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
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Pennsylvania
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Pennsylvania /ˌpɛnsᵻlˈveɪnjə/, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state located in the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The Appalachian Mountains run through its middle, Pennsylvania is the 33rd largest, the 5th most populous, and the 9th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The states five most populous cities are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, the state capital, and its ninth-largest city, is Harrisburg. Pennsylvania has 140 miles of shoreline along Lake Erie and the Delaware Estuary. The state is one of the 13 original founding states of the United States, it came into being in 1681 as a result of a land grant to William Penn. Part of Pennsylvania, together with the present State of Delaware, had earlier been organized as the Colony of New Sweden and it was the second state to ratify the United States Constitution, on December 12,1787. Independence Hall, where the United States Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were drafted, is located in the states largest city of Philadelphia, during the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, was fought in the south central region of the state. Valley Forge near Philadelphia was General Washingtons headquarters during the winter of 1777–78. Pennsylvania is 170 miles north to south and 283 miles east to west, of a total 46,055 square miles,44,817 square miles are land,490 square miles are inland waters, and 749 square miles are waters in Lake Erie. It is the 33rd largest state in the United States, Pennsylvania has 51 miles of coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary. Cities include Philadelphia, Reading, Lebanon and Lancaster in the southeast, Pittsburgh in the southwest, the tri-cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, the northeast includes the former anthracite coal mining communities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston City, and Hazleton. Erie is located in the northwest, the state has 5 regions, namely the Allegheny Plateau, Ridge and Valley, Atlantic Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and the Erie Plain. Straddling two major zones, the majority of the state, with the exception of the corner, has a humid continental climate. The largest city, Philadelphia, has characteristics of the humid subtropical climate that covers much of Delaware. Moving toward the interior of the state, the winter climate becomes colder, the number of cloudy days increase. Western areas of the state, particularly locations near Lake Erie, can receive over 100 inches of snowfall annually, the state may be subject to severe weather from spring through summer into fall. Tornadoes occur annually in the state, sometimes in large numbers, the Tuscarora Nation took up temporary residence in the central portion of Pennsylvania ca. Both the Dutch and the English claimed both sides of the Delaware River as part of their lands in America
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Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
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Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 49,673, it is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth and it lies on the east bank of the Susquehanna River,107 miles west of Philadelphia. The Harrisburg-York-Lebanon, PA Combined Statistical Area is made up of six counties in south central Pennsylvania, Harrisburg played a notable role in American history during the Westward Migration, the American Civil War, and the Industrial Revolution. The U. S. Navy ship USS Harrisburg, which served from 1918 to 1919 at the end of World War I, was named in honor of the city. The Pennsylvania Farm Show, the largest free indoor agriculture exposition in the United States, was first held in Harrisburg in 1917 and has held there every early-to-mid January since then. Harrisburg is also known for the Three Mile Island accident, which occurred on March 28,1979 near Middletown, in 2010 Forbes rated Harrisburg as the second best place in the U. S. to raise a family. Despite the citys recent financial troubles, in 2010 The Daily Beast website ranked 20 metropolitan areas across the country as being recession-proof, the financial stability of the region is in part due to the high concentration of state and federal government agencies. The finances of the city however, were poorly managed. Harrisburgs site along the Susquehanna River is thought to have been inhabited by Native Americans as early as 3000 BC, in 1719, John Harris, Sr. an English trader, settled here and 14 years later secured grants of 800 acres in this vicinity. In 1785, John Harris, Jr. made plans to lay out a town on his fathers land, in the spring of 1785, the town was formally surveyed by William Maclay, who was a son-in-law of John Harris, Sr. In 1791, Harrisburg became incorporated, and in October 1812 it was named the Pennsylvania state capital, the assembling here of the highly sectional Harrisburg Convention in 1827 led to the passage of the high protective-tariff bill of 1828. In 1839, Harrison and Tyler were nominated for President of the United States at the first national convention of the Whig Party of the United States, which was held in Harrisburg. Before Harrisburg gained its first industries, it was a scenic, pastoral town, typical of most of the day, compact, in 1822, the impressive brick capitol was completed for $200,000. It was Harrisburg’s strategic location which gave it an advantage over other towns. It was settled as a trading post in 1719 at an important to Westward expansion. The importance of the location was that it was at a pass in a mountain ridge, the Susquehanna River flowed generally west to east at this location, providing a route for boat traffic from the east. The head of navigation was a distance northwest of the town. Persons arriving from the east by boat had to exit at Harrisburg, Harrisburg assumed importance as a provisioning stop at this point where westward bound pioneers transitioned from river travel to overland travel
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Central business district
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A central business district is the commercial and business centre of a city. In larger cities, it is synonymous with the citys financial district. Both the CBD and the city centre or downtown may also coincide with the central activities district, a citys CBD is usually typified by a concentration of retail and office buildings. The CBD usually has a density higher than the surrounding districts of the city. The CBD is often also the city centre or downtown, Mexico City also has a historic city centre, the colonial-era Centro Histórico, along with two CBDs, the mid-late 20th century Paseo de la Reforma - Polanco, and the new Santa Fe. The shape and type of a CBD almost always reflect the citys history. Cities with maximum building height restrictions often have a historic section quite apart from the financial. It has been said that downtowns are therefore distinct from both CBDs and city centres. CBDs usually have very small resident populations, for example, the population of the City of London declined from over 200,000 in the year 1700 to less than 10,000 today. In some instances, however, CBD populations are increasing as younger professional, the Buenos Aires Central Business District, is the main commercial centre of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. The actual area was the point of first European settlement and its north-south axis runs from Monserrat in the south to Retiro railway station in the north. Its east-west axis runs from Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve and Puerto Madero, the district is the financial, commercial, and cultural hub of Argentina. Its port is one of the busiest in South America, navigable rivers by way of the Río de la Plata connect the port to northeast Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay. As a result, it serves as the hub for a vast area of the southeastern region of the South American continent. Tax collection related to the port has caused political problems in the past. The Buenos Aires Human Development Index is likewise high by international standards, the term is used to refer to the business and financial area of a state capital city such as the Sydney CBD, Melbourne CBD, Brisbane CBD, Perth CBD and Adelaide CBD. The city centres of some cities, such as Townsville, Bendigo. More recently, in cities the city centre, which may or may not be distinct from the CBD, is increasingly separately identified
5.
Susquehanna River
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The Susquehanna River is a major river located in the northeastern United States. At 464 miles long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, with its watershed, it is the 16th-largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United States without commercial boat traffic today. The Susquehanna rises and flows through New York, Pennsylvania, and it forms from two main branches, the North Branch, which rises in upstate New York and is regarded by federal mapmakers as the main branch, and the West Branch Susquehanna. Both of these waterways were improved by navigations throughout the 1820s and 1830s as the Pennsylvania Canal, together with facilities of the Allegheny Portage Railroad, loaded barges were transferred from the canal and hoisted across the mountain ridge into the Pittsburgh area. The 82-mile Union Canal was completed in 1828 to connect Schuylkill River in Reading to the Susquehanna above Harrisburg, an 82-mile leg connecting the Susquehanna with the Delaware River was instead developed as the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, built by the Pennsylvania Canal Commission. The shorter West Branch, which rises in western Pennsylvania, joins the stem of the Susquehanna near Northumberland in central Pennsylvania. The river drains 27,500 square miles, including half of the land area of Pennsylvania. The river empties into the end of the Chesapeake Bay at Havre de Grace, Maryland. The Chesapeake Bay is the ria of the Susquehanna, while less prevalent since their contraction in the 1950–1960s, the rivers shores still support a wide ranging rail transportation infrastructure. Also called the Main Branch Susquehanna, the branch of the river rises at the outlet of Otsego Lake in Cooperstown. From there, the branch of the river runs west-southwest through rural farmland and dairy country, receiving the Unadilla River at Sidney. It dips south into Pennsylvania briefly to turn north at Susquehanna Depot hooking back into New York. A couple miles south, just across the New York state line and it makes a right-angle curve between Sayre and Towanda to cut through the Endless Mountains in the Allegheny Plateau of Pennsylvania. The origin of the official West Branch is near Northern Cambria County, Pennsylvania near the junction of Mitchel Road and it travels northeasterly through Curwensville, into and through Clearfield, Pennsylvania, where its joined by the Clearfield Creek right bank tributary. The West Branch turns to the southeast and passes through Lock Haven, the North Branch joins the West Branch from the northwest at Northumberland, just above Sunbury. It receives the Juniata River from the northwest at Duncannon, then passes through its last water gap, downtown Harrisburg developed on the east side of the river, which is nearly a mile wide here. It crosses into northern Maryland approximately 30 miles northeast of Baltimore and is joined by Octoraro Creek, the river enters the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay at Havre de Grace. Concord Point Light was built here in 1827 to accommodate the increasing navigational traffic, Susquehanna comes from the Lenapi term Sisawehakhanna, which means Oyster River
6.
Interstate 83
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Interstate 83 is an Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its southern terminus is in Baltimore, Maryland at a intersection with Fayette Street, its northern terminus is in Harrisburg. Most of the south of Lemoyne, Pennsylvania is a direct replacement of U. S. Route 111. The Jones Falls Expressway, known to residents as the JFX, is a 10. 2-mile-long freeway that carries I-83 from downtown Baltimore to the northern suburbs. It is the areas true north–south artery, because I-95 runs mostly east–west through much of the city and its southern terminus is at Fayette Street, and its northern terminus is at Maryland Route 25, just north of the Baltimore Beltway. Inside Baltimore, the road is maintained not by the Maryland State Highway Administration, which controls most freeways in the state, but by the citys Department of Transportation. The freeway begins at an at-grade four-way intersection between the Jones Falls Expressway, Fayette Street, and President Street, located in proximity to the Phoenix Shot Tower. President Street continues south along the edge of the central business district to terminate at a traffic circle in Harbor East. Fayette Street serves as a route into the downtown area. Passing beneath the Orleans Street Viaduct, the JFX runs north, between Exits 3 and 4, there is a 90-degree turn that sometimes requires motorists to slow down just before entering it. The curve is located between the Guilford Avenue and Preston Street overpasses, within the curve, the southbound JFX interchanges with MD2. Having passed this curve, the JFX begins to parallel MD25, interchanging with North Avenue before continuing north past Druid Lake, forming the northeastern boundary of Druid Hill Park. Running northwest out of the city center, the JFX is paralleled by its river, the Jones Falls, on one side. Closer to downtown, the rail line peels off in a different direction. After interchanging with Cold Spring Lane and Northern Parkway, the JFX exits Baltimore, at the Beltway, I-83 leaves the JFX and joins I-695 for a distance of 1.4 miles, where it separates from the latter route to continue onward into northern Maryland. Meanwhile, the JFX continues for another 0.5 miles in a four-lane divided format before terminating at an intersection with MD25 Falls Road. I-83 and I-695 split off at the terminus of the Baltimore-Harrisburg Expressway. After separating from the Beltway, I-83 is now known as the Baltimore-Harrisburg Expressway, running due north away from the Beltway, the route parallels MD45 York Road, the former route of US111
7.
Amtrak
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Founded in 1971 to take over most of the remaining U. S. passenger rail services, it is partially government funded yet operated and managed as a for-profit corporation. Amtrak serves more than 500 destinations in 46 states and three Canadian provinces, operating more than 300 trains each day over 21,300 miles of track, some track sections allow trains to run as fast as 150 mph. In fiscal year 2015, Amtrak served 30.8 million passengers and had $2.185 billion in revenue, nearly two-thirds of passengers come from the 10 largest metropolitan areas, 83% of passengers travel on routes shorter than 400 miles. Its headquarters is at Union Station in Washington, D. C, the name Amtrak is a portmanteau of the words America and trak, the latter itself a sensational spelling of track. From the mid-19th century until about 1920, nearly all intercity travelers in the United States moved by rail, historically, U. S. passenger trains were owned and operated by the same privately owned companies that operated freight trains. About 65,000 railroad passenger cars operated in 1929, from 1920 into the later 20th century, passenger rails popularity diminished and there was a series of pullbacks and tentative recoveries. Rail passenger revenues declined dramatically between 1920 and 1934 because of the rise of the automobile, in the same period, many travelers were lost to interstate bus companies such as Greyhound Lines. However, in the mid-1930s, railroads reignited popular imagination with service improvements and new, diesel-powered streamliners, such as the gleaming silver Pioneer Zephyr and Flying Yankee. Even with the improvements, on a basis, traffic continued to decline. World War II broke the malaise, passenger traffic soared sixfold thanks to troop movements, in 1946, there remained 45 percent fewer passenger trains than in 1929, and the decline quickened despite railroad optimism. Passengers disappeared and so did trains, few trains generated profits, most produced losses. Broad-based passenger rail deficits appeared as early as 1948, and by the mid-1950s, by 1965, only 10,000 rail passenger cars were in operation,85 percent fewer than in 1929. Passenger service was provided on only 75,000 miles of track, the 1960s also saw the end of railway post office revenues, which had helped some of the remaining trains break even. The causes of the decline of rail in the United States were complex. Until 1920, rail was the practical form of intercity transport. By 1930, the companies had constructed, with private funding. In 1916, the amount of track in the United States peaked at 254,251 miles, some rail routes had been built primarily to facilitate the sale of stock in the railroad companies, they were redundant from the beginning. These were the first to be abandoned as the financial positions deteriorated
8.
Norfolk Southern Railway
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The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States. NS is responsible for maintaining 29,000 miles, with the remainder being operated under trackage rights from other parties responsible for maintenance, the common commodity hauled on the railroad is coal from mines in Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The railroad also offers the largest intermodal network in eastern North America, NS is a major transporter of domestic and export coal. In Pennsylvania, NS also receives coal through interchange with R. J, corman Railroad/Pennsylvania Lines at Cresson, Pennsylvania, originating in the Clearfield Cluster. Coal transported by NS is thus exported to steel mills and power plants around the world, the company is also a major transporter of auto parts and completed vehicles. It operates intermodal container and TOFC trains, some in conjunction with other railroads, NS was the first railway to employ roadrailers, which are highway truck trailers with interchangeable wheel sets. The Norfolk Southern Railways parent Norfolk Southern Corporation is a Norfolk, Norfolk Southern Corporation was incorporated on July 23,1980 in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols NSC. As of October 1,2014 Norfolk Southern Corporations total public stock value was slightly over $34.5 billion, the system began in 1982 with the creation of the Norfolk Southern Corporation, a holding company for the Southern Railway and Norfolk & Western Railway. The new company was given the name of the Norfolk Southern Railway, a line, acquired by SOU in 1974, that served primarily North Carolina. Headquarters for the new NS were established in Norfolk, Virginia, the company suffered a slight embarrassment when the marble headpiece at the buildings entrance was unveiled, which read Norfolk Southern Railway. A new headpiece replaced the erroneous one several weeks later, NS aimed to compete in the eastern United States with CSX Transportation, formed after the Interstate Commerce Commissions 1980 approval of the merger of the Chessie System and the Seaboard System. Norfolk Southerns predecessor railroads date to the early 19th century, the SRs earliest predecessor line was the South Carolina Canal & Rail Road. Chartered in 1827, the South Carolina Canal & Rail Road Company became the first to regularly scheduled passenger train service with the inaugural run of the Best Friend of Charleston in 1830. Another early predecessor, the Richmond & Danville Railroad, was formed in 1847, the R&D ultimately fell on hard times and in 1894, it became a major portion of the new Southern Railway. Financier J. P. Morgan selected veteran railroader Samuel Spencer as president, profitable and innovative, Southern became in 1953 the first major U. S. railroad to completely switch to diesel-electric locomotives from steam. It was acquired by the South Side Railroad in 1854, in the second half of the 20th century, the N&W acquired the Virginian Railway, the Wabash Railway, and the Nickel Plate Road, among others. In 1990, the two merged and formed Norfolk Southern Railway. The system grew with the acquisition of half of Conrail
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Temple University
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Temple University is a state-related-public doctoral university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by Baptist Minister Russell Conwell, in 1882, Conwell came to Pennsylvania to lead the Grace Baptist Church while he began tutoring working class citizens late at night to accommodate their work schedules. These students, later dubbed night owls, were taught in the basement of Conwells Baptist Temple, hence the origin of the universitys name, by 1907, the institution revised its institutional status and incorporated as a university. In 2015, Temple received $227.5 million in funding, ranking it 93rd out of 905 institutions in the NSF’s Higher Education Research. Temple is among the nations largest providers of education, preparing the largest body of professional practitioners in Pennsylvania. Conwell came to Pennsylvania in 1882 to lead the Grace Baptist Church while he began tutoring working class citizens late at night to accommodate their work schedules. These students, later dubbed night owls, were taught in the basement of Conwells Baptist Temple, hence the origin of the universitys name, the Grace Baptist Church quickly grew popular within the North Philadelphia area. A temporary board of trustees was created to handle the rapidly growing formalities associated with the churchs programs, when the board conducted its first meeting they named Russell H. Conwell president of The Temple College. Within the following months, Grace Baptist Church appointed a new board of trustees, printed official admissions files, regardless of whether they had the resources to support the school, Conwell’s desire was “to give education to those who were unable to get it through the usual channels”. Philadelphia granted a charter in 1888 to establish “The Temple College of Philadelphia”, by 1888, the enrollment of the college was nearly 600. It was in 1907 that Temple College revised its institutional status, Legal recognition as a university enhanced Temple in noticeable ways including its reputation, professional and graduate programs, overall enrollment, and financial support. Over time, Temple expanded, Samaritan Hospital was founded, a Medical School was added, after the merger, Temple officially reincorporated as Temple University on December 12,1907. Today, Temple is a Pennsylvania state-related university, meaning the university receives state funds, subject to state appropriations, but is independently operated. In U. S. News & World Reports 2017 rankings, Temple is tied for 56th among U. S. public universities, tied for 118th among all national universities, Temple undergraduate college is among the top colleges profiled in The Princeton Reviews The Best 379 colleges. Temples Social Science faculty is also ranked 76-100 in the world in 2015 by ARWU, Temple is ranked 94th out of 643 US institutions in National Science Foundations 2013 Higher education Research and Development Survey. Tylers graduate programs are highly selective, maintaining their reputation for providing one of the finest programs in the nation, as of 2015, Tyler’s overall ranking is 13th in the nation. Tyler’s individual graduate programs, as of 2015, ranked highly in their fields, painting and drawing, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics. Temples Fox School of Business, founded in 1918, is one of the largest business schools in the country, the Fox School offers 13 undergraduate majors,10 professional masters programs, two PhD programs, and the school has a variety of international partnerships
United States