Portal:United States
(Redirected from Portal:United States of America)
Parent Portals: Geography / North America / United States
Introduction
.svg) |
|
| |
The United States of America is a federal republic of 50 states, a federal district and 14 territories. It is located mostly in central North America. The U.S. has three land borders, two with Canada and one with Mexico, and has sea borders with Cuba, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Bermuda and Russia, and is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, the Arctic Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 50 states, only Alaska and Hawaii are not contiguous with any other state. The U.S. also has a collection of districts, territories, and possessions in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. Each state has a high level of autonomy according to the system of federalism. The U.S. traces its national origin to the declaration by 13 British colonies in 1776 that they were one free and independent state. They were recognized as such by the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Since then, the nation has grown to become a superpower and exerts a high level of economic, political, military, and cultural influence.
Featured article -
This is a Featured article, which represents some of the best content on English Wikipedia.
-
Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.
Armstrong was born and raised in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He entered Purdue University, studying aeronautical engineering, with the U.S. Navy paying his tuition under the Holloway Plan. He became a midshipman in 1949 and a naval aviator the following year. He saw action in the Korean War, flying the Grumman F9F Panther from the aircraft carrier USS Essex. After the war, he completed his bachelor's degree at Purdue and became a test pilot at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) High-Speed Flight Station at Edwards Air Force Base in California. He was the project pilot on Century Series fighters and flew the North American X-15 seven times. He was also a participant in the U.S. Air Force's Man in Space Soonest and X-20 Dyna-Soar human spaceflight programs. (Full article...) -
Óscar Isaac Hernández Estrada (born March 9, 1979) is an American actor. Recognized for his versatility, he has been credited with breaking stereotypes about Latino characters in Hollywood. He was named the best actor of his generation by Vanity Fair in 2017 and one of the 25 greatest actors of the 21st century by The New York Times in 2020. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award and a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2016, he featured on Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Born in Guatemala, Isaac moved with his family to the US while an infant. As a teenager, he joined a punk band, acted in plays and made his film debut in a minor role. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Isaac was a character actor in films for much of the 2000s. His first major role was that of Joseph in the biblical drama The Nativity Story (2006), and he won an AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for portraying political leader José Ramos-Horta in the Australian film Balibo (2009). After gaining recognition for playing supporting parts in Robin Hood (2010) and Drive (2011), Isaac had his breakthrough with the eponymous role of a singer in the musical drama Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. (Full article...) -
Harry R. Truman (October 1896 – May 18, 1980) was an American businessman, bootlegger, and prospector. He
lived near Mount St. Helens, an active volcano in the state of Washington, and was the owner and caretaker of Mount St. Helens Lodge at Spirit Lake near the base of the mountain. Truman came to fame as a folk hero in the weeks leading up to the volcano's 1980 eruption after refusing to leave his home despite repeated orders to evacuate. On May 18, 1980, Truman was killed in the cataclysmic eruption of Mount St. Helens by a pyroclastic flow that overtook his lodge and buried the site under 150 ft (46 m) of volcanic debris.
After Truman's death, his family and friends reflected on his love for the mountain. Actor Art Carney portrayed Truman in the docudrama film St. Helens (1981). Truman was commemorated in a book by his niece, and also in various pieces of music, including songs by Headgear, Billy Jonas, and Shawn Wright and the Brothers Band. (Full article...) -
Lumen Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located in the city's SoDo neighborhood, it is the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer (MLS), and Seattle Reign FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Originally called Seahawks Stadium, it was renamed Qwest Field in June 2004 when telecommunications carrier Qwest acquired the naming rights. The stadium became known as CenturyLink Field following Qwest's June 2011 acquisition by CenturyLink and was nicknamed "The Clink" as a result; it received its current name in November 2020 with CenturyLink's rebrand to Lumen Technologies. It is a modern facility with views of the Downtown Seattle skyline and a seating capacity of 68,740 spectators for NFL games and 37,722 for most MLS matches. The complex also includes the Event Center which is home to the Washington Music Theater (WaMu Theater), a parking garage, and a public plaza. The venue hosts concerts, trade shows, and consumer shows along with sporting events. Located within a mile (1.6 km) of Downtown Seattle, the stadium is accessible by multiple freeways and forms of mass transit.
The stadium was built between 2000 and 2002 on the site of the Kingdome after voters approved funding for the construction in a statewide election held in June 1997. This vote created the Washington State Public Stadium Authority to oversee public ownership of the venue. The owner of the Seahawks, Paul Allen, formed First & Goal Inc. to develop and operate the new facilities. Allen was closely involved in the design process and emphasized the importance of an open-air venue with an intimate atmosphere. (Full article...) -
Operation PBFortune, also known as Operation Fortune, was a covert United States operation to overthrow the democratically elected Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz in 1952. The operation was authorized by U.S. President Harry Truman and planned by the Central Intelligence Agency. The United Fruit Company had lobbied intensively for the overthrow because land reform initiated by Árbenz threatened its economic interests. The US also feared that the government of Árbenz was being influenced by communists.
The coup attempt was planned with the support of the United Fruit Company and of Anastasio Somoza García, Rafael Trujillo and Marcos Pérez Jiménez, the US-backed right-wing dictators of Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela respectively, who felt threatened by the democratic Guatemalan Revolution, and had sought to undermine it. The plan involved providing weapons to the exiled Guatemalan military officer Carlos Castillo Armas, who was to lead an invasion from Nicaragua. (Full article...) -
Balch Creek is a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) tributary of the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Beginning at the crest of the Tualatin Mountains (West Hills), the creek flows generally east down a canyon along Northwest Cornell Road in unincorporated Multnomah County and through the Macleay Park section of Forest Park, a large municipal park in Portland. At the lower end of the park, the stream enters a pipe and remains underground until reaching the river. Danford Balch, after whom the creek is named, settled a land claim along the creek in the mid-19th century. After murdering his son-in-law, he became the first person legally hanged in Oregon.
Basalt, mostly covered by silt in the uplands and sediment in the lowlands, underlies the Balch Creek watershed. The upper part of the watershed includes private residential land, the Audubon Society of Portland nature sanctuary, and part of Forest Park. Mixed conifer forest of Coast Douglas-fir, western redcedar, and western hemlock with a well-developed understory of shrubs and flowering plants is the natural vegetation. Sixty-two species of mammals and more than 112 species of birds use Forest Park. A small population of coastal cutthroat trout resides in the stream, which in 2005 was the only major water body in Portland that met state standards for bacteria, temperature, and dissolved oxygen. (Full article...) -
Paul Edward Patton (born May 26, 1937) is an American politician who served as the 59th governor of Kentucky from 1995 to 2003. Because of a 1992 amendment to the Kentucky Constitution, he was the first governor eligible to run for a second term in office, since James Garrard, in 1800. Since 2013, he has been the chancellor of the University of Pikeville in Pikeville, Kentucky, after serving as its president from 2010 to 2013. He also served as chairman of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education from 2009 to 2011.
After graduating from the University of Kentucky in 1959, Patton became wealthy by operating coal mines for 20 years. He sold most of his coal interests, in the late 1970s, and he entered politics, serving, briefly, in the cabinet of Governor John Y. Brown Jr. and chairing the state Democratic Party. In 1981, he was elected judge/executive of Pike County. He made an unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor in 1987, but he was elected in 1991, serving, concurrently, as lieutenant governor and secretary of economic development, under Governor Brereton Jones. (Full article...) -
On June 19, 1838, the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus agreed to sell 272 slaves to two Louisiana planters, Henry Johnson and Jesse Batey, for $115,000 (equivalent to approximately $3.25 million in 2023). This sale was the culmination of a contentious and long-running debate among the Maryland Jesuits over whether to keep, sell, or free their slaves, and whether to focus on their rural estates or on their growing urban missions, including their schools.
In 1836, the Jesuit superior general, Jan Roothaan, authorized the Maryland provincial superior to carry out the sale on three conditions: the slaves must be permitted to practice their Catholic faith, their families must not be separated, and the proceeds of the sale must be used only to support Jesuits in training. It soon became clear that Roothaan's conditions had not been fully met. The Jesuits ultimately received payment many years late and never received the full $115,000. Only 206 of the 272 slaves were actually delivered because the Jesuits permitted the elderly and those with spouses who were living nearby and not owned by Jesuits to remain in Maryland. (Full article...) -
On September 3, 1991, an industrial fire caused by a failed improvised repair to a hydraulic line destroyed the Imperial Food Products chicken processing plant in Hamlet, North Carolina. Despite three previous fires in 11 years of operation, the plant had never received a safety inspection. The fire killed 25 people and injured 54, many of whom were unable to escape due to locked exits. It was the second deadliest industrial disaster in North Carolina's history.
Imperial Food Products was a corporation owned by Emmett Roe, who acquired the Hamlet facility in 1980 to produce chicken products. The company had a poor safety record at one of its other plants, and the Hamlet building lacked a fire alarm or an operational fire sprinkler system. For reasons that remain disputed, Roe ordered several exterior doors of the plant locked in the summer of 1991—including a labeled fire exit—in violation of federal safety regulations and without notifying most workers. In September, the plant's maintenance workers attempted to replace a leaking hydraulic line, attached to the conveyor belt which fed chicken tenders into a fryer in the processing room, with improvised parts. On September 3 at around 8:15 am, they turned on the conveyor belt after altering the line; it separated from its connection and spewed hydraulic fluid around the room. The fluid vaporized and was ignited by the fryer's flame. Fire engulfed the facility in minutes, severing telephone lines and filling the plant with hydrocarbon-charged smoke and carbon monoxide. (Full article...) -
The American twenty-cent piece is a coin struck from 1875 to 1878, but only for collectors in the final two years. Proposed by Nevada Senator John P. Jones, it proved a failure due to confusion with the quarter, to which it was close in both size and value.
In 1874, the newly elected Jones began pressing for a twenty-cent piece, which he stated would alleviate the shortage of small change in the Far West. The bill passed Congress, and Mint Director Henry Linderman ordered pattern coins struck. Linderman eventually decided on an obverse and reverse similar to that of other silver coins. (Full article...) -
The Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) are a complex of one United States national park and three California state parks located along the coast of northern California. The combined RNSP contain Redwood National Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. The parks' 139,000 acres (560 km2) preserve 45 percent of all remaining old-growth coast redwood forests.
Located in Del Norte and Humboldt counties, the four parks protect the endangered coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)—the tallest, among the oldest, and one of the most massive tree species on Earth—which thrives in the humid temperate rainforest. The park region is highly seismically active and prone to tsunamis. The parks preserve 37 miles (60 km) of pristine coastline, indigenous flora, fauna, grassland prairie, cultural resources, waterways, as well as threatened animal species, such as the Chinook salmon, northern spotted owl, and Steller's sea lion. (Full article...) -
Hurricane Elena was a strong, destructive and erratic tropical cyclone that affected eastern and central portions of the Gulf Coast of the United States in late August and early September 1985. Threatening popular tourist destinations during the Labor Day weekend, Elena repeatedly deviated from its forecast path, triggering evacuations of unprecedented extent. The hurricane wrought havoc to property and the environment between southwestern Florida and eastern Louisiana, though lesser effects were felt well beyond those areas. Elena developed on August 28 near Cuba, and after traveling lengthwise across the island with little impact, it entered the Gulf of Mexico and continued to strengthen. Initially projected to strike the central Gulf Coast, the hurricane unexpectedly veered toward the east on August 30, then stalled just 50 mi (80 km) west of Cedar Key, Florida. Despite predictions that Elena would continue eastward across Florida, the cyclone remained nearly stationary for about 48 hours, causing damage all along the eastern gulf with high winds and waves, before slowly moving northwest and ultimately making landfall near Biloxi, Mississippi, on September 2 as a Category 3 major hurricane. The storm quickly weakened upon moving ashore and dissipated on September 4.
The hurricane's unpredictable shifts in direction created what was considered the largest peacetime evacuation in the nation's history. Evacuations occurred in sequence to follow the storm's forecast positions, and many residents and tourists along portions of the Gulf Coast were forced to leave twice in a matter of days. Preparations were generally timely and efficient, though accommodations and resources at storm shelters were stretched thin, and many refugees tried to return home against officials' orders. About 1.25 million people fled the storm in Florida alone, contributing to a region-wide total of nearly 2 million evacuees. Tropical cyclone warnings and watches were continuously issued and adjusted, and forecasters stressed the storm's destructive potential for days. (Full article...) -
Winfield Scott Hancock (February 14, 1824 – February 9, 1886) was a United States Army officer and the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1880. He served with distinction in the Army for four decades, including service in the Mexican–American War and as a Union general in the American Civil War. Known to his Army as "Hancock the Superb," he was noted in particular for his personal leadership at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. His military service continued after the Civil War, as Hancock participated in the military Reconstruction of the South and the U.S.'s western expansion and war with the Native Americans at the Western frontier. This concluded with the Medicine Lodge Treaty. From 1881 to 1885 he was president of the Aztec Club of 1847 for veteran officers of the Mexican-American War.
Hancock's reputation as a war hero at Gettysburg, combined with his status as a Unionist and supporter of states' rights, made him a potential presidential candidate. When the Democrats nominated him for president in 1880, he ran a strong campaign, but was narrowly defeated by Republican James A. Garfield. Hancock's last public service involved the oversight of President Ulysses S. Grant's funeral procession in 1885. (Full article...) -
HMS Endeavour was a British Royal Navy research vessel that Lieutenant James Cook commanded to Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia on his first voyage of discovery from 1768 to 1771.
She was launched in 1764 as the collier Earl of Pembroke, with the Navy purchasing her in 1768 for a scientific mission to the Pacific Ocean and to explore the seas for the surmised Terra Australis Incognita or "unknown southern land". Commissioned as His Majesty's Bark Endeavour, she departed Plymouth in August 1768, rounded Cape Horn and reached Tahiti in time to observe the 1769 transit of Venus across the Sun. She then set sail into the largely uncharted ocean to the south, stopping at the islands of Huahine, Bora Bora, and Raiatea west of Tahiti to allow Cook to claim them for Great Britain. In September 1769, she anchored off New Zealand, becoming the first European vessel to reach the islands since Abel Tasman's Heemskerck 127 years earlier. (Full article...) -
The Battle of Tinian was part of the Pacific campaign of World War II. It was fought between the United States and Japan on the island of Tinian in the Mariana Islands from 24 July until 1 August 1944. The battle saw napalm used for the first time.
At the Cairo Conference in December 1943, the US and British Combined Chiefs of Staff endorsed a two-pronged attack through the Central Pacific and Southwest Pacific Areas. On 12 March 1944, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, was directed to neutralize Truk and occupy the Mariana Islands. The Mariana Islands were targeted because of their location astride the Japanese line of communications. Tinian lay too close to Saipan to allow it to be bypassed and remain in Japanese hands. Following the conclusion of the Battle of Saipan on 9 July, Major General Harry Schmidt's V Amphibious Corps began preparations to invade nearby Tinian. The Japanese defending the island were commanded by Colonel Kiyochi Ogata, the commander of the 50th Infantry Regiment. This regiment was part of the 5,000 Army troops on the island. There were also about 4,000 Imperial Japanese Navy personnel on Tinian, the main force being the 56th Naval Guard Force, under the command of Captain Goichi Oie. Most of the island was surrounded by coral cliffs, so Ogata concentrated his forces on the southwest of the island, where the best landing beaches were located. (Full article...) -
Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—including its first and best-known, Sesame Street—that have been televised internationally. Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett developed the idea to form an organization to produce the Sesame Street television series. They spent two years, from 1966 to 1968, researching, developing, and raising money for the new series. Cooney was named as the Workshop's first executive director, which was termed "one of the most important television developments of the decade."
Sesame Street premiered on National Educational Television (NET) as a series run in the United States on November 10, 1969, and moved to NET's successor, the Public Broadcasting Service, in late 1970. The Workshop was formally incorporated in 1970. Gerald S. Lesser and Edward L. Palmer were hired to perform research for the series; they were responsible for developing a system of planning, production, and evaluation, and the interaction between television producers and educators, later termed the "CTW model". The CTW applied this system to its other television series, including The Electric Company and 3-2-1 Contact. The early 1980s were a challenging period for the Workshop; difficulty finding audiences for their other productions and a series of bad investments harmed the organization until licensing agreements stabilized its revenues by 1985. (Full article...) -
Kes is a fictional character played by Jennifer Lien on the American science-fiction television show Star Trek: Voyager. The series follows the crew of the starship USS Voyager, stranded far from home and struggling to get back to Earth. Kes joins the crew in the pilot episode "Caretaker", opening an aeroponics garden and working as the medical assistant to the artificial intelligence known as the Doctor. She is a member of a telepathic alien species known as the Ocampa, who have latent psychic abilities and a lifespan of only nine years. Her storylines focus on encouraging the Doctor to develop his humanity and dealing with her Talaxian boyfriend Neelix's jealousy. She also seeks to expand upon her mental capabilities, leaving in the fourth season after her powers threaten to destroy the ship. She reappears in a season-six episode and features in Star Trek: Voyager novels and short stories.
Voyager's creators Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor designed Kes to be a rapidly aging character who would provide audiences with a different perspective on time. Although Kes is portrayed as fragile and innocent, she is also shown as having hidden strength and maturity. Voyager's producers reluctantly fired Lien after her personal issues affected her reliability on set. At the time, this was not openly discussed, and her departure was attributed to other reasons; these ranged from Lien voluntarily leaving to pursue other roles to her being removed to make room for Jeri Ryan's introduction as Seven of Nine. (Full article...) -
Khalid Muhammad Abdallah al-Mihdhar (Arabic: خالد المحضار, romanized: Khālid al-Miḥḍār; also transliterated as AL Mihdhar; 16 May 1975 – 11 September 2001) was a Saudi terrorist hijacker. He was one of the five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, which was flown into the Pentagon as part of the September 11 attacks.
Al-Mihdhar was born in Saudi Arabia. In early 1999, he traveled to Afghanistan where, as an experienced and respected jihadist, he was selected by Osama bin Laden to participate in the attacks. Al-Mihdhar arrived in California with fellow hijacker Nawaf al-Hazmi in January 2000, after traveling to Malaysia for the Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit. At this point, the CIA was aware of al-Mihdhar, and he was photographed in Malaysia with another al-Qaeda member who was involved in the USS Cole bombing. The CIA did not inform the FBI when it learned that al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi had entered the United States, and al-Mihdhar was not placed on any watchlists until late August 2001. (Full article...) -
Matthew Stanley Quay (/kweɪ/; September 30, 1833 – May 28, 1904) was an American politician of the Republican Party who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1887 until 1899 and from 1901 until his death in 1904. Quay's control of the Pennsylvania Republican political machine for almost twenty years made him one of the most powerful and influential politicians in the country. As chair of the Republican National Committee and thus party campaign manager, he helped elect Benjamin Harrison as president in 1888. He was also instrumental in the 1900 election of Theodore Roosevelt as vice president.
Quay studied law and began his career in public office by becoming prothonotary of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, in 1856. He became personal secretary to Governor Andrew Curtin in 1861 after campaigning for him the previous year. During the Civil War, he served in the Union Army, commanding the 134th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment as a colonel. Quay received the Medal of Honor for heroism at the Battle of Fredericksburg. He acted as Pennsylvania's military agent in Washington before returning to Harrisburg to assist Curtin and aid in his re-election in 1863. He was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1865 to 1868. (Full article...) -
The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, from a screenplay co-written with his brother Jonathan. Based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, it is the sequel to Batman Begins (2005), and the second installment in The Dark Knight trilogy. The plot follows the vigilante Batman, police lieutenant James Gordon, and district attorney Harvey Dent, who form an alliance to dismantle organized crime in Gotham City. Their efforts are derailed by the Joker, an anarchistic mastermind who seeks to test how far Batman will go to save the city from chaos. The ensemble cast includes Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Morgan Freeman.
Warner Bros. Pictures prioritized a sequel following the successful reinvention of the Batman film series with Batman Begins. Christopher and Batman Begins co-writer David S. Goyer developed the story elements, making Dent the central protagonist caught up in the battle between Batman and the Joker. In writing the screenplay, the Nolans were influenced by 1980s Batman comics and crime drama films, and sought to continue Batman Begins' heightened sense of realism. From April to November 2007, filming took place with a $185 million budget in Chicago and Hong Kong, and on sets in England. The Dark Knight was the first major motion picture to be filmed with high-resolution IMAX cameras. Christopher avoided using computer-generated imagery unless necessary, insisting on practical stunts such as flipping an 18-wheel truck and blowing up a factory. (Full article...) -
The Jordan River is a 51.4-mile-long (82.7 km) river in the U.S. state of Utah. Regulated by pumps at its headwaters at Utah Lake, it flows northward through the Salt Lake Valley and empties into the Great Salt Lake. Four of Utah's six largest cities border the river: Salt Lake City, West Valley City, West Jordan, and Sandy. More than a million people live in the Jordan Subbasin, part of the Jordan River watershed that lies within Salt Lake and Utah counties. During the Pleistocene, the area was part of Lake Bonneville.
Members of the Desert Archaic Culture were the earliest known inhabitants of the region; an archaeological site found along the river dates back 3,000 years. Mormon pioneers led by Brigham Young were the first European American settlers, arriving in July 1847 and establishing farms and settlements along the river and its tributaries. The growing population, needing water for drinking, irrigation, and industrial use in an arid climate, dug ditches and canals, built dams, and installed pumps to create a highly regulated river. (Full article...) -
In Utero is the third and final studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 21, 1993, by DGC Records. After breaking into the mainstream with their previous album, Nevermind (1991), Nirvana hired Steve Albini to record In Utero, seeking a more complex, abrasive sound that was reminiscent of their work prior to Nevermind. Although the singer and primary songwriter Kurt Cobain claimed that the album was "very impersonal", many of its songs contain heavy allusions to his personal life and struggles, expressing feelings of angst that were prevalent on Nevermind.
The album was recorded over two weeks in February 1993 at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. After recording finished, rumors circulated that DGC might not release the album due to Albini's abrasive and uncommercial sound. The album was mastered by Bob Ludwig to achieve a more desirable sound for both Nirvana and their label. The band later hired the producer Scott Litt to remix the singles "All Apologies", "Heart-Shaped Box" and "Pennyroyal Tea". (Full article...) -
Icos Corporation (trademark ICOS) was an American biotechnology company and the largest biotechnology company in the U.S. state of Washington, before it was sold to Eli Lilly and Company in 2007. It was founded in 1989 by David Blech, Isaac Blech, Robert Nowinski, and George Rathmann, a pioneer in the industry and chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of Amgen. Icos focused on the development of drugs to treat inflammatory disorders. During its 17-year history, the company conducted clinical trials of twelve drugs, three of which reached the last phase of clinical trials. Icos also manufactured antibodies for other biotechnology companies.
Icos is best known for the development of tadalafil (Cialis), a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction. This drug was discovered by GlaxoSmithKline, developed by Icos, and manufactured and marketed in partnership with Eli Lilly. Boosted by a unique advertising campaign led by the Grey Worldwide Agency, sales from Cialis allowed Icos to become profitable in 2006. Cialis was the only drug developed by the company to be approved. LeukArrest, a drug to treat shock, and Pafase, developed for sepsis, were both tested in phase III clinical trials, but testing was discontinued after unpromising results during the trials. Eli Lilly acquired Icos in January 2007, and most of Icos's workers were laid off soon after. CMC Biologics, a Danish contract manufacturer, bought the remnants of Icos and retained the remaining employees. (Full article...) -
Galen Clark, the first California-state-appointed guardian of Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove, pictured in front of the Grizzly Giant Tree, Mariposa Grove around 1858–9.
Human habitation in the Sierra Nevada region of California reaches back 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. Historically attested Native American populations, such as the Sierra Miwok, Mono and Paiute, belong to the Uto-Aztecan and Utian phyla. In the mid-19th century, a band of Native Americans called the Ahwahnechee lived in Yosemite Valley. The California Gold Rush greatly increased the number of non-indigenous people in the region. Tensions between Native Americans and white settlers escalated into the Mariposa War. As part of this conflict, settler James Savage led the Mariposa Battalion into Yosemite Valley in 1851, in pursuit of Ahwaneechees led by Chief Tenaya. The California state military forces burned the tribe's villages, destroyed their food stores, killed the chief's sons, and forced the tribe out of Yosemite. Accounts from the Mariposa Battalion, especially from Dr. Lafayette Bunnell, popularized Yosemite Valley as a scenic wonder.
In 1864, Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoia trees were transferred from federal to state ownership. Yosemite pioneer Galen Clark became the park's first white guardian. Conditions in Yosemite Valley were made more hospitable to non-indigenous people, and access to the park was improved in the late 19th century. Indigenous people continued to be forced out periodically, while white settlers were paid a total of $60,000 to move out of the valley. Naturalist John Muir and others became increasingly alarmed about the excessive exploitation of the area. Their efforts helped establish Yosemite National Park in 1890. Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove were added to the national park in 1906. (Full article...) -
The Trump International Hotel and Tower is a skyscraper condo-hotel in downtown Chicago, Illinois. The building, named for Donald Trump, was designed by architect Adrian Smith of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Bovis Lend Lease built the 100-story structure, which reaches a height of 1,388 feet (423.2 m) including its spire, its roof topping out at 1,169 feet (356 m). It is next to the main branch of the Chicago River, with a view of the entry to Lake Michigan beyond a series of bridges over the river. The building received publicity when the winner of the first season of The Apprentice reality television show, Bill Rancic, chose to manage the construction of the tower over managing a Rancho Palos Verdes–based Trump National Golf Course & Resort in the Los Angeles metro area.
Trump announced in 2001 that the skyscraper would become the tallest building in the world, but after the September 11 attacks that same year, the architects scaled back the building's plans, and its design underwent several revisions. When topped out in 2009, it became the second-tallest building in the U.S. It surpassed the city's John Hancock Center as the building with the highest residence (apartment or condo) in the world, and briefly held this title until the completion of the Burj Khalifa. (Full article...)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_(14804406853).jpg)
.jpg)
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that the United States Army Replacement and School Command reached its peak in May 1945 with 481,000 personnel?
- ... that Nancy Reagan jumped out of her bath when she heard that her husband had been elected President of the United States?
- ... that in United States v. Strong, a U.S. appeals court upheld the conviction of a man for covering a federal courthouse restroom in his own feces?
- ... that at age 15, Lilia Cosman moved from the United States to Romania to compete for Romania's Olympic gymnastics team?
- ... that the 2019 book Pacifying the Homeland was compared to an ice-cold shower for individuals acclimatized to mass surveillance in the US due to its pervasiveness in daily life?
- ... that soprano Carolina White performed the title role in the United States premiere of Il segreto di Susanna at the Metropolitan Opera in 1911?
- ... that Henrietta Bruckman founded the first fraternal organization for Jewish women in the United States?
- ... that the Hawaii Civil Liberties Committee was designated as a Communist front by the House Un-American Activities Committee?
Selected society biography -
In his later years he became especially known for his advocacy of controversial technological solutions to both military and civilian problems, including a plan to excavate an artificial harbor in Alaska using thermonuclear explosives. He was a vigorous advocate of Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, perhaps overselling the feasibility of the program. Over the course of his life, Teller was known both for his scientific ability and his difficult interpersonal relations and volatile personality, and is considered one of the inspirations for the character Dr. Strangelove in the 1964 movie of the same name.
Selected image -
-
Photograph credit: unknown; restored by Adam CuerdenPauline Adams (1874–1957) was an Irish-American suffragist. On 4 September 1917, she and twelve other activists were arrested for attempting to "flaunt their banners" in front of President Woodrow Wilson's reviewing stand before a Selective Service parade in Washington, D.C., and they chose prison rather than paying a 25-dollar fine. This photograph depicts Adams seated at a table, wearing prison uniform and holding a cup in her raised right hand. The image was published in the newspaper The Suffragist in 1919. -
Photograph: Dorothea Lange; Restoration: BammeskThe internment of Japanese Americans in the United States during World War II was the forced relocation and incarceration in concentration camps in the western interior of the country of between 110,000 and 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, most of whom lived on the Pacific coast. Sixty-two percent of the internees were United States citizens. These actions were ordered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt shortly after Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.
This picture shows members of the Mochida family in Hayward, California, waiting for an evacuation bus to take them to an internment center. -
A woman using a Hollerith pantograph, a machine developed by Herman Hollerith for the punching of cards, providing data which could then be processed. Such tools were used in the 1890 United States Census, the first time the country's census was tabulated by machine. -
The engrossed copy of the United States Declaration of Independence, which was ratified on July 4, 1776, and signed over the following months.
The history of this document is one of reverence and neglect. After being signed, it was moved several times, first with the Continental Congress and later with the Secretary of State. When the British razed Washington during the War of 1812, it was evacuated to Virginia. From 1841 to 1876, the document was on public display in conditions which caused it to fade drastically. Consequently, from 1892 to 1922 it was stored between two glass plates and exhibited only rarely. After a period at the Library of Congress, the engrossed copy is now held by the National Archives. It is exhibited in a titanium-aluminum case filled with argon. -
Photo credit: U.S. News & World Report
Restoration: Lise BroerUnited States President Jimmy Carter (right) greeting Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at the White House on April 8, 1980, shortly after the Camp David Accords went into effect. The agreements were signed by Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978, and led directly to the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty. -
Artist: Peter F. Rothermel; Engraver: Robert Whitechurch; Restoration: Lise Broer and JujutacularU.S. Senator Henry Clay gives a speech in the Old Senate Chamber calling for compromise on the issues dividing the United States. The result was the Compromise of 1850, a package of five bills, the first two of which were passed on September 9. Ironically, these led to a breakdown in the spirit of compromise in the years preceding the Civil War, particularly after the deaths of Clay and Daniel Webster. -
Photo: Pete SouzaSituation Room is a photograph taken by White House photographer Pete Souza in its namesake, the White House Situation Room, at 4:06 pm on May 1, 2011. It depicts U.S. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with members of the national security team, watching live drone feed of Operation Neptune Spear. A Navy SEAL team assaulted the compound of Osama bin Laden, the founder and head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, in Abbottabad, Pakistan. This concluded an almost decade-long hunt for bin Laden following the September 11 attacks in 2001. -
Lithograph: Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler; restoration: Adam CuerdenA bird's eye view of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in a 1902 lithograph by Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler. At this point in its history, Pittsburgh was an industrial and commercial powerhouse, with extensive railroad connections to the rest of the United States. Together with the rest of Allegheny County, it produced massive amounts of steel and steel products: by 1911 they reached 24% of the national output of pig iron, 34% of Bessemer steel, 44% of open hearth steel, 53% of crucible steel, 24% of steel rail, and 59% of structural shape. -
Engraving: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restoration: Andrew ShivaJohn Quincy Adams (1767–1848) was an American statesman who served as a diplomat, minister and ambassador to foreign nations, and treaty negotiator, United States Senator, Congressman from Massachusetts, and the sixth President of the United States from 1825 to 1829. Involved in negotiating the treaties of Ghent, 1818, and Adams–Onís, Adams has been called one of the United States' greatest diplomats and secretaries of state. As president, he sought to modernize the American economy and promote education, paying off much of the national debt despite being stymied by a Congress controlled by opponents and lacking patronage networks. Historians have generally ranked him as an above-average president. -
Artist: Daniel A. Jenks; Restoration: Papa Lima WhiskeyA drawing of travelers on the California Trail, one of the major emigrant trails across the Western United States used by over 250,000 people heading west during the California Gold Rush. This, combined with those coming from the east across the Isthmus of Panama or around Cape Horn, greatly increased the population of California, and spurred the movement to make it the 31st U.S. state. -
Wes Brady, ex-slavePhotograph: Federal Writers' Project; restoration: Chick BowenA 1937 photograph of Wes Brady, a former slave. Born c. 1850, Brady had been owned by a farmer in Marshall, Texas before emancipation. As a young boy he worked the fields, picking cotton. He recalled "The rows was a mile long and no matter how much grass was in them, if you leaves one sprig on your row they beats you nearly to death."
This portrait is part of the Slave Narrative Collection, a massive compilation of slave narratives – containing 10,000 typed pages representing more than 2,000 interviews – which was undertaken by the US Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration from 1936 to 1938. -
Artist: George Munger; Restoration: Lise BroerIn the evening hours of August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812, British forces attacked Washington, D.C., setting fire to the White House and the unfinished Capitol Building (damage to latter shown here), among other buildings. This was the second and last time in United States history that a foreign power has captured and occupied the United States capital. -
Credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew ShivaGrover Cleveland (March 18, 1837 – June 24, 1908) was an American politician and lawyer who was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, the only president in American history to serve two non-consecutive terms in office (1885–1889 and 1893–1897). His victory in the 1884 presidential election made him the first successful Democratic nominee since the start of the Civil War. He won praise for his honesty, self-reliance, integrity, and commitment to the principles of classical liberalism, and was renowned for fighting political corruption, patronage, and bossism. -
Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew ShivaHowell Cobb (September 7, 1815 – October 9, 1868) was an American politician and five-term member of the United States House of Representatives who served as Speaker of the House from 1849 to 1851. He also served as the 40th governor of Georgia from 1851 to 1853, and as Secretary of the Treasury under President James Buchanan from 1857 to 1860. Cobb is probably best known as one of the founders of the Confederacy, having served as president of the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States. This line engraving of Cobb was produced around 1902 by the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) as part of a BEP presentation album of the first 42 secretaries of the treasury. -
Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew ShivaJohn Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of the American Revolution that achieved independence from Great Britain, and he served as the first vice president of the United States. Adams was a dedicated diarist and regularly corresponded with many important figures in early American history, including his wife and adviser, Abigail. His letters and other papers serve as an important source of historical information about the era.
This picture is a line engraving of Adams, produced around 1902 by the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) as part of a BEP presentation album of the first 26 presidents.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Selected culture biography -
Since 1994, Dylan has published three books of drawings and paintings, and his work has been exhibited in major art galleries. As a songwriter and musician, Dylan has received numerous awards over the years including Grammy, Golden Globe, and Academy Awards; he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2008, a Bob Dylan Pathway was opened in the singer's honor in his birthplace of Duluth, Minnesota. The Pulitzer Prize jury in 2008 awarded him a special citation for "his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."
Selected location -
Erie is in proximity to Cleveland, Ohio; Buffalo, New York; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Once teeming with heavy industry, Erie's heavy manufacturing sector now consists mainly of plastics and locomotive building. Known for its lake-effect snow, Erie is in the heart of the Rust Belt and has begun to focus on tourism as a driving force in its economy. More than four million people each year visit Presque Isle State Park, for water recreation, and a new casino named for the state park is growing in popularity.
Erie is known as the Flagship City because of the presence of Oliver Hazard Perry's flagship USS Niagara.
Selected quote -
Anniversaries for March 15
.svg)
- 1767 – Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States, is born
- 1776 – South Carolina became the first American colony to declare its independence from Great Britain and set up its own government.
- 1820 – Maine becomes the 23rd U.S. state.
- 1916 – President Woodrow Wilson sends 12,000 United States troops over the U.S.-Mexico border to pursue Pancho Villa.
- 1919 – The American Legion forms in Paris.
- 1989 – The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (seal pictured) is established.
Selected cuisines, dishes and foods -
Tex-Mex cuisine (derived from the words Texas and Mexico) is a regional American cuisine that originates from the culinary creations of Tejano people. It has spread from border states such as Texas and others in the Southwestern United States to the rest of the country. It is a subtype of Southwestern cuisine found in the American Southwest. (Full article...)
Selected panorama -
Alcatraz Island (The Rock) is a smaller island located in the middle of San Francisco Bay.
More did you know? -
- ...that the Pewee Valley Confederate Memorial (pictured) is the only American Civil War obelisk monument in Kentucky to be made of zinc?
- ...that the second subtitle of title III of the USA PATRIOT Act largely modifies the Bank Secrecy Act in an effort to make it harder for money launderers to operate, and to make it easier for law enforcement and regulatory agencies to police money laundering operations?
- ...that Senator William A. Blakley of the U.S. state of Texas worked as ranch hand as a young man?
Topics
Categories
Select [►] to view subcategories
Featured content
List articles
|
Culture Education Economy |
Geography Government
History |
Law Media Natural history |
 People Protected areas Religion Transportation |
Tasks
Featured article candidatesTotal pages in content type is 3 Featured list candidatesTotal pages in content type is 6 Good article nominees
Total pages in content type is 82 | ||||
|
To create
To discuss on Articles for deletion
To expand To destub |
Assessment requests New articles Most Popular pages To find images |
Maintenance and cleanup
Other issues
| ||
Related portals
State-related
Region or city-related
.png){kind=small}
Sports-related
Transportation-related
Other US-related
Nearby areas
WikiProjects
| National |  | |
|---|---|---|
| States |
| |
| Territories / Federal District | ||
| Cities / Regions |
| |
| Borders | ||
| Culture / History / Sport |
| |
| Government | ||
| Society | ||
| Transportation | ||
| Related | ||
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
More portals
