1.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located 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, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
2.
American Civil War
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The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America, the Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U. S. history. Among the 34 U. S. states in February 1861, War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U. S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to eleven states, it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona. The Confederacy was never recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North, the war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865. The war had its origin in the issue of slavery. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed, but before his inauguration, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy. The first six to declare secession had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, the first seven with state legislatures to resolve for secession included split majorities for unionists Douglas and Bell in Georgia with 51% and Louisiana with 55%. Alabama had voted 46% for those unionists, Mississippi with 40%, Florida with 38%, Texas with 25%, of these, only Texas held a referendum on secession. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession, outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincolns March 4,1861 inaugural address declared that his administration would not initiate a civil war, speaking directly to the Southern States, he reaffirmed, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. After Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy, efforts at compromise failed, the Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on King Cotton that they would intervene, but none did, and none recognized the new Confederate States of America. Hostilities began on April 12,1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter, while in the Western Theater the Union made significant permanent gains, in the Eastern Theater, the battle was inconclusive in 1861–62. The autumn 1862 Confederate campaigns into Maryland and Kentucky failed, dissuading British intervention, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, by summer 1862 the Union destroyed the Confederate river navy, then much of their western armies, the 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River. In 1863, Robert E. Lees Confederate incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg, Western successes led to Ulysses S. Grants command of all Union armies in 1864
3.
Johnstown Flood
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The Johnstown Flood occurred on May 31,1889, after the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam on the Little Conemaugh River 14 miles upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The dam broke after several days of heavy rainfall, releasing 14.55 million cubic meters of water from the reservoir known as Lake Conemaugh. With a volumetric flow rate that temporarily equaled that of the Mississippi River, the American Red Cross, led by Clara Barton and with 50 volunteers, undertook a major disaster relief effort. Support for victims came from all over the United States and 18 foreign countries, after the flood, survivors suffered a series of legal defeats in their attempts to recover damages from the dams owners. Public indignation at that failure prompted the development in American law changing a fault-based regime to strict liability, the village of Johnstown was founded in 1800 by the Swiss immigrant Joseph Johns where the Stony Creek and Little Conemaugh rivers joined to form the Conemaugh River. It began to prosper with the building of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal in 1836 and the construction in the 1850s of the Pennsylvania Railroad, by 1889, Johnstowns industries had attracted numerous Welsh and German immigrants. With a population of 30,000, it was an industrial community known for the quality of its steel. The high, steep hills of the narrow Conemaugh Valley and the Allegheny Mountains range to the east kept development close to the riverfront areas, the valley had large amounts of runoff from rain and snowfall. The area surrounding Johnstown is prone to flooding due to its location on the rivers, adding to these factors, slag from the iron furnaces of the steel mills was dumped along the river to create more land for building. Developers artificial narrowing of the riverbed to maximize early industries left the city even more flood-prone, the Conemaugh River immediately downstream of Johnstown is hemmed in by steep mountainsides for about 10 miles. High above the city, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania built the South Fork Dam between 1838 and 1853, as part of a canal system, the Main Line of Public Works. Johnstown was the terminus of the Western Division Canal, supplied with water by Lake Conemaugh. As railroads superseded canal barge transport, the Commonwealth abandoned the canal, the dam and lake were part of the purchase, and the railroad sold them to private interests. Many were connected through business and social links to Carnegie Steel, development included lowering the dam to make its top wide enough to hold a road, and putting a fish screen in the spillway. These alterations are thought to have increased the vulnerability of the dam, the members built cottages and a clubhouse to create the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, an exclusive and private mountain retreat. Membership grew to more than 50 wealthy Pittsburgh steel, coal. Lake Conemaugh at the site was 450 feet in elevation above Johnstown. The lake was about 2 miles long, about 1 mile wide, the dam was 72 feet high and 931 feet long
4.
Marriott Hotels & Resorts
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Marriott Hotels & Resorts is Marriott Internationals flagship brand of full-service hotels and resorts. The company, based in Washington D. C. is repeatedly included on the Forbes Best Companies to Work for list, as of January 2017, there were 552 hotels and resorts operating under the brand. The loyalty program is called Marriott Rewards, the Marriott chain began with two motels in the 1950s. The first opened as a Quality Inn airport motel near Washington D. C. and another nearby, the Twin Bridges. With the opening of the motel, Marriott was born as a brand name. The Twin Bridges motel is still operating, but as a full-service hotel, the Twin Bridges property was demolished in 1990, but the Key Bridge property still operates. In 1967, Marriott opened its first resort hotel, Camelback Inn, in Arizona, Marriott Hotels & Resorts expanded outside of the United States for the first time in 1969 with the opening of the Marriott in Acapulco, Mexico. By 1975, Marriott Hotels & Resorts had expanded to Europe, in these first several decades, Marriott International owned and managed many of the hotels within its portfolio. In 1993, the decided to spin off the real estate ownership operations as a new company, Host Marriott. In September 2005, Marriott Hotels & Resorts unveiled its first new designs in ten years. Dubbed mSpot, the new rooms feature clean lines and updated technology
5.
Board game
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A board game is a tabletop game that involves counters or pieces moved or placed on a pre-marked surface or board, according to a set of rules. Some games are based on strategy, but many contain an element of chance. Games usually have a goal that a player aims to achieve, early board games represented a battle between two armies, and most modern board games are still based on defeating opposing players in terms of counters, winning position, or accrual of points. There are many varieties of board games and their representation of real-life situations can range from having no inherent theme, like checkers, to having a specific theme and narrative, like Cluedo. Board games have been played in most cultures and societies throughout history, the Pilgrims and Puritans of New England frowned on game playing and viewed dice as instruments of the devil. In Thoughts on Lotteries Thomas Jefferson wrote, Almost all these pursuits of chance produce something useful to society, but there are some which produce nothing, and endanger the well-being of the individuals engaged in them or of others depending on them. Such are games with cards, dice, billiards, etc. and suppress the pursuit altogether, there are some other games of chance, useful on certain occasions, and injurious only when carried beyond their useful bounds. Such are insurances, lotteries, raffles, etc and these they do not suppress, but take their regulation under their own discretion. As the US shifted from agrarian to urban living in the century, greater leisure time. The American home, once the center of production, became the locus of entertainment, enlightenment. Children were encouraged to board games that developed literacy skills. The earliest board games published in the United States were based upon Christian morality, the Mansion of Happiness, for example, sent players along a path of virtues and vices that led to the Mansion of Happiness. The missionaries are cast in white as the symbol of innocence, temperance, and hope while the pope and pagan are cast in black, the color of gloom of error, and. grief at the daily loss of empire. Commercially produced board games in the century were monochrome prints laboriously hand-colored by teams of low-paid young factory women. Advances in paper making and printmaking during the period enabled the production of relatively inexpensive board games. The most significant advance was the development of chromolithography, an achievement that made bold. Games cost as little as US$.25 for a small boxed card game to $3.00 for more elaborate games, American Protestants believed a virtuous life led to success, but the belief was challenged mid-century when Americans embraced materialism and capitalism. The accumulation of material goods was viewed as a divine blessing, in 1860, The Checkered Game of Life rewarded players for mundane activities such as attending college, marrying, and getting rich
6.
Dean Acheson
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Dean Gooderham Acheson was an American statesman and lawyer. As United States Secretary of State in the administration of President Harry S. Truman from 1949 to 1953, Acheson helped design the Marshall Plan and was a key player in the development of the Truman Doctrine and creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Achesons most famous decision was convincing President Truman to intervene in the Korean War in June 1950 and he also persuaded Truman to dispatch aid and advisors to French forces in Indochina, though in 1968 he finally counseled President Lyndon B. Johnson to negotiate for peace with North Vietnam. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F. Kennedy called upon Acheson for advice, bringing him into the executive committee, Dean Gooderham Acheson was born in Middletown, Connecticut. Like his father, Acheson was a staunch Democrat and opponent of prohibition, Acheson attended Groton School and Yale College, where he joined Scroll and Key Society, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. At Groton and Yale he had the reputation of a partier and prankster, he was somewhat aloof, Achesons well-known, reputed arrogance—he disdained the curriculum at Yale as focusing on memorizing subjects already known or not worth knowing more about—was apparent early. At Harvard Law School from 1915 to 1918, however, he was swept away by the intellect of professor Felix Frankfurter, on May 15,1917, while serving in the National Guard, Acheson married Alice Caroline Stanley. She loved painting and politics and served as an influence throughout their enduring marriage. Frankfurter and Brandeis were close associates, and future Supreme Court Justice Frankfurter suggested that Brandeis take on Acheson, when Secretary William H. Woodin fell ill, Acheson suddenly found himself acting secretary despite his ignorance of finance. Because of his opposition to FDRs plan to deflate the dollar by controlling gold prices, he was forced to resign in November 1933, in 1939–1940 he headed a committee to study the operation of administrative bureaus in the federal government. Brought back as assistant secretary of state in 1941, Acheson implemented much of United States economic policy aiding Great Britain, Roosevelt froze all Japanese assets merely to disconcert them. He did not intend the flow of oil to Japan to cease, the president then departed Washington for Newfoundland to meet with Churchill. While he was gone Acheson used those frozen assets to deny Japan oil, upon the presidents return, he decided it would appear weak and appeasing to reverse the de facto oil embargo. In 1944, Acheson attended the Bretton Woods Conference as the delegate from the State department. At this conference the post-war international economic structure was designed, the conference was the birthplace of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the last of which would evolve into the World Trade Organization. And, as late as 1945 or 1946 Acheson sought détente with the Soviet Union, in 1946, as chairman of a special committee to prepare a plan for the international control of atomic energy, he wrote the Acheson–Lilienthal report. At first Acheson was conciliatory towards Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Unions attempts at regional hegemony in Eastern Europe and in Southwest Asia, however, changed Achesons thinking. From this point forward, one writes, Acheson was more than present at the creation of the Cold War
7.
History of the United States
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The date of the start of the history of the United States is a subject of debate among historians. In recent decades American schools and universities typically have shifted back in time to more on the colonial period. Indigenous people lived in what is now the United States for thousands of years before European colonists began to arrive, mostly from England, the Spanish built small settlements in Florida and the Southwest, and the French along the Mississippi River and the Gulf Coast. By the 1770s, thirteen British colonies contained two and a million people along the Atlantic coast east of the Appalachian Mountains. After the end of the French and Indian Wars in the 1760s, Tax resistance, especially the Boston Tea Party, led to punitive laws by Parliament designed to end self-government in Massachusetts. American Patriots adhered to an ideology called republicanism that emphasized civic duty, virtue. Armed conflict began in 1775 as Patriots drove the royal officials out of every colony and assembled in mass meetings, in 1776, the Second Continental Congress declared that there was a new, independent nation, the United States of America, not just a collection of disparate colonies. With large-scale military and financial support from France and the leadership of General George Washington. The peace treaty of 1783 gave the new nation the land east of the Mississippi River, the central government established by the Articles of Confederation proved ineffectual at providing stability, as it had no authority to collect taxes and had no executive officer. Congress called a convention to meet secretly in Philadelphia in 1787 and it wrote a new Constitution, which was adopted in 1789. In 1791, a Bill of Rights was added to guarantee inalienable rights, with Washington as the first president and Alexander Hamilton his chief political and financial adviser, a strong central government was created. When Thomas Jefferson became president he purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, a second and final war with Britain was fought in 1812. Encouraged by the notion of Manifest Destiny, federal territory expanded all the way to the Pacific, the U. S. always was large in terms of area, but its population was small, only 4 million in 1790. Population growth was rapid, reaching 7.2 million in 1810,32 million in 1860,76 million in 1900,132 million in 1940, Economic growth in terms of overall GDP was even faster. However, compared to European powers, the military strength was relatively limited in peacetime before 1940. The expansion was driven by a quest for land for yeoman farmers. The expansion of slavery was increasingly controversial and fueled political and constitutional battles, the 1860 presidential election of Republican Abraham Lincoln was on a platform of ending the expansion of slavery and putting it on a path to extinction. Seven cotton-based deep South slave states seceded and later founded the Confederacy months before Lincolns inauguration, No nation ever recognized the Confederacy, but it opened the war by attacking Fort Sumter in 1861
8.
Rockville, Maryland
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Rockville is a city located in the central region of Montgomery County, Maryland. It is the county seat and is an incorporated city of Montgomery County. The 2010 census tabulated Rockvilles population at 61,209, making it the third largest incorporated city in Maryland, behind Baltimore, Rockville is the largest incorporated city in Montgomery County, Maryland, although the nearby census-designated place of Germantown is more populous. The city also has several upscale regional shopping centers and is one of the major hubs in Montgomery County. Situated in the Piedmont region and crossed by three creeks, Rockville provided an excellent refuge for semi-nomadic Native Americans as early as 8000 BC. By the first millennium BC, a few of these groups had settled down into year-round agricultural communities that exploited the native flora, including sunflowers and marsh elder. By AD1200, these groups were increasingly drawn into conflict with the Senecas and Susquehannocks who had migrated south from Pennsylvania. Within the present-day boundaries of the city, six sites have been uncovered and documented. By the year 1700, under pressure from European colonists, the majority of original inhabitants had been driven away. The indigenous population carved a path on the ground, known as Sinequa Trail. Later, the Maryland Assembly set the standard of 20 feet for main thoroughfares, in the mid-18th century, Lawrence Owen opened a small inn on the road. The location of the road, near the present Rockville Pike, was located on higher ground making it dry year-round. The first land patents in the Rockville area were obtained by Arthur Nelson between 1717 and 1735, within three decades, the first permanent buildings in what would become the center of Rockville were established on this land. Being a small, unincorporated town, early Rockville was known by a variety of names, including Owens Ordinary, Hungerfords Tavern, the first recorded mention of the settlement which would later become known as Rockville dates to the Braddock Expedition in 1755. Owens Ordinary was a small rest stop on Rock Creek Main Road, which stretched from George Town to Frederick Town, the southern portion of the county, of which Rockville was a part, was named Montgomery County. The most populous and prosperous urban center in this new county was George Town, Rockville, a small, but centrally located and well-traveled town, was chosen as the seat of the countys government. At the time, Rockville did not have a name, it was generally called Hungerfords Tavern, after being named the county seat, the village was referred to by all as Montgomery Court House. The tavern served as the county courthouse, and it held its first such proceedings on May 20,1777, in 1784, William Prather Williams, a local landowner, hired a surveyor to lay out much of the town
9.
Forbes
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Forbes is an American business magazine. Published bi-weekly, it features articles on finance, industry, investing. Forbes also reports on related subjects such as technology, communications, science, politics and its headquarters is located in Jersey City, New Jersey. Primary competitors in the business magazine category include Fortune and Bloomberg Businessweek. The magazine is known for its lists and rankings, including its lists of the richest Americans. Another well-known list by the magazine is The Worlds Billionaires list, the motto of Forbes magazine is The Capitalist Tool. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes, and its CEO is Mike Perlis, Forbes, a financial columnist for the Hearst papers, and his partner Walter Drey, the general manager of the Magazine of Wall Street, founded Forbes magazine on September 15,1917. Forbes provided the money and the name and Drey provided the publishing expertise, the original name of the magazine was Forbes, Devoted to Doers and Doings. Drey became vice-president of the B. C. Forbes Publishing Company, while B. C. Forbes became editor-in-chief, B. C. Forbes was assisted in his later years by his two eldest sons, Bruce Charles Forbes and Malcolm Stevenson Forbes. Bruce Forbes took over on his fathers death, and his strengths lay in streamlining operations, during his tenure, 1954–1964, the magazines circulation nearly doubled. On Malcolms death, his eldest son Malcolm Stevenson Steve Forbes Jr. became President and Chief Executive of Forbes, between 1961 and 1999 the magazine was edited by James Michaels. In 1993, under Michaels, Forbes was a finalist for the National Magazine Award. com, a 2009 New York Times report said,40 percent of the enterprise was sold. For a reported $300 million, setting the value of the enterprise at $750 million, according to Mark M. Edmiston of AdMedia Partners, Its probably not worth half of that now. The companys headquarters moved to the Newport section of downtown Jersey City. In November 2013, Forbes Media, which publishes Forbes magazine, was put up for sale and this was encouraged by Elevation Partners, of whom were minority shareholders. Sales documents prepared by Deutsche Bank revealed that the publishers 2012 EBITDA was $15 million, Forbes reportedly sought a price of $400 million. In July 2014, Forbes sold a majority of itself to Integrated Whale Media Investments, Steve Forbes and his magazines writers offer investment advice on the weekly Fox TV show Forbes on Fox and on Forbes On Radio. Other company groups include Forbes Conference Group, Forbes Investment Advisory Group, from the 2009 Times report, Steve Forbes recently returned from opening up a Forbes magazine in India, bringing the number of foreign editions to 10
10.
Hyatt
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Hyatt Hotels Corporation is an American multinational owner, operator, and franchiser of hotels, resorts, and vacation properties. The Hyatt Corporation came into being upon purchase of the Hyatt House, at Los Angeles International Airport, as of September 30,2016, Hyatt has 679 properties in 54 countries. In 2017, Fortune magazine listed Hyatt as the 32nd-best U. S. company to work for, the original owners were entrepreneurs Hyatt Robert von Dehn and Jack Dyer Crouch, after a few years, Von Dehn sold his share in the hotel to entrepreneur Jay Pritzker. Jays younger brother Donald Pritzker also took on an important role in the company, over the following decade, acquisitions were made, and Hyatt became the fastest-growing hotel chain in the United States. Donald died in 1972, Jay continued to run the company, in 1969, Hyatt opened its first hotel outside the United States, the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong. In 1980 the Grand Hyatt and Park Hyatt brands were introduced, Hyatt runs resort hotels, starting with the Hyatt Regency Maui in 1980. As of 30 November 2015 Hyatt had over 627 hotels worldwide, in 1972 Hyatt formed Elsinore Corporation, a subsidiary to operate the Four Queens Hotel and Casino and the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa & Casino. After Hyatt became a company in 1979, Elsinore was spun off as a public company. The company opened the Playboy Hotel and Casino as a joint venture with Playboy Enterprises, on June 30,2009, Global Hyatt Corporation changed its name to Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Blackstone had inherited AmeriSuites from its 2004 acquisition of Prime Hospitality, the AmeriSuites chain was rebranded and called Hyatt Place, a competitor to the limited-service products Marriott Internationals Courtyard by Marriott and Hilton Worldwides Hilton Garden Inn. In December 2005 Hyatt acquired limited service company Summerfield Suites from the Blackstone Group, Blackstone had inherited Summerfield Suites from its purchase of Wyndham International. In August 2009 it was reported that Hyatt Hotels Corporation filed plans to raise up to $1.15 billion in a share sale. That November Hyatt completed a public offering and began trading publicly on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol H. According to the filing Mark S. Hoplamazian was to serve as CEO, the public offering is a result of the acrimonious breakup of the Pritzker family empire. As of 31 December 2014 Hyatt Corporations worldwide portfolio consisted of 587 properties, on September 1,2011, Hyatt acquired Hotel Sierra, which has 18 properties in 10 states. Along with Hyatt Summerfield Suites hotels, several of these properties were rebranded as Hyatt house in January 2012, Hyatt Hotels Corporation operates several chains. The Human Rights Campaign awarded the company 100% in the HRC Equality Index for eight consecutive years, the Hyatt Regency brand is the oldest brand in the company, with the Grand Hyatt and Park Hyatt brands being introduced in 1980. Some of these are styled as resort properties, and may have spas or other recreational facilities, other brands include Hyatt Place, designed as a limited service offering for business travelers
