1.
Wisconsin
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Wisconsin is a U. S. state located in the north-central United States, in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, Wisconsin is the 23rd largest state by total area and the 20th most populous. The state capital is Madison, and its largest city is Milwaukee, the state is divided into 72 counties. Wisconsin is second to Michigan in the length of its Great Lakes coastline, Wisconsin is known as Americas Dairyland because it is one of the nations leading dairy producers, particularly famous for its cheese. Manufacturing, especially paper products, information technology, and tourism are major contributors to the states economy. The word Wisconsin originates from the given to the Wisconsin River by one of the Algonquian-speaking Native American groups living in the region at the time of European contact. French explorer Jacques Marquette was the first European to reach the Wisconsin River, arriving in 1673, subsequent French writers changed the spelling from Meskousing to Ouisconsin, and over time this became the name for both the Wisconsin River and the surrounding lands. English speakers anglicized the spelling from Ouisconsin to Wisconsin when they began to arrive in numbers during the early 19th century. The legislature of Wisconsin Territory made the current spelling official in 1845, the Algonquin word for Wisconsin and its original meaning have both grown obscure. Interpretations vary, but most implicate the river and the red sandstone that lines its banks, other theories include claims that the name originated from one of a variety of Ojibwa words meaning red stone place, where the waters gather, or great rock. Wisconsin has been home to a variety of cultures over the past 12,000 years. The first people arrived around 10,000 BCE during the Wisconsin Glaciation and these early inhabitants, called Paleo-Indians, hunted now-extinct ice age animals such as the Boaz mastodon, a prehistoric mastodon skeleton unearthed along with spear points in southwest Wisconsin. After the ice age ended around 8000 BCE, people in the subsequent Archaic period lived by hunting, fishing, agricultural societies emerged gradually over the Woodland period between 1000 BCE to 1000 CE. Toward the end of period, Wisconsin was the heartland of the Effigy Mound culture. Later, between 1000 and 1500 CE, the Mississippian and Oneota cultures built substantial settlements including the village at Aztalan in southeast Wisconsin. The Oneota may be the ancestors of the modern Ioway and Ho-Chunk tribes who shared the Wisconsin region with the Menominee at the time of European contact, the first European to visit what became Wisconsin was probably the French explorer Jean Nicolet. He canoed west from Georgian Bay through the Great Lakes in 1634, pierre Radisson and Médard des Groseilliers visited Green Bay again in 1654–1666 and Chequamegon Bay in 1659–1660, where they traded for fur with local Native Americans. In 1673, Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet became the first to record a journey on the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway all the way to the Mississippi River near Prairie du Chien
2.
National Guard of the United States
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All members of the National Guard of the United States are also members of the militia of the United States as defined by 10 U. S. C. National Guard units are under the control of the state. The majority of National Guard soldiers and airmen hold a civilian job full-time while serving part-time as a National Guard member, local militias were formed from the earliest English colonization of the Americas in 1607. The first colony-wide militia was formed by Massachusetts in 1636 by merging small older local units, the various colonial militias became state militias when the United States became independent. The title National Guard was used from 1824 by some New York State militia units, National Guard became a standard nationwide militia title in 1903, and specifically indicated reserve forces under mixed state and federal control from 1933. The first muster of militia forces in what is today the United States took place on September 16,1565, appropriately enough, this muster occurred in the shadow of an oncoming hurricane. This Spanish militia tradition and the English tradition that would be established to the north would provide the nucleus for Colonial defense in the New World. The militia tradition continued with the first permanent English settlements in the New World, Jamestown Colony and Plymouth Colony both had militia forces, which initially consisted of every able bodied adult male. By the mid-1600s every town had at least one militia company, as a result of the Spanish–American War, Congress was called upon to reform and regulate the training and qualification of state militias. The first national laws regulating the militia were the Militia acts of 1792, in 1903, with passage of the Dick Act, the predecessor to the modern-day National Guard was formed. It required the states to divide their militias into two sections, the law recommended the title National Guard for the first section, known as the organized militia, and Reserve Militia for all others. During World War I, Congress passed the National Defense Act of 1916, Congress also authorized the states to maintain Home Guards, which were reserve forces outside the National Guards being deployed by the Federal Government. The National Guard of the states, territories, and the District of Columbia serves as part of the first-line of defense for the United States. C. Where the National Guard operates under the President of the United States or his designee, the governors exercise control through the state adjutants general. The National Guard may be called up for duty by the governors to help respond to domestic emergencies and disasters, such as hurricanes, floods. The National Guard is administered by the National Guard Bureau, which is a joint activity of the Army, the National Guard Bureau provides a communication channel for state National Guards to the DoD. S. C. The National Guard Bureau is headed by the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, prior to 2008, the functions of Agricultural Development Teams were within Provincial Reconstruction Teams of the US Government. Today, ADTs consist of soldiers and airmen from the Army National Guard, today, ADTs bring an effective platform for enhanced dialogue, building confidence, sharing interests, and increasing cooperation amongst the disparate peoples and tribes of Afghanistan
3.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
4.
Milwaukee
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Milwaukee is the largest city in the state of Wisconsin and the fifth-largest city in the Midwestern United States. The county seat of Milwaukee County, it is on Lake Michigans western shore, Milwaukees estimated population in 2015 was 600,155. Milwaukee is the cultural and economic center of the Milwaukee–Racine–Waukesha Metropolitan Area with an estimated population of 2,046,692 as of 2015. Ranked by estimated 2014 population, Milwaukee is the 31st largest city in the United States, the first Europeans to pass through the area were French Catholic missionaries and fur traders. In 1818, the French Canadian explorer Solomon Juneau settled in the area, large numbers of German immigrants helped increase the citys population during the 1840s, with Poles and other immigrants arriving in the following decades. Known for its traditions, Milwaukee is currently experiencing its largest construction boom since the 1960s. In addition, many new skyscrapers, condos, lofts and apartments have been built in neighborhoods on and near the lakefront, the word Milwaukee may come from the Potawatomi language minwaking, or Ojibwe language ominowakiing, Gathering place. The first recorded inhabitants of the Milwaukee area are the Menominee, Fox, Mascouten, Sauk, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, many of these people had lived around Green Bay before migrating to the Milwaukee area around the time of European contact. In the second half of the 18th century, the Indians at Milwaukee played a role in all the wars on the American continent. During the French and Indian War, a group of Ojibwas, in the American Revolutionary War, the Indians around Milwaukee were some of the few Indians who remained loyal to the American cause throughout the Revolution. After American independence, the Indians fought the United States in the Northwest Indian War as part of the Council of Three Fires, during the War of 1812, Indians held a council in Milwaukee in June 1812, which resulted in their decision to attack Chicago. This resulted in the Battle of Fort Dearborn on August 15,1812, the War of 1812 did not end well for the Indians, and after the Black Hawk War in 1832, the Indians in Milwaukee signed their final treaty with the United States in Chicago in 1833. This paved the way for American settlement, Europeans had arrived in the Milwaukee area prior to the 1833 Treaty of Chicago. French missionaries and traders first passed through the area in the late 17th and 18th centuries, alexis Laframboise, in 1785, coming from Michilimackinac settled a trading post, therefore, he is the first European descent resident of the Milwaukee region. Early explorers called the Milwaukee River and surrounding lands various names, Melleorki, Milwacky, Mahn-a-waukie, Milwarck, for many years, printed records gave the name as Milwaukie. One story of Milwaukees name says, ne day during the thirties of the last century a newspaper calmly changed the name to Milwaukee, the spelling Milwaukie lives on in Milwaukie, Oregon, named after the Wisconsin city in 1847, before the current spelling was universally accepted. Milwaukee has three founding fathers, Solomon Juneau, Byron Kilbourn, and George H. Walker, Solomon Juneau was the first of the three to come to the area, in 1818. He was not the first European settler but founded a town called Juneaus Side, or Juneautown, in competition with Juneau, Byron Kilbourn established Kilbourntown west of the Milwaukee River and made sure the streets running toward the river did not join with those on the east side
5.
Plymouth, Wisconsin
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For other places named Plymouth, in Wisconsin or elsewhere, see Plymouth. Plymouth is a city in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, along the Mullet River and it is included in the Sheboygan, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is located in the Town of Plymouth, but is politically independent, the Hub City name also applies to it being a former regional center of wooden wheelwrighting. The population was 8,445 at the 2010 census, mayor Don Pohlman was last reelected in April 2014. Plymouth was surveyed in 1835 by United States engineers, one of whom was named Mullet, the first land sold to a private party was sold to an Englishman named John Law who had emigrated from London. It was sold to Law on August 13,1836, the next sale was to another Englishman, also from London, named Thomas Margrave. Settlers continued trickling in and the town was organized on April 3,1849, in the 1840s a group of immigrants arrived from Tioga County, Pennsylvania. Their ancestors had moved to area from New England shortly after the American Revolution. The Thorpe family arrived from Hartford, Connecticut and they were of old New England ancestry. These immigrants being the original pool of settlers in Plymouth gave the region cultural continuity with New England, the town was named Plymouth, after Plymouth, Massachusetts, where the Pilgrims had landed in 1620. Originally known by early Native Americans as Quit Qui Oc, or Crooked River, Plymouth was settled in 1845 by Isaac Thorp, Plymouth is located at 43°44′57″N 87°58′36″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 5.34 square miles. As of 2000 the median age in the city was 40.8 years. 24. 2% of residents were under the age of 18,6. 3% were between the ages of 18 and 24,24. 9% were from 25 to 44,27. 3% were from 45 to 64, and 17. 3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47. 6% male and 52. 4% female, as of the census of 2010, there were 8,445 people,3,710 households, and 2,253 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,605.5 inhabitants per square mile, there were 4,039 housing units at an average density of 767.9 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 96. 2% White,0. 4% African American,0. 4% Native American,0. 7% Asian,0. 9% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 2. 4% of the population. 33. 7% of all households were made up of individuals and 15. 2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.91
6.
M101 howitzer
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The 105 mm M2A1 howitzer was a howitzer developed and used by the United States. It was the standard U. S. light field howitzer in World War II, entering production in 1941, it quickly gained a reputation for accuracy and a powerful punch. The M101A1 fired 105-millimetre high explosive semi-fixed ammunition and had a range of 11,270 metres, all of these qualities of the weapon, along with its widespread production, led to its adoption by many countries after the war. Its ammunition type also became the standard for foreign countries later models. During the Second World War, U. S. artillery regiments consisted of an HQ detachment, one 155mm artillery battalion, both the 155mm and 105mm battalions had twelve guns each, divided into three batteries of four guns. That gave each regiment a total of twelve 155mm howitzers, with an HE M1 shell fired at 9000 meters, the probable error in range was 41 meters, while the probable error in line was 10 meters. The U. S. military artillery designation system was changed in 1962, the gun continued to see service in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Though a similar model, the M102 howitzer, shared the roles in battle. Today, the M101A1 has been retired by the U. S. military, though it continues to see service with many other countries. By the end of the Second World War,8,536 105mm towed howitzers had been built and post-war production continued at Rock Island Arsenal until 1953, by which time 10,202 had been built. The Canadian Forces continued to use the M2A1 as the C2 Howitzer until 1997, the changes include a longer barrel, a muzzle brake, reinforced trails and the removal of shield flaps. It remains the standard light howitzer of Canadian Forces Reserve units, the C3 is used by Reserve units in Glacier National Park in British Columbia as a means of avalanche control. In addition, the M101 has found a use in the U. S. as an avalanche control gun. Today upgraded M2A1 howitzers are still being used by the Peoples Army of Vietnam and it continues to remain as the primary tactical field-howitzer of the VPA. M2 Howitzers are still in limited service in the Australian Army Reserve, in regular service they were replaced by the 105mm L119 Hamel gun and the 155-millimetre M198 howitzers. Two M2 howitzers are employed in providing the gun salute at Kristiansten Fortress, in Trondheim. M101/M2 is one of three approved salute guns in the Norwegian armed forces, and have reduced to a caliber of 75 millimetres for this purpose. They are used for gun salute also at Rena and Setermoen, M2 - minor changes to the chamber to allow use of fixed ammunition
7.
M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System
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The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System is an armored, self-propelled, multiple rocket launcher, a type of rocket artillery. Since the first M270s were delivered to the U. S. Army in 1983, some 1,300 M270 systems have been manufactured in the United States and in Europe, along with more than 700,000 rockets. The production of the M270 ended in 2003, when a last batch was delivered to the Egyptian Army, the weapon can fire guided and unguided projectiles up to 42 km. Firing ballistic missiles, such as the U. S. Army Tactical Missile System, it can hit targets 300 km away, the M270 can be used in shoot-and-scoot tactics, firing its rockets rapidly, then moving away to avoid counter-battery fire. MLRS was developed jointly by the United Kingdom, United States, West Germany, France and it was developed from the older General Support Rocket System. The M270 MLRS weapons system is known as the M270 MLRS Self-propelled Loader/Launcher. The SPLL is composed of three subsystems, the M269 Loader Launcher Module, which also houses the electronic Fire Control System, is mated to the M993 Carrier Vehicle. The M993 is a derivative of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle chassis, the rockets and ATACMS missiles are contained in interchangeable pods. Each pod contains six standard rockets or one guided ATACMS missile, the LLM can hold two pods at a time, which are hand-loaded using an integrated winch system. All twelve rockets or two ATACMS missiles can be fired in under a minute, one launcher firing twelve rockets can completely blanket one square kilometer with submunitions. For this reason, the MLRS is sometimes referred to as the Grid Square Removal System, a typical MLRS cluster salvo consisted of three M270 vehicles each firing all 12 rockets. With each rocket containing 644 M77 grenades, the salvo would drop 23,184 grenades in the target area. However, with a two percent dud rate, that would leave approximately 400 undetonated bombs scattered over the area, in 2006, MLRS was upgraded to fire guided rounds. Phase I testing of a guided unitary round was completed on a schedule in March 2006. Due to an Urgent Need Statement, the guided unitary round was quickly fielded and used in action in Iraq, Lockheed Martin also received a contract to convert existing M30 DPICM GMLRS rockets to the XM31 unitary variant. The M31 GMLRS Unitary rocket transformed the M270 into a point target system for the first time. The unitary warhead also made the MLRS able to be used in urban environments, the GMLRS has a minimum engagement range of 15 km and can hit a target out to 70 km, impacting at a speed of Mach 2.5. A German developmental artillery system, called the Artillery Gun Module, has used the MLRS chassis on its developmental vehicles, in 2012, a contract was issued to improve the armor of the M270s and improve the fire control to the standards of the HIMARS
8.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
9.
Iraq War
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The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces. An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first 3–4 years of conflict and it became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition, the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue. The invasion began on 20 March 2003, with the U. S. joined by the United Kingdom and several allies, launching a shock. Iraqi forces were overwhelmed as U. S. forces swept through the country. The invasion led to the collapse of the Baathist government, President Hussein was captured during Operation Red Dawn in December of that same year, the United States responded with a troop surge in 2007. The winding down of U. S. involvement in Iraq accelerated under President Barack Obama, the U. S. formally withdrew all combat troops from Iraq by December 2011. Select U. S. officials accused Saddam of harboring and supporting al-Qaeda, while others cited the desire to end a repressive dictatorship, after the invasion, no substantial evidence was found to verify the initial claims about WMDs. The rationale and misrepresentation of pre-war intelligence faced heavy criticism within the U. S. in the aftermath of the invasion, Iraq held multi-party elections in 2005. Nouri al-Maliki became Prime Minister in 2006 and remained in office until 2014, the al-Maliki government enacted policies that were widely seen as having the effect of alienating the countrys Sunni minority and worsening sectarian tensions. The Iraq War caused hundreds of thousands of civilian, and thousands of military casualties, the majority of casualties occurred as a result of the insurgency and civil conflicts between 2004 and 2007. A1990 Frontline report on The arming of Iraq said, Officially, most Western nations participated in an arms embargo against Iraq during the 1980s. Western companies, primarily in Germany and Great Britain, but also in the United States, sold Iraq the key technology for its chemical, missile, any Western governments seemed remarkably indifferent, if not enthusiastic, about those deals. N Washington, the government consistently followed a policy which allowed and perhaps encouraged the growth of Saddam Husseins arsenal. The Western arming of Iraq took place in the context of the Iran-Iraq War, prior to September 2002, the CIA was the George W. Bush administrations main provider of intelligence on Iraq. The agency was out to disprove linkage between Iraq and terrorism the Pentagon adviser told me, the U. N. had prohibited Iraq from developing or possessing such weapons after the Gulf War and required Iraq to permit inspections confirming compliance. This was confirmed by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, during 2002, Bush repeatedly warned of military action against Iraq unless inspections were allowed to progress unfettered. In accordance with U. N. Security Council Resolution 1441, Iraq agreed to new inspections under United Nations Monitoring, as part of its weapons inspection obligations, Iraq was required to supply a full declaration of its current weapons capabilities and manufacturing
