIYCDZPnCX_nO3dMcdswoOqeoVTjrj9ygkHgsc40c/s200/Edgar+Allan+Poe.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Quoth the
raven, ‘Nevermore.’”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That line
from Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Raven” is one of the most famous in American
poetry. Poe is also well known for his
short stories, many of them tales of terror and suspense. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He has
been called the father of modern mystery and horror stories.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Poe led a
short and tragic life. Orphaned before
he was three, he was raised in Virginia by foster parents. His failure to complete his education and his
self-destructive behavior infuriated his foster father, who disowned him. Penniless, Poe eaked out a meager living as a
writer and magazine editor. In 1836, he
married his cousin, Virginia Clemm. He
was devoted to her, but their life was a constant struggle for survivial. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the
1840s, Poe won recognition for poems such as “The Raven,” the story of a lost
love, and for chilling stories such as “The Fall of the House of Usher” and
“The Pit and the Pendulum.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The
Murders in the rue Morgue” was the forerunner of later detective tales. But despite his growing reputation, Poe
earned little. After his wrife died in
1847, he was plagued by depression and ill health. He died when only 40 years old. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To earn
money, Poe editied a gossip column for a woman’s magazine in 1846.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-44870558521746215412012-09-23T18:52:00.000-07:002012-09-23T18:52:00.068-07:00Peter Cooper's Steam Locomotive<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3eGEIG1ADFJQDz17oUJOZW2bmzyNl0WUmgMR0dvD2GiWUr5KBFKR-83cLj_BcRWK3mShzh8uopyd7VJUU_ExDdd6wiBMIqPIV42YkqmDMhNy1vl3gPrjYM4ROe_dDNUxES4SqehNzIu4/s1600/steam+locomotive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3eGEIG1ADFJQDz17oUJOZW2bmzyNl0WUmgMR0dvD2GiWUr5KBFKR-83cLj_BcRWK3mShzh8uopyd7VJUU_ExDdd6wiBMIqPIV42YkqmDMhNy1vl3gPrjYM4ROe_dDNUxES4SqehNzIu4/s200/steam+locomotive.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">On
September 16, 1830, a crowd gathered in Baltimore, Maryland, to watch a most
unusual race.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A spirited gray horse was
pitted against a tiny steam locomotive, the </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Tom
Thumb</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The owners of a stagecoach
line had challenged the locomotive’s maker, Peter Cooper, to prove his “iron
horse” could pull passengers as well as a real horse could.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Cooper was
an inventor from New York. He had built
<i>Tom Thumb</i> to convince officials of the Baltimore and Ohio Railraod that steam
locomotives were practical. Iron pipe
was not available in the US so he used old musket barrels for boiler
tubing. A mechanical blower ssupplied
air to the fire that boiled water and produced steam. The locomotive weighed one ton, but had less
hosepower than most modern lawn mowers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In a
preliminary demonstration, <i>Tom Thumb</i> pulled a car with 36 passengers over a 13
–mile track at an average speed of 10
miles an hour. Then came the actual
race. The horse was fastest off the
mark, but the little locomotive soon took the lead. Victory seemed assured – until the boiler
developed a leak. Tom Thumb chugged to
a halt as the horse galloped ahead.
Nevertheless, Peter Cooper’s demonstration concvinced the railroad
officials that steam locomotives were practical, as the railroads began to
prepare for the Age of Steam.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Among
Cooper’s inventions were a washing machine and a a compressed-air engine for
ferryboa<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-78719934677584363732012-09-21T18:46:00.002-07:002012-09-21T18:46:47.354-07:00The Miss America Pageant<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWeVR8zc2yEUV0Wr_iirstQJ4cm3Ls4HSOgD_5mdTKk6KqK79Vp_mCyI6ulotmDaejg5r99fDu360NlpLFnz2ZSGat2GeDoG7MLTMymwPdy8c_lN6fsssJ3Z2LHKxrb9Q51YInXCHC9sY/s1600/Miss+America.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWeVR8zc2yEUV0Wr_iirstQJ4cm3Ls4HSOgD_5mdTKk6KqK79Vp_mCyI6ulotmDaejg5r99fDu360NlpLFnz2ZSGat2GeDoG7MLTMymwPdy8c_lN6fsssJ3Z2LHKxrb9Q51YInXCHC9sY/s200/Miss+America.jpg" width="123" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It began
in 1921 as a gimmick to attract tourists to Atlantic City, New Jersey, at the
end of the summer season.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Today, it
is a national institution. Millions
watch on television each year as the judges’ decision is announced, a winner is
crowned, and a tearful but radiant young woman walks down the runway to the
strains of a familiar song, “Here she is, Miss America…”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The first
Miss America, Margaret Gorman was just 16 years old when she won the contest in
1921. In the early days, the contestants often represented
cities rather than states. Not until
1959 was there a contestant from each state.
Originally just a swimsuit contest, the pageant later added a talent
contest and interviews designed to reveal
the personalities and opinions of the women. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Beginning
in 1945, winners received college scholarships along with other prizes. The pageant became a truly national even in
1954, when television first beamed the show across the country. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Miss
America Pageant has been criticized by people who feel that beauty contest are
insulting to women. But supporters point out that the contest
stresses intelligence and talent as well as beauty. And the pageant has survived the criticisims to win a lasting
place in American popular culture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The use of
live animals in the Miss America talent competition was banned in 1940, afer
Miss Montana and her horse almost fell off the stage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-57952963732282217432012-08-19T21:20:00.000-07:002012-08-19T21:22:08.161-07:00Babe Ruth<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd8Rescth2npzQfoWlh-SzRSSLhFIhxiv6aHzcQu92aVSQDq2MJvrGX8YH8aGZ74QZWZWsvGc8K73EbDUEP7V4YYiw-6ZcZORZjOU7ynUCrG96B-lFWP7sjBnJh6G5xrU5caMl-zrHksA/s1600/Babe_Ruth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd8Rescth2npzQfoWlh-SzRSSLhFIhxiv6aHzcQu92aVSQDq2MJvrGX8YH8aGZ74QZWZWsvGc8K73EbDUEP7V4YYiw-6ZcZORZjOU7ynUCrG96B-lFWP7sjBnJh6G5xrU5caMl-zrHksA/s200/Babe_Ruth.jpg" width="156" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">George Herman Ruth
was possibly the greatest baseball player of all time; certainly he was the
most famous.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">He was the “Sultan of
Swat,” the “Bambino,” or simply the “Babe.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Babe Ruth made the
home run a new force in baseball, and so changed the way the game was
played. Fans in enormous numbers came
to see him hit. In the 1920s, at the
peak of his game, Babe Ruth was as well known as anyone in America.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Ruth began his
major-league career with the Boston Red Sox in 1915 – as a pitcher. He became one of the best in the league,
pitching a remarkable 29 straight scoreless innings in World Series play. But he was also so powerful a hitter that he
played in the outfield between pitching starts. In 1919, pitcher-outfielder Ruth hit 29 home
runs, breaking the season record set in 1884.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">In 1920, Ruth, now a
full-time outfielder, became a New York Yankee and his career climbed to new
heights. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Home runs crashed
off his bat at an astonishing pace – 54 in his first Yankee season.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">In 1921, he hit 59
home runs. Ruth used a heavy 52-ounce
bat and took a long stride, his quick powerful swing with its slight uppercut
sent home runs soaring over high fences.
In 1927, he hit 60 homers, still the record for a 154-game season.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over
his twenty year major league career, 1915 to 1935, Babe Ruth had a home run for
every 11.78 times that he came to bat.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-75491700391580498422012-08-16T20:57:00.000-07:002012-08-16T20:57:01.615-07:00Susan B. Anthony<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWTQeRsi35VLpzWjezh53TRENIzF5fQ2UwyKdNZqBlhSFyqnL5EAtLDmN0-JvYg0P62CxmuegGEoeFGA0cvq6cKZXd_9hlcETlvapMeNNZaFBwmzF2tiWEo8ft85U5-zvqw4SpFeRuuTs/s1600/susan+b.+anthony.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWTQeRsi35VLpzWjezh53TRENIzF5fQ2UwyKdNZqBlhSFyqnL5EAtLDmN0-JvYg0P62CxmuegGEoeFGA0cvq6cKZXd_9hlcETlvapMeNNZaFBwmzF2tiWEo8ft85U5-zvqw4SpFeRuuTs/s1600/susan+b.+anthony.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Until the 19</span><sup style="line-height: 115%;">th</sup><span style="line-height: 115%;">
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution became law in 1920, American women were not
allowed to vote.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Susan B. Anthony’s
50-year fight for women’s suffrage, or the right to vote, made this amendment
possible.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Susan B. Anthony grew
up in a Quaker home. Like her parents,
she believed the men and women should be treated equally. In 1851, she began working with Elizabeth
Cady Stanton, another suffragette. Their
first success was the passage of a law in 1860 in New York that gave women the
right to own property and to keep their children if they divorced. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anthony also fought
for the abolition or end, of slavery, and for the right of former slaves to
vote. After the Civil War, she was
disappointed when former slaves were given that right, but women were not. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a result, she
formed suffrage associations and lectured all over the world. She saw women get the right to vote in other
countries, but not in the U.S. But she
remained hopeful, and in a month before her death in 1906, she said, “failure
is impossible.” She was right. Fourteen years after Anthony’s death, the 19<sup>th</sup>
Amendment became law, amd people called it is the “Anthony Amendment”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In 1979, the U.S.
government minted $1 coins with Susan B. Anthony’s picture on them. </span>This made her the first woman to be pictured
on an American coin in general circulation.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-44487705087426434572012-08-12T19:34:00.000-07:002012-08-12T19:34:05.798-07:00Millard Fillmore<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQO-sSkjIdTttUuPoAt1hqi6z64q6sNV6CWV6QGKD1b3i-qlFeJ1FOGaqKuk7liylAu7FY1co5e-QFSGGpqLrrZySWi3flbLvDtNSEB4-ehelseLD1dBls9VDZElgk2azKMRahNg1EJg/s1600/millard+fillmore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQO-sSkjIdTttUuPoAt1hqi6z64q6sNV6CWV6QGKD1b3i-qlFeJ1FOGaqKuk7liylAu7FY1co5e-QFSGGpqLrrZySWi3flbLvDtNSEB4-ehelseLD1dBls9VDZElgk2azKMRahNg1EJg/s200/millard+fillmore.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Millard Fillmore is considered one of the least successful
Presidents.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">But his administration had
two important accomplishments:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">the
Compromise of 1850 and the opening of Japan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Born in a poor family, Fillmore became a lawyer in Buffalo, New
York, and a congressman. In 1848, he was
elected Vice President, and the death of President Zachary Taylor in July,
1850, made him President.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At that time, Congress was debating the Compromise of 1850, a
group of laws designed to calm the disputes over slavery. Fillmore disliked slavery but wanted to
preserve the Union. So he supported the
Compromise, which admitted California as a free state and ended slavery in the District of Columbia and made it
easier for southerners to recover runaway slaves. The Compromise helped delay the Civil War for
10 years<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With California now a state, the U.S. looked to the Pacific. In 1852, Fillmore sent a fleet under
Commodore Matthew C. Perry to Japan, which had been closed to foreigners for
200 years.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> This show of force resulted
in a treaty opening two Japanese ports to U.S. trade. But when the treaty was signed in 1854. Fillmore was no longer President. Unpopular for his support of the Compromise
of 1850, he was denied the 1852 presidential nomination.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">IN 1856, Fillmore ran for President for the anti-immigrant
Americans, or Know-Nothing Party. Maryland was the only state he carried.</span></span></span></div>
Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102158534798418452.post-69142011815990148762012-08-11T15:12:00.002-07:002012-08-11T15:12:36.828-07:001865<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYW5i1eo2xnGolJTSjViOI1iPXL7_UFD0FqvRjQPrd1Iuq-P9Tc5bcSD9bC5RpK-kkuDBX17PDTM3x7ME4B9uw94oxBTmsH9y8DK0tdoZI_JOOOCvjwa2AVqll59otyfWpVlU_19G_fs/s1600/Lincolns-Abraham.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYW5i1eo2xnGolJTSjViOI1iPXL7_UFD0FqvRjQPrd1Iuq-P9Tc5bcSD9bC5RpK-kkuDBX17PDTM3x7ME4B9uw94oxBTmsH9y8DK0tdoZI_JOOOCvjwa2AVqll59otyfWpVlU_19G_fs/s200/Lincolns-Abraham.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">“With malice toward none, with charity for all….let us strive….to
bind up the nation’s wounds.”</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Abraham
Lincoln spoke these words on March 4, 1865, as he was sworn in for a second
term as President.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The Civil War, which
had set North against South since 1861, was coming to a close.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Americans were ready to answer Lincoln’s call
and “do all which may achieve a just and lasting peace.”</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Peace finally came in 1865. On April 9, Southern General Robert
E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Although scattered fighting continued, Lee’s
surrender signaled the end of the war.
But the nation’s joy was cut short five days later. President Lincoln, attending a play in
Washington, D.C., was shot and killed by John Wilkes Booth, an actor who was a
diehard supporter of the South.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thousands of people came out to view the train that carried
Lincoln’s body to the his home state, Illinois, to be buried. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Now he belongs to the ages,” a cabinet member said. Vice President Andrew Johnson was
immediately sworn in as President, and by the end of May, the last of the
Southern forces had surrendered. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In December, the 13<sup>th</sup> Amendment to the Constitution
became law. It banned slavery – a goal
Lincoln had embraced during the war.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ironically, the last battle of the war was fought May 12-13,
1864, at Palmetto Ranch, Texas, and the </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Southern forces won.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The picture is taken from the funeral procession held in New York City as the funeral train made its way to Illinois.</span></div>Uncle Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636395502183037008noreply@blogger.com1