Rex Mays
Rex Houston Mays, Jr. was a former AAA Championship Car race driver. He won 8 points-scoring races, he made his Indianapolis 500 debut in 1934 and won the pole in 1935, 1936, again in 1940 and finished second, he returned the next year and finished second again. Mays won the AAA National Championship in 1940 and 1941. However, World War II suspended racing until 1946, denying Mays of what would have been the peak of his career. After the war, Mays again was knocked out by a mechanical problem, he was killed at the age of 36 in a crash during the only Champ Car race held at Del Mar Fairgrounds race track in Del Mar, California in November 1949. In this accident, Mays swerved to miss a car, his car went out of control and flipped, throwing Mays to the track surface, where he was hit by a trailing car. In a race at Milwaukee, a fellow driver, Duke Dinsmore, was thrown from his car during an incident in the south turn. Rex Mays saw Dinsmore's body lying in the middle of the south turn. Rex spun his car into the wall, got out of the car, pulled the unconscious Duke Dinsmore to safety.
Because of his selfless heroic action, the June race at the Milwaukee Mile was named the "Rex Mays Classic". In addition, the road racing course just outside his hometown of Riverside held, from 1967 to 1969, a 300-mile Indianapolis-car event called the Rex Mays 300, he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1995. Mays was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in the first class in 1990. Rex Mays at The Greatest 33 Rex Mays at Champ Car Stats Indy's unluckiest legends: Part 1 - Racer, Robin Miller, 20 May 2013
Ab Jenkins
David Abbott "Ab" Jenkins was the 24th mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah from 1940 to 1944 and was a professional race car driver. Jenkins' interest in motorsports began with racing motorcycles on cross country, he became interested in land speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats. He was instrumental in establishing Bonneville as a location for such events, in attracting overseas drivers such as George Eyston and Sir Malcolm Campbell to compete there, he drove the Duesenberg "Mormon Meteor" to a 24-hour average land speed record of 135 miles per hour in 1935. In 1940 Jenkins set the 24-hour record of a 161.180 mph average. He died on a visit to Wisconsin. Called "The World's Safest Speedster," Jenkins was the father of salt racing. In 50 years of driving, he amassed nearly 3 million miles without an accident, which included 42 coast-to-coast trips across the continental US. Two of them were speed runs, after 1931, he confined his efforts to the track. Born in 1883, Jenkins, a Utah building contractor, got his start driving a Studebaker in 1925 when he raced a Union Pacific train from Salt Lake City to Wendover beating the smoke-belcher by five minutes.
Next, in 1926, starting from New York City, he drove a Studebaker touring sedan to San Francisco in 86 hours, 20 minutes again besting the train by 14 hours. Records were set in Pierce-Arrows as well as a 68 mph salt flats run on an Allis-Chalmers farm tractor that he remarked was "like riding a frightened bison" before building a series of purpose-built salt flats cars. In 1925, Jenkins was hired by Pierce-Arrow to soup up their newly introduced V12 engine which produced a disappointing level of performance, he managed to coax 175 hp out of the engine, driving a Pierce-Arrow along the Utah salt flats at over 100 mph in a 24-hour journey along a 10-mile course. The total number of miles achieved during the run was 2,710; the following year, he set out to break that record by driving 25 hours and 30 minutes at around 117 mph and making a total of 3000 miles. As the 1930s began and speed records were being broken the Bonneville Salt Flats was found to be preferable to the sands of Daytona Beach or the Monthlhéry track in France.
By 1935, the course was attracting international attention and in July of that year, Jenkins provided accommodations to British driver John Cobb and relinquished his spot on the flats to him. Cobb succeeded in breaking Jenkins's records during the run. In late 1935, Jenkins drove a new supercharged Duesenberg Model J which allowed him to retake his title from John Cobb, but the land speed record in that race fell to another British competitor, Malcolm Campbell, who drove the aircraft-engine-powered Blue Bird V to a record two-way average speed of 301.130 mph. Realizing that he needed more power to stay on top, Jenkins equipped his car with a Curtiss Conqueror aircraft engine; the Salt Lake City newspaper Deseret News ran a contest to give the vehicle a name, which ended up being dubbed the "Mormon Meteor". Due to extensive modifications needed to accommodate the Curtiss engine, it became the Mormon Meteor II and Jenkins broke land speed endurance records with it during 1936-37. In 1938, he debuted the Mormon Meteor III, setting more records.
The most notable was in 1940 when Jenkins managed 3,868 miles in 24 hours at an average speed of 161 mph, a record that stayed unchallenged until 2005. During WWII, the US government ordered a halt to racing activities and Jenkins decided to run for mayor of Salt Lake City, winning handily despite spending no time or money campaigning. After the war, Jenkins resumed racing. On July 20, 1951, his car skidded on a puddle of water and struck a row of course markers at a speed of nearly 200 mph; the radiator was punctured by the accident and Jenkins had to halt his overheating vehicle. He had stopped three minutes short of breaking a new one-hour speed record and at the age of 68, he decided it was time to retire. Considering his limited resources, Jenkins enjoyed remarkable achievements, something on the order of Will Rogers with a motorized persona, he was a religious man, who put his faith in God, by God, he went far driving his “Mormon Meteor” speed machines. Harvey Firestone was an avid admirer.
Jenkins became pals with New York Metropolitan Opera Singer Richard Bonelli when they were working as mechanics before Bonelli discovered he could sing. Bonelli attended many of Jenkins record runs and instigated a song fest with spectators joining the famous baritone as Ab whizzed past. Jenkins racing fame coupled with his congenial, outgoing nature got him elected Mayor of Salt Lake in 1940 without giving a speech, or spending a nickel on a campaign, he served until 1944 setting 21 speed records while in office. His one-man 24-hour record averaging 161MPH, stood for 50 years, beaten in 1990 by an eight driver team. Jenkins's exhausting, 48-hour record is still on the books together with 15 other FIA records from 1940. After some full day runs, he would hop out clean-shaven, having used a safety razor after the last gas stop while circling the track at over 125 mph with no windshield. In 1956, Pontiac executives petitioned Jenkins to make a comeback. In one of his final interviews that June, he reported that he felt up to it.
Jenkins and his son Marvin to drive its stock-model Series 860 Pontiac around the famous 10-mile salt circle track. The pair recorded an average speed of 118.375 mph shattering all existing American unlimited and Class C stock-car racing records in the process. Ab drove two-thirds of the 2,841 miles himself gulping down milk and orange juice handed to him by his wife or daughter during his 30-second fueling pit
Indianapolis 500 pace cars
The Indianapolis 500 auto race has used a pace car every year since 1911. The pace car is utilized for two primary purposes. At the start of the race, the pace car leads the assembled starting grid around the track for a predetermined number of unscored warm-up laps. If the officials deem appropriate, it releases the field at a purposeful speed to start the race. In addition, during yellow flag caution periods, the pace car enters the track and picks up the leader, bunching the field up at a reduced speed. Prior to the first "500" in 1911, in the interest of safety, Indianapolis Motor Speedway founder Carl G. Fisher is credited with the concept of a "rolling start" led by a pace car. Nearly all races at the time, as well as all Formula One races to the present, utilize a standing start. In every year since 1936, it has been a tradition that the winner of the Indianapolis 500 be presented with one of that year's pace cars. In most years since 1911, the driver of the pace car at the start of the race has been an invited celebrity, a former racing driver, or notable figure in the automotive industry.
The honor of supplying the pace car was, continues to be, a coveted honor by the respective automobile manufactures and a marketing showcase for the particular make/model. The pace car was used to take the starting field on one unscored lap; the field would use the lap to warm up their engines, at the conclusion of the lap, at a prescribed speed, the pace car would pull off the track and allow for a rolling or "flying" start. Fisher himself drove the pace car in several early years, but it became an honorary position, with invitations extended to former winners, notable figures in auto racing or the automobile industry; the invited driver was given the honor of "pacemaker," and manufacturers used the honor of providing the car as marketing exposure. During his tenure as Speedway president, Tony Hulman rode in the pace car nearly every year after giving the command to start engines, his primary duty was to marshal the start and in some years, his responsibilities included operating a film camera that would be housed inside the car's trunk.
Dating back to the early years, the pace cars were painted with special liveries complete with logos, lettering and other decorative markings. In addition, sometimes flagpoles and other motoring paraphernalia were installed to further identify the pace car. Most manufacturers used the opportunity to showcase their higher luxury models. Since in the early years, the pace car was only used for one lap at the start, the need for a high performance machine was not the top priority. In many years, the pace car was a convertible, which along with increasing the luxury status of the vehicle, it aided in the officials' ability to marshal the start. In most years through the early 1950s, the pace car led the field around the track for one warm up lap, the race began; the pace lap concept was popular with fans, as many drivers waved at the fans and the rolling grid made for spectacular photographs. By 1957, the procedure was changed; this allowed extra time to warm up the engines, oil temperatures, tires, allowed the drivers the chance to survey the conditions of the entire track at least once before receiving the green flag.
This allowed the fans on the main stretch to see the entire field parade by one time before the start. Only fans on other parts of the track got to see the grid go by for photographs and waving. For the 1957–1958 races, the grid was lined up and exited single-file from the newly constructed pit lane; the two laps allowed the field to properly form up, however, in practice it turned out to be difficult and both races saw incidents at the start. In 1959, the field went back to lining up the grid on the main stretch, continues to do so to this day. By the late 1960s, not only would a special driver be behind the wheel of the pace car, but numerous celebrities would be invited to ride along as passengers. Automotive executives, NASA astronauts, reporters from ABC Sports and the IMS Radio Network, other celebrities were among those invited to ride in the pace car. In 1971, local Indianapolis Dodge dealer Eldon Palmer was involved in a crash driving the pace car, he crashed into a photographer's stand at the south end of the pit area.
In the years following, the pace car driver utilized would only be an experienced race driver. Former Indy winner Jim Rathmann served six times. Celebrities James Garner and Marty Robbins were chosen in part due to their experience in racing. In 1977, the format was changed to three warm up laps - two "parade laps" and one "pace lap". During the parade lap several replica festival pace cars join the field carrying celebrities and/or special guest drivers; the 1978 race was the first to feature multiple pace cars on the track during the parade lap. Since 2010, the IndyCar "two-seater" has been at the front of the field, carrying a celebrity or special guest; the non-participating vehicles pull off the track after one or two circuits, the lone official pace car leads the field on the pace lap. In 2012, it was further expanded to four warm up laps, coinciding with the introduction of a new engine and chassis formula. Starting in about 1994, the field was observed to be quite straggled about during the parade lap, circulated the track single-file.
Drivers were
Canada
Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States is the world's longest bi-national land border, its capital is Ottawa, its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra, its population is urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, many near the southern border. Canada's climate varies across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons. Various indigenous peoples have inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Beginning in the 16th century and French expeditions explored, settled, along the Atlantic coast.
As a consequence of various armed conflicts, France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces; this began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This widening autonomy was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster of 1931 and culminated in the Canada Act of 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy in the Westminster tradition, with Elizabeth II as its queen and a prime minister who serves as the chair of the federal cabinet and head of government; the country is a realm within the Commonwealth of Nations, a member of the Francophonie and bilingual at the federal level. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, education.
It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. A developed country, Canada has the sixteenth-highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the twelfth-highest ranking in the Human Development Index, its advanced economy is the tenth-largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks. Canada is part of several major international and intergovernmental institutions or groupings including the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the G7, the Group of Ten, the G20, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the etymological origins of Canada, the name is now accepted as coming from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement".
In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word Canada to refer not only to that particular village but to the entire area subject to Donnacona. From the 16th to the early 18th century "Canada" referred to the part of New France that lay along the Saint Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named the Canadas. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the legal name for the new country at the London Conference, the word Dominion was conferred as the country's title. By the 1950s, the term Dominion of Canada was no longer used by the United Kingdom, which considered Canada a "Realm of the Commonwealth"; the government of Louis St. Laurent ended the practice of using'Dominion' in the Statutes of Canada in 1951. In 1982, the passage of the Canada Act, bringing the Constitution of Canada under Canadian control, referred only to Canada, that year the name of the national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The term Dominion was used to distinguish the federal government from the provinces, though after the Second World War the term federal had replaced dominion. Indigenous peoples in present-day Canada include the First Nations, Métis, the last being a mixed-blood people who originated in the mid-17th century when First Nations and Inuit people married European settlers; the term "Aboriginal" as a collective noun is a specific term of art used in some legal documents, including the Constitution Act 1982. The first inhabitants of North America are hypothesized to have migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at least 14,000 years ago; the Paleo-Indian archeological sites at Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are two of the oldest sites of human habitation in Canada. The characteristics of Canadian indigenous societies included permanent settlements, complex societal hierarchies, trading networks; some of these cultures had collapsed by the time European explorers arrived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries and have only been discovered through archeological investigations.
The indigenous population at the time of the first European settlements is estimated to have been between 200,000
Racing flags
Racing flags are traditionally used in auto racing and similar motorsports to indicate track condition and to communicate important messages to drivers. The starter, sometimes the grand marshal of a race, waves the flags atop a flag stand near the start/finish line. Track marshals are stationed at observation posts along the race track in order to communicate both local and course-wide conditions to drivers. Alternatively, some race tracks employ lights to supplement the primary flag at the start/finish line. While there is no universal system of racing flags across all of motorsports, most series have standardized them, with some flags carrying over between series. For example, the chequered flag is used across all of motorsport to signify the end of a session, while the penalty flags differ from series to series. FIA-sanctioned championship flags are the most used internationally as they cover championships such as Formula 1, the FIA World Endurance Championship and WTCC, are adopted by many more motorsport governing bodies across the world such as, for example, the MSA.
Status flags are used to inform all drivers of the general status of the course during a race. In addition, the green and red flags described below may be augmented or replaced by lights at various points around the circuit; the solid green flag is displayed by the starter to indicate the start of a race. During a race, it is displayed at the end of a caution period or a temporary delay to indicate that the race is restarting; the waving of a green flag is universally supplemented with the illumination of green lights at various intervals around the course on ovals. If the race is not under caution or delayed, it is said to be under green-flag conditions. However, the flag itself is not continuously waved by the starter. No flag displayed at the starter's stand implies green-flag conditions. At all times, the green lights remain lit; when shown at a marshalling post, a green flag may indicate the end of a local yellow-flag zone. A separate green flag displayed at the entrance to the pit area indicate.
In NASCAR, a green and yellow flag waved at the same time indicates that the race is being started or restarted under caution and laps are being counted. This is sometimes called a "running yellow" and occurs when a track is drying after a rain delay; the officials will utilize the cars in the field to facilitate the final drying of the course, but in order to not waste fuel, delay the race further, the laps are counted towards the advertised race distance. In 1980, USAC flagman Duane Sweeney started a tradition at the Indianapolis 500 of waving twin green flags for added visual effect at the start of the race. Green flags waved at restarts. Since the 1990s, some races on occasion invite celebrity guests to wave the green flag at the start of the race. Before the use of starting lights in Formula One and most other FIA sanctioned or associated events, the national flag of the country in which a race is occurring, instead of a green flag, was used to signal its start, still does on occasion in the event of equipment failure.
The solid yellow flag, or caution flag, universally requires drivers to slow down due to a hazard on the track an accident, a stopped car, debris or light rain. However, the procedures for displaying the yellow flag vary for different racing styles and sanctioning bodies. In Formula One racing, a yellow flag displayed at the starter's stand or a marshal station indicates that there is a hazard "downstream" of the station; the manner of display depends on the location of the hazard: A single waved flag denotes a hazard on the racing surface itself. A single stationary flag denotes a hazard near the racing surface. Two flags waved denotes a hazard that wholly or blocks the racing surface; this informs the driver that there may be marshals on the track and to prepare to stop, if necessary. When shown at a station, drivers are forbidden from overtaking until either the hazard or the next flag station displaying a green flag is passed; this flag is shown at the discretion of the marshals manning the station.
When the safety car is on the circuit, all flag points will display a'safety car board'. When flag points are under radio control, this will happen otherwise, the board is displayed when the safety car comes round for the first time; this is accompanied by a waved yellow flag. Standard yellow flag conditions apply to the whole circuit; when the safety car comes in and the race resumes, a green flag is displayed at the start line, subsequently at all flag points around the circuit for one lap. Overtaking is not allowed until the cars have passed the start/finish line, or in F1, the safety car line at pit entry; when there are circumstances where double-waved yellow flags are needed yet usage of the safety car is not warranted the race will be under a Virtual Safety Car period, during which all flag points will display a'VSC board' and all light panels on track will display the letters'VSC' surrounded by a flashing yellow border. Under the VSC procedure, all drivers on the track must reduce their speed and stay above a minimum time set by race officials at least once in each marshalling sector.
Overtaking is not permitted unless if another driver enters the pit lane or if a car slows down due to an obvious problem. When deemed safe to end the VSC procedure, teams are notified via the official messaging
Maserati
Maserati is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna. The Maserati tagline is "Luxury and style cast in exclusive cars", the brand's mission statement is to "Build ultra-luxury performance automobiles with timeless Italian style, accommodating bespoke interiors, effortless, signature sounding power"; the company's headquarters are now in Modena, its emblem is a trident. It has been owned by the Italian-American car giant Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and FCA's Italian predecessor Fiat S.p. A. since 1993. Maserati was associated with Ferrari S.p. A., owned by FCA until being spun off in 2015, but more it has become part of the sports car group including Alfa Romeo and Abarth. In May 2014, due to ambitious plans and product launches, Maserati sold a record of over 3,000 cars in one month; this caused them to increase production of the Ghibli models. In addition to the Ghibli and Quattroporte, Maserati offers the Maserati GranTurismo, the GranTurismo Convertible, has confirmed that it will be offering the Maserati Levante, the first Maserati SUV, in 2016, the Maserati Alfieri, a new 2+2 in 2016.
Maserati is placing a production output cap at 75,000 vehicles globally. The Maserati brothers, Bindo, Carlo and Ernesto, were all involved with automobiles from the beginning of the 20th century. Alfieri and Ernesto built 2-litre Grand Prix cars for Diatto. In 1926, Diatto suspended the production of race cars, leading to the creation of the first Maserati and the founding of the Maserati marque. One of the first Maseratis, driven by Alfieri, won the 1926 Targa Florio. Maserati began making race cars with 4, 6, 8, 16 cylinders; the trident logo of the Maserati car company is based on the Fountain of Neptune in Bologna's Piazza Maggiore. In 1920, one of the Maserati brothers, artist Mario, used this symbol in the logo at the suggestion of family friend Marquis Diego de Sterlich, it was considered appropriate for the sports car company due to fact that Neptune represents strength and vigour. Alfieri Maserati died in 1932, but three other brothers, Bindo and Ettore, kept the firm going, building cars that won races.
In 1937, the remaining Maserati brothers sold their shares in the company to the Adolfo Orsi family, who in 1940, relocated the company headquarters to their home town of Modena, where it remains to this day. The brothers continued in engineering roles with the company. Racing successes continued against the giants of German racing, Auto Union and Mercedes. In back-to-back wins in 1939 and 1940, an 8CTF won the Indianapolis 500, the only Italian manufacturer to do so; the war intervened and Maserati abandoned car making to produce components for the Italian war effort. During this time, Maserati worked in fierce competition to construct a V16 town car for Benito Mussolini before Ferry Porsche of Volkswagen built one for Adolf Hitler; this failed, the plans were scrapped. Once peace was restored, Maserati returned to making cars. Key people joined the Maserati team. Alberto Massimino, a former Fiat engineer with both Alfa Romeo and Ferrari experience, oversaw the design of all racing models for the next ten years.
With him joined engineers Giulio Alfieri, Vittorio Bellentani, Gioacchino Colombo. The focus was on the best chassis to succeed in car racing; these new projects saw the last contributions of the Maserati brothers, who after their 10-year contract with Orsi expired went on to form O. S. C. A.. This new team at Maserati worked on several projects: the 4CLT, the A6 series, the 8CLT, pivotally for the future success of the company, the A6GCS; the famous Argentinian driver Juan-Manuel Fangio raced for Maserati for a number of years in the 1950s, producing a number of stunning victories including winning the world championship in 1957 in the 250F. Other racing projects in the 1950s were the 200S, 300S, 350S, 450S, followed in 1961 by the famous Tipo 61. Maserati retired from factory racing participation because of the Guidizzolo tragedy during the 1957 Mille Miglia, though they continued to build cars for privateers. Maserati became more focused on building road-going grand tourers; the 1957 3500 GT marked a turning point in the marque's history, as its first ground-up grand tourer design and first series produced car.
Production jumped from a dozen to a few hundreds cars a year. Chief engineer Giulio Alfieri took charge of the project, turned the 3.5 L inline six from the 350S into a road-going engine. Launched with a Carrozzeria Touring 2+2 coupé aluminium body over superleggera structure, a steel-bodied short wheelbase Vignale 3500 GT Convertibile open top version followed in 1960; the 3500 GT's success, with over 2200 made, was critical to Maserati's survival in the years following withdrawal from racing. The 3500 GT provided the underpinnings for the small-volume V8-engined 5000 GT, another seminal car for Maserati. Born from the Shah of Persia's whim of owning a road car powered by the Maserati 450S racing engine, it became one of the fastest and most expensive cars of its days; the third to the thirty-fourth and last example produced were powered by Maserati's first purely road-going V8 engine design. In 1962, the 3500 GT evolved into the Sebring, bodied by Vignale and based on the Convertibile chassis.
Next came the two-seater Mistral coupé in 1963 and Spider in 1964, both six-cylinder powered and styled by Pietro Frua. In 1963, the company's first saloon arrived, the Quattroporte styled by Frua. If the 500
United States
The United States of America known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U. S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D. C. and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico; the State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean; the U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The diverse geography and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century; the United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776; the war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties; the United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, acquiring new territories, displacing Native American tribes, admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848. During the second half of the 19th century, the Civil War led to the abolition of slavery.
By the end of the century, the United States had extended into the Pacific Ocean, its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution, began to soar. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a global military power; the United States emerged from World War II as a global superpower, the first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in warfare, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Sweeping civil rights legislation, notably the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, outlawed discrimination based on race or color. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the Space Race, culminating with the 1969 U. S. Moon landing; the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world's sole superpower. The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation, it is a representative democracy.
The United States is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States, other international organizations. The United States is a developed country, with the world's largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP, accounting for a quarter of global GDP; the U. S. economy is post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge-based activities, although the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the world. The United States is the world's largest importer and the second largest exporter of goods, by value. Although its population is only 4.3% of the world total, the U. S. holds 31% of the total wealth in the world, the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country. Despite wide income and wealth disparities, the United States continues to rank high in measures of socioeconomic performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP, worker productivity.
The United States is the foremost military power in the world, making up a third of global military spending, is a leading political and scientific force internationally. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America in honor of the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci; the first documentary evidence of the phrase "United States of America" is from a letter dated January 2, 1776, written by Stephen Moylan, Esq. to George Washington's aide-de-camp and Muster-Master General of the Continental Army, Lt. Col. Joseph Reed. Moylan expressed his wish to go "with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the revolutionary war effort; the first known publication of the phrase "United States of America" was in an anonymous essay in The Virginia Gazette newspaper in Williamsburg, Virginia, on April 6, 1776. The second draft of the Articles of Confederation, prepared by John Dickinson and completed by June 17, 1776, at the latest, declared "The name of this Confederation shall be the'United States of America'".
The final version of the Articles sent to the states for ratification in late 1777 contains the sentence "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be'The United States of America'". In June 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote the phrase "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" in all capitalized letters in the headline of his "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence; this draft of the document did not surface unti
Wilbur Shaw (W)
René Le Bègue (R) 
George Robson (R)
Raúl Riganti
