1.
Providence, Rhode Island
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Providence is the capital of and most populous city in the U. S. state of Rhode Island, founded in 1636, and one of the oldest cities in the United States. It is located in Providence County and is the third most populous city in New England, after Boston, Providence has a city population of 179,154, it is also part of the Providence metropolitan area which extends into southern Massachusetts. The Providence metropolitan area has an population of 1,604,291. This can be considered, in turn, to be part of the Greater Boston commuting area, Providence was founded by Roger Williams, a religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He named the area in honor of Gods merciful Providence, which he believed was responsible for revealing such a haven for him, the city is situated at the mouth of the Providence River at the head of Narragansett Bay. Providence was one of the first cities in the country to industrialize and became noted for its tool, jewelry. The city was nicknamed the Beehive of Industry, it began rebranding itself as the Creative Capital in 2009 to emphasize its educational resources. The area that is now Providence was first settled in June 1636 by Roger Williams and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies of the United States, Williams and his company felt compelled to withdraw from Massachusetts Bay Colony. Providence quickly became a refuge for persecuted religious dissenters, as Williams himself had been exiled from Massachusetts, Providence residents were among the first Patriots to spill blood in the leadup to the American Revolution during the Gaspée Affair of 1772. Rhode Island was the first of the thirteen colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown on May 4,1776. It was also the last of the thirteen colonies to ratify the United States Constitution on May 29,1790, following the war, Providence was the countrys ninth-largest city with 7,614 people. The economy shifted from maritime endeavors to manufacturing, in particular machinery, tools, silverware, jewelry, by the start of the 20th century, Providence boasted some of the largest manufacturing plants in the country, including Brown & Sharpe, Nicholson File, and Gorham Silverware. Providence residents ratified a city charter in 1831 as the population passed 17,000. From its incorporation as a city in 1832 until 1878, the seat of city government was located in the Market House, located in Market Square, the city offices quickly outgrew this building, and the City Council resolved to create a permanent municipal building in 1845. The city offices moved into the City Hall in 1878, during the Civil War, local politics split over slavery as many had ties to Southern cotton. Despite ambivalence concerning the war, the number of military volunteers routinely exceeded quota, by the early 1900s, Providence was one of the wealthiest cities in the United States. Immigrant labor powered one of the nations largest industrial manufacturing centers, Providence was a major manufacturer of industrial products from steam engines to precision tools to silverware, screws, and textiles. From 1975 until 1982, $606 million of local and national Community Development funds were invested throughout the city.4 million ft² Providence Place Mall, despite new investment, poverty remains an entrenched problem as it does in most post-industrial New England cities
2.
Italian Americans
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Italian Americans are an ethnic group comprising Americans who have full or partial ancestry from Italy, especially those who identify with that ancestry, along with their cultural characteristics. Italian Americans are the fourth largest European ethnic group in the United States, about 5.5 million Italians immigrated to the United States from 1820 to 2004. Immigration began in earnest during the 1870s, when more than twice as many Italians immigrated than during the five previous decades altogether. The 1870s were followed by the greatest surge of immigration, which occurred in the period between 1880 and 1914 and brought more than 4 million Italians to America. This period of large scale immigration ended abruptly with the onset of the First World War in 1914 and, except for one year, further immigration would be greatly limited by a number of restrictive laws passed by Congress in the 1920s. Approximately 84% of the Italian immigrants came from Southern Italy and Sicily, after unification, the Italian government initially encouraged emigration to relieve economic pressures in the South. After the American Civil War, which resulted in over a million killed or wounded, immigrant workers were recruited from Italy. In the United States, most Italians began their new lives as manual laborers in Eastern cities, mining camps, Italian Americans gradually moved from the lower rungs of the economic scale in the first generation to a level comparable to the national average by 1970. By 1990, more than 65% of Italian Americans were managerial, professional, the Italian-American communities have often been characterized by strong ties with family, the Catholic Church, fraternal organizations and political parties. Today, over 17 million Americans claim Italian ancestry, third only to Brazil with 31 million, and Argentina, Italians and their descendants in America have helped to shape the country and, in turn, have adapted to it. They have gained prominence in politics, sports, the media, the arts, the culinary arts. Italian navigators and explorers played a key role in the discovery, exploration, christopher Columbus, the explorer who first reached the Americas in 1492–1504, was Italian. Another notable Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci, who explored the east coast of South America between 1499 and 1502, is the source of the name America. Englands claims in North America were based on the voyages of the Italian explorer John Cabot, in 1524 the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano was the first European to map the Atlantic coast of todays United States, and to enter New York Bay. In 1539, Marco da Nizza, explored the territory later became the states of Arizona. In the 17th century, Henri de Tonti, together with the French explorer LaSalle, De Tonti founded the first European settlement in Illinois in 1679, and in Arkansas in 1683. With LaSalle, he co-founded New Orleans, and was governor of the Louisiana Territory for the next 20 years and his brother Alphonse de Tonty, with French explorer Antoine Cadillac, was the co-founder of Detroit in 1701, and was its acting colonial governor for 12 years. Spain and France were Catholic countries and sent many missionaries to convert the native population, included among these missionaries were numerous Italians
3.
Restaurant
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A restaurant, or an eatery, is a business which prepares and serves food and drinks to customers in exchange for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many also offer take-out and food delivery services. In Western countries, most mid- to high-range restaurants serve alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine, some restaurants serve all the major meals, such as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Other restaurants may serve a single meal or they may serve two meals or even a kids meal. Restaurants may be classified or distinguished in different ways. The primary factors are usually the food itself, the cuisine and/or the style of offering, beyond this, restaurants may differentiate themselves on factors including speed, formality, location, cost, service, or novelty themes. In the former case, customers usually wear casual clothing, in the latter case, depending on culture and local traditions, customers might wear semi-casual, semi-formal or formal wear. Typically, at mid- to high-priced restaurants, customers sit at tables, their orders are taken by a waiter, after eating, the customers then pay the bill. Another restaurant approach which uses few waiters is the buffet restaurant, customers serve food onto their own plates and then pay at the end of the meal. Buffet restaurants typically still have waiters to serve drinks and alcoholic beverages, fast food restaurants are also considered a restaurant. The travelling public has long been catered for with ships messes and railway restaurant cars which are, in effect, many railways, the world over, also cater for the needs of travellers by providing railway refreshment rooms, a form of restaurant, at railway stations. In the 2000s, a number of travelling restaurants, specifically designed for tourists, have been created and these can be found on trams, boats, buses, etc. A restaurants proprietor is called a restaurateur /ˌrɛstərəˈtɜːr/, like restaurant, professional cooks are called chefs, with there being various finer distinctions. Most restaurant will have various waiting staff to serve food, beverages and alcoholic drinks, including busboys who remove used dishes and cutlery. In finer restaurants, this may include a host or hostess, a maître dhôtel to welcome customers and to them. A new route to becoming a restauranter, rather than working ones way up through the stages, is to operate a food truck, once a sufficient following has been obtained, a permanent restaurant site can be opened. This trend has become common in the UK and the US, a chefs table is a table located in the kitchen of a restaurant, reserved for VIPs and special guests. Patrons may be served a themed tasting menu prepared and served by the head chef, Restaurants can require a minimum party and charge a higher flat fee
4.
U.S. Route 6 in Rhode Island
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For the route currently numbered 195, see Interstate 195. U. S. Route 6 is a major east–west road in the U. S. state of Rhode Island, nationally, the route continues west to Bishop, California and east to Provincetown, Massachusetts. In western Rhode Island, it part of one of several routes between Hartford, Connecticut and Providence, Rhode Island, and was planned to be replaced by Interstate 84. The part of I-84 that was built, from Interstate 295 to Olneyville, is now part of US6, at Olneyville, US6 joins Route 10 and heads east towards downtown Providence, where it turns south on Interstate 95 and east on Interstate 195. US6 splits from I-195 in East Providence, crossing into Massachusetts on Warren Avenue, the whole route of US6 is a state highway maintained by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation. US6 crosses from Killingly, Connecticut into Foster, Rhode Island just east of the end of the Governor John Davis Lodge Turnpike and that part of US6 was once the Foster and Scituate Turnpike, now called the Danielson Pike. It crosses Route 94 in Foster before crossing into Scituate, soon after entering Scituate, US6 splits into bypass and business alignments. The business alignment runs further south along the old turnpike, and is signed as US6 without a banner. The bypass is signed mostly as BY-PASS US6 on sign assemblies, most maps and information takes US6 along the bypass. The business and bypass cross Route 102 soon after splitting, the western half of the bypass is a two-lane limited access road, with one grade separation — under Gleaner Chapel Road — and one intersection — at Route 102. This newer section ends as it merges with Route 101, once the Rhode Island and Connecticut Turnpike, the two parallel alignments cross the Scituate Reservoir and Route 116 before they merge near the east edge of Scituate. This merge was the east end of the Foster and Scituate Turnpike, soon after the bypass and business routes merge, US6 enters Johnston. Several miles later it intersects with Interstate 295, from I-295 to Olneyville, the old road — Hartford Avenue — is now U. S. Route 6A, as US6 uses the Dennis J. Roberts Expressway. To get there, it turns south on the I-295 collector/distributor roads to the west end of that freeway, the south interchange of US6 and I-295 has numerous ramp stubs once intended for a western continuation of the Roberts Expressway as Interstate 84. The six-lane Roberts Expressway has interchanges with Route 5, U. S. Route 6A, Route 128 and it crosses from Johnston into Providence just west of the bridge over Route 128. At the second US 6A interchange, the older Olneyville Bypass begins, along the Connector is an interchange with Dean Street before it ends at Interstate 95, with ramps to Memorial Boulevard for downtown access. US6 turns south there with I-95, US6 soon leaves I-95 for Interstate 195, which takes it east across the south side of downtown. U. S. Route 1A and U. S. Route 44 join after it crosses the Providence River, upon crossing the Washington Bridge, US6 enters East Providence
5.
Downtown, Providence, Rhode Island
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Downtown, also known as Downcity, is the central economic, political, and cultural district of the city of Providence, Rhode Island. It is bounded on the east by Canal Street and the Providence River, to the north by Smith Street, to the west by Interstate 95, and to the south by Henderson Street. I-95 serves as a barrier between the citys commercial core and neighborhoods of Federal Hill, West End, and Upper South Providence. Most of the downtown is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Downtown Providence Historic District, originally known as Weybossett Neck or Weybossett Side, Downtown was first settled by religious dissidents from the First Congregational Society in 1746. Their settlement was located near present-day Westminster Street, Downtown did not witness substantial development until the early 19th century, when Providence began to compete with Newport, Rhode Island. British forces had destroyed much of Newport during the American War for Independence and this prevented the development of a commercial district along the western bank of the Providence River. The result of decades of expansion was the isolation of the capitol from the rest of downtown by an imposing mass of railroad tracks. As rail traffic dropped off,75 percent by 1980, city planners saw an opportunity to open up land for development. A new, smaller station was built in 1986 a half mile north of its predecessor. The new land precipitated a massive remaking of the character of the citys downtown, from 1975 until 1982, under Mayor Vincent Cianci, Jr, $606 million of local and national Community Development funds from were invested. Roads were removed and the natural rivers were opened up and lined with a cobblestone-paved park called Waterplace Park in 1994. Private and public developments followed and the new area adjacent to the Capitol became known as Capitol Center, in 2007, the Renaissance Providence Hotel opened in Masonic Temple building, which had been abandoned amidst the Great Depression a half century prior. According to the Providence Plan, a local nonprofit aimed at improving city life, 64% of residents are white and 8. 6% are Asian, 12% of the population is African-American, 11% is Hispanic, and 1% is Native American. 43% of public school children speak a language other than English as their primary language, the median family income is $42,558, over $10,000 above the city-wide average. 14% of families live below the poverty line while nearly 3. 7% receive some form of public assistance, 15% of children under the age of six have been exposed to high quantities of lead. From north to south, Downtown includes portions of Wards 12,13,11 and these wards are represented in the Providence City Council by Terrance Hassett, John J. Lombardi, and Balbina A. Young. Hassett currently serves as the majority leader, Providence City Hall is located at 25 Dorrance Street, at the corner of Dorrance and Washington Street. It is immediately next to Kennedy Plaza and the Biltmore Hotel and it houses the City Council, the Mayors Office, and the offices of some municipal agencies
6.
Tattoo
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A tattoo is a form of body modification, where a design is made by inserting ink, dyes and pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. The word tattoo, or tattow in the 18th century, is a loanword from the Polynesian word tatau, the Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology of tattoo as In 18th c. tattaow, tattow. Before the importation of the Polynesian word, the practice of tattooing had been described in the West as painting, scarring and this is not to be confused with the origins of the word for the military drumbeat or performance — see military tattoo. In this case, the English word tattoo is derived from the Dutch word taptoe, the word tattoo was brought to Europe by the explorer James Cook, when he returned in 1769 from his first voyage to Tahiti and New Zealand. In his narrative of the voyage, he refers to an operation called tattaw, mainstream art galleries hold exhibitions of both conventional and custom tattoo designs such as Beyond Skin, at the Museum of Croydon. Copyrighted tattoo designs that are mass-produced and sent to tattoo artists are known as flash, flash sheets are prominently displayed in many tattoo parlors for the purpose of providing both inspiration and ready-made tattoo images to customers. The most common used for traditional Japanese tattoo designs is Horimono. Japanese may use the word tattoo to mean non-Japanese styles of tattooing, anthropologist Ling Roth in 1900 described four methods of skin marking and suggested they be differentiated under the names tatu, moko, cicatrix, and keloid. According to George Orwell, coal miners could develop characteristic tattoos owing to coal dust getting into wounds and this can also occur with substances like gunpowder. Similarly, a traumatic tattoo occurs when a substance such as asphalt is rubbed into a wound as the result of some kind of accident or trauma. These are particularly difficult to remove as they tend to be spread across several layers of skin, the symbolism and impact of tattoos varies in different places and cultures. Tattoos may show how a person feels about a relative or about an unrelated person, some Māori still choose to wear intricate moko on their faces. In Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand, the tattoo is used for protection against evil. Text-based tattoos including quotes, lyrics, personal mottos or scripture are popular in western culture, as an example some Christians might have a Psalm or verse from the Bible tattooed on their body. Popular verses include John 3,16, Philippians 4,13, in the Philippines certain tribal groups believe tattoos have magical qualities, and help to protect their bearers. Most traditional tattooing in the Philippines is related to the accomplishments in life or rank in the tribe. Extensive decorative tattooing is common among members of traditional freak shows, people have also been forcibly tattooed. During registration, the Nazis would pierce the outlines of the serial-number digits onto the prisoners arms, only Auschwitz put tattoos on inmates, of all the Nazi concentration camps
7.
Cobblestone
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Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. In England, it was commonplace since ancient times for flat stones with a narrow edge to be set on edge to provide an even paved surface. This was known as a surface and was common all over Britain. Pitched surfaces predate the use of regularly-sized granite setts by more than a thousand years, such pitched paving is quite distinct from that formed from rounded stones, although both forms are commonly referred to as cobbled surfaces. Most surviving genuinely old cobbled areas are in reality pitched surfaces, a cobbled area is known as a causey, cassay or cassie in Scots. Cobblestones are typically set in sand or similar material, or are bound together with mortar. Paving with cobblestones allows a road to be used all year long. It prevents the build-up of ruts often found in dirt roads and it has the additional advantage of not getting muddy in wet weather or dusty in dry weather. Shod horses are able to get better traction on stone cobbles, pitches or setts than tarmac/asphalt. In England, the custom was to strew the cobbles outside the house of a sick or dying person with straw to dampen the sound, cobblestones set in sand have the environmental advantage of being permeable paving, and of moving rather than cracking with movements in the ground. Cobblestones were largely replaced by quarried granite setts in the nineteenth century, the word cobblestone is often wrongly used to describe such treatment. Setts were relatively even and roughly rectangular stones that were laid in regular patterns, cobblestoned and setted streets gradually gave way to macadam roads, and later to tarmac, and finally to asphalt concrete at the beginning of the 20th century. However, cobblestones are often retained in areas, even for streets with modern vehicular traffic. Many older villages and cities in Europe are still paved with cobblestones or pitched, in recent decades, cobblestones have become a popular material for paving newly pedestrianised streets in Europe. In this case, the nature of the surface is an advantage as pedestrians can hear approaching vehicles. The visual cues of the cobblestones also clarify that the area is more than just a normal street, the use of cobblestones/setts is also considered to be a more upmarket roadway solution, having been described as unique and artistic compared to the normal asphalt road environment. In some places such as Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, as late as the 1990s some busy intersections still showed cobblestones through worn down sections of pavement. In Toronto streets using setts were used by routes and disappeared by the 1980s
8.
Independence Day (United States)
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It declared that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as a new nation, the United States of America, and were no longer part of the British Empire. Independence Day is the National Day of the United States, Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it two days later on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail, The second day of July,1776, I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, adamss prediction was off by two days. Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2,1776, although not a signer of the Declaration of Independence, James Monroe, another Founding Father who was elected as President, also died on July 4,1831. He was the third President in a row who died on the anniversary of independence, calvin Coolidge, the 30th President, was born on July 4,1872, so far he is the only U. S. President to have been born on Independence Day. In 1777 thirteen gunshots were fired in salute, once at morning and once again as evening fell, on July 4 in Bristol, ships in port were decked with red, white, and blue bunting. In 1778, from his headquarters at Ross Hall, near New Brunswick, New Jersey, General George Washington marked July 4 with a ration of rum for his soldiers. Across the Atlantic Ocean, ambassadors John Adams and Benjamin Franklin held a dinner for their fellow Americans in Paris, in 1779, July 4 fell on a Sunday. The holiday was celebrated on Monday, July 5, in 1781 the Massachusetts General Court became the first state legislature to recognize July 4 as a state celebration. In 1783, Moravians in Salem, North Carolina, held a celebration of July 4 with a music program assembled by Johann Friedrich Peter. This work was titled The Psalm of Joy and this is recognized as the first recorded celebration and is still celebrated there today. In 1870 the U. S. Congress made Independence Day an unpaid holiday for federal employees, in 1938 Congress changed Independence Day to a paid federal holiday. Independence Day is a holiday marked by patriotic displays. Similar to other summer-themed events, Independence Day celebrations often take place outdoors, Independence Day is a federal holiday, so all non-essential federal institutions are closed on that day. Many politicians make it a point on day to appear at a public event to praise the nations heritage, laws, history, society. Families often celebrate Independence Day by hosting or attending a picnic or barbecue, many take advantage of the day off and, in some years, decorations are generally colored red, white, and blue, the colors of the American flag
9.
History of the United States Constitution
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The United States Constitution was written in 1787 during the Philadelphia Convention. The old Congress set the rules the new government followed in terms of writing and ratifying the new constitution, after ratification in eleven states, in 1789 its elected officers of government assembled in New York City, replacing the Articles of Confederation government. The original Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times, the meaning of the Constitution is interpreted and extended by judicial review in the federal courts. The original parchment copies are on display at the National Archives Building, two alternative plans were developed in Convention. The nationalist majority, soon to be called Federalists, put forth the Virginia Plan, the old patriots, later called Anti-Federalists, advocated the New Jersey Plan, a purely federal proposal, based on providing each state with equal representation. The Connecticut Compromise allowed for both plans to work together, other controversies developed regarding slavery and a Bill of Rights in the original document. The drafted Constitution was submitted to the Confederation Congress and it in turn forwarded the Constitution as drafted to the states for ratification by the Constitutional method proposed. The Federalist Papers provided background and justification for the Constitution, once the Confederation Congress certified that eleven states had ratified the Constitution, elections were held, the new government began on March 4,1789, and the Articles Congress dissolved itself. Criticism over the life of the Constitution has centered on expanding democracy, Independence was declared on July 4,1776, the preparation of a plan of confederation was postponed. Although the Declaration was a statement of principles, it did not create a government or even a framework for how politics would be carried out and it was the Articles of Confederation that provided the necessary structure to the new nation during and after the American Revolution. The Declaration, however, did set forth the ideas of natural rights, the era of the Declaration of Independence is sometimes called the Continental Congress period. John Adams famously estimated as many as one-third of those resident in the thirteen colonies were patriots. Republican government and personal liberty for the people were to overspread the New World continents and to last forever and these goals were influenced by Enlightenment philosophy. It was rooted in opposition to monarchy they saw as venal, to these partisans, voting was the only permanent defense of the people. Elected terms for legislature were cut to one year, for Virginias Governor, property requirements for suffrage for men were reduced to taxes on their tools in some states. Free blacks in New York could vote if they owned enough property, New Hampshire was thinking of abolishing all voting requirements for men but residency and religion. In some states, senators were now elected by the voters as the larger electorate for the House. These radical Whigs were called the people out-of-doors and they distrusted not only royal authority, but any small, secretive group as being unrepublican
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