Portal:United States
Introduction
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that according to Theodore Roosevelt, U.S. Supreme Court justice David J. Brewer had "a sweetbread for a brain" and was a "menace to the welfare of the Nation"?
- ... that American artist Inez Demonet created watercolors of facial injuries for the War Department?
- ... that at age 15, Lilia Cosman moved from the United States to Romania to compete for Romania's Olympic gymnastics team?
- ... that Bray Hammond condemned the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Briscoe v. Bank of Kentucky, decided 185 years ago today, as "about as weak and timid as any the Court ever pronounced"?
- ... that Louise Willingale is developing ZEUS, which is projected to be the most powerful laser in the United States?
- ... that Donald Trump and his attorneys John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani spoke to some 300 Republican state legislators in an effort to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election?
- ... that Red Clay State Historic Park was the last capital of the Cherokee Nation in the eastern United States?
- ... that Jerold F. Lucey introduced phototherapy to the United States as a treatment for jaundice in newborns?
Selected society biography -
McCain was a son of Admiral John S. McCain Jr. and grandson of Admiral John S. McCain Sr. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1958 and received a commission in the United States Navy. McCain became a naval aviator and flew ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers. During the Vietnam War, he almost died in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire. While on a bombing mission during Operation Rolling Thunder over Hanoi in October 1967, McCain was shot down, seriously injured, and captured by the North Vietnamese. He was a prisoner of war until 1973. McCain experienced episodes of torture and refused an out-of-sequence early release. During the war, he sustained wounds that left him with lifelong physical disabilities. McCain retired from the Navy as a captain in 1981 and moved to Arizona. (Full article...)
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Selected culture biography -
Thorpe was of mixed Native American and white ancestry. He was raised as a Sac and Fox, and named Wa-Tho-Huk, roughly translated as "Bright Path". He struggled with racism throughout much of his life and his accomplishments were publicized with headlines describing him as a "Redskin" and "Indian athlete". He also played on several All-American Indian teams throughout his career and barnstormed as a professional basketball player with a team composed entirely of Native Americans.
Thorpe was named the greatest athlete of the first half of the twentieth century by the Associated Press (AP) in 1950, and ranked third on the AP list of athletes of the century in 1999. After his professional sports career ended, Thorpe lived in abject poverty. He worked several odd jobs, struggled with alcoholism, and lived out the last years of his life in failing health. In 1983, thirty years after his death, his medals were restored.
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In 1630, Puritan colonists from England founded the city on the Shawmut Peninsula. During the American Revolution the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Siege of Boston all occurred within the city and surrounding areas. After American independence was attained Boston became a major shipping port and manufacturing center, and its rich history now attracts 16.3 million visitors annually. The city was the site of America's first public school, Boston Latin School (1635), and first college, Harvard College (1636), in neighboring Cambridge. Boston was also home to the first subway system in the United States.
Through land reclamation and municipal annexation, Boston has expanded beyond the peninsula. With many colleges and universities within the city and surrounding area, Boston is a center of higher education and a center for health care. The city's economy is also based on research, finance, and technology — principally biotechnology.
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Anniversaries for August 8
- 1863 – Following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The offer of resignation is refused.
- 1911 – Public Law 62-5 sets the number of representatives in the House of Representatives at 435. The law would come into effect in 1913 with the beginning of the 63rd Congress.
- 1946 – The Convair B-36 (pictured), the largest mass-produced piston engine aircraft ever made, takes flight for the first time. The B-36 also has the longest wingspan any combat aircraft ever built.
- 1973 – Vice President Spiro Agnew goes on television to denounce accusations he had taken kickbacks while governor of Maryland. He would later be forced to resign from office.
- 1974 – President Richard Nixon announces his resignation, effective the next day, as a result of the Watergate scandal.
- 2000 – Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor.
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More did you know? -
- ... that Elakala Falls (pictured) may derive its name from the legend of Elakala, the story of a Native American princess who threw herself over the edge of the first waterfall when her lover scorned her?
- ... that Latavious Williams rejected a US$100,000 contract offer from a Chinese team but opted to play minor league basketball in the United States for only US$19,000?
- ... that "Peligroso Amor" was Chilean singer Myriam Hernández' first number-one song in the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in the United States?
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