1.
Federal government of the United States
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The Federal Government of the United States is the national government of the United States, a republic in North America, composed of 50 states, one district, Washington, D. C. and several territories. The federal government is composed of three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U. S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the courts, including the Supreme Court. The powers and duties of these branches are defined by acts of Congress. The full name of the republic is United States of America, no other name appears in the Constitution, and this is the name that appears on money, in treaties, and in legal cases to which it is a party. The terms Government of the United States of America or United States Government are often used in documents to represent the federal government as distinct from the states collectively. In casual conversation or writing, the term Federal Government is often used, the terms Federal and National in government agency or program names generally indicate affiliation with the federal government. Because the seat of government is in Washington, D. C, Washington is commonly used as a metonym for the federal government. The outline of the government of the United States is laid out in the Constitution, the government was formed in 1789, making the United States one of the worlds first, if not the first, modern national constitutional republics. The United States government is based on the principles of federalism and republicanism, some make the case for expansive federal powers while others argue for a more limited role for the central government in relation to individuals, the states or other recognized entities. For example, while the legislative has the power to create law, the President nominates judges to the nations highest judiciary authority, but those nominees must be approved by Congress. The Supreme Court, in its turn, has the power to invalidate as unconstitutional any law passed by the Congress and these and other examples are examined in more detail in the text below. The United States Congress is the branch of the federal government. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate, the House currently consists of 435 voting members, each of whom represents a congressional district. The number of each state has in the House is based on each states population as determined in the most recent United States Census. All 435 representatives serve a two-year term, each state receives a minimum of one representative in the House. There is no limit on the number of terms a representative may serve, in addition to the 435 voting members, there are six non-voting members, consisting of five delegates and one resident commissioner. In contrast, the Senate is made up of two senators from each state, regardless of population, there are currently 100 senators, who each serve six-year terms
2.
L'Enfant Plaza
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LEnfant Plaza is a complex of four commercial buildings grouped around a large plaza in the Southwest section of Washington, D. C. Immediately below the plaza and the buildings is the La Promenade shopping mall, the plaza is located south of Independence Avenue SW between 12th and 9th Streets SW. It was built perpendicular to LEnfant Promenade, a north-south running street, the plaza is named for Pierre Charles LEnfant, the architect and planner who first designed a street layout for the capital city. It was dedicated in 1968 after completion of the north and south buildings, LEnfant Plaza was part of the Southwest D. C. urban renewal project, one of the earliest urban renewal projects in the U. S. and the first such in D. C. The rapid expansion of the population of Washington, D. C. during World War II led to the construction of suburban office buildings. Congress also gave the National Capital Planning Commission the authority to designate which land would be redeveloped, the RLA was not funded, however, until passage of the Housing Act of 1949. A1950 study by the NCPC found that the small Southwest quarter of the city suffered from high concentrations of old and poorly maintained buildings, overcrowding, and threats to public health. Competing visions for the redevelopment ranged from renovation to wholesale leveling of neighborhoods, demolition faced almost all structures in Southwest Washington and was to have begun in 1950, but legal challenges led to piecemeal razing of the area until the mid-1950s. Most of the dwellings in Southwest D. C. were Victorian row houses, in 1954, Southwest D. C. had about 3,900 buildings housing 4,500 families. About 60 percent of the residents were African American, and the remainder Caucasian, only 20 percent of the residents owned their own home, and 72 percent of the buildings were rated as substandard. The area which became LEnfant Plaza was primarily Victorian townhouses, although a shuttered slaughterhouse also stood in the area, the RLA was the first to propose a major plaza along 10th Street NW. It commissioned architects Robert Justement and Chloethiel Woodard Smith to devise a master plan for Southwest D. C. The Justement-Smith plan, released in 1952, called for wholesale clearance of the area, notably, the Justement-Smith plan also proposed building an esplanade above 10th Street SW which would connect with Maine Avenue SW. The RLA later said it had studied putting the mall anywhere from 5th Street to 12th Street, parks would border the esplanade east and west, with a goal of providing an unobstructed view of the Smithsonian Institution headquarters and the National Mall. In November 1952, the NCPC released a report supporting the Justement-Smith plan. The NCPC report also approved of the plan to build an esplanade above 10th Street SW, in 1953, the RLA asked developers to submit plans based on the NCPCs November 1952 compromise report. C. As originally laid out, a circle would be built on Independence Avenue SW in front of the Smithsonian Castle. A 400-foot wide, grass-lined pedestrian mall replaced 10th Street SW, a concert hall, convention center, and opera house would line the pedestrian mall, which would be built over the railroad tracks and Southeast Freeway and connect with the Potomac River waterfront
3.
Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
4.
United States dollar
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The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its insular territories per the United States Constitution. It is divided into 100 smaller cent units, the circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars. The U. S. dollar was originally commodity money of silver as enacted by the Coinage Act of 1792 which determined the dollar to be 371 4/16 grain pure or 416 grain standard silver, the currency most used in international transactions, it is the worlds primary reserve currency. Several countries use it as their currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. Besides the United States, it is used as the sole currency in two British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. A few countries use the Federal Reserve Notes for paper money, while the country mints its own coins, or also accepts U. S. coins that can be used as payment in U. S. dollars. After Nixon shock of 1971, USD became fiat currency, Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution provides that the Congress has the power To coin money, laws implementing this power are currently codified at 31 U. S. C. Section 5112 prescribes the forms in which the United States dollars should be issued and these coins are both designated in Section 5112 as legal tender in payment of debts. The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar, the pure silver dollar is known as the American Silver Eagle. Section 5112 also provides for the minting and issuance of other coins and these other coins are more fully described in Coins of the United States dollar. The Constitution provides that a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and that provision of the Constitution is made specific by Section 331 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The sums of money reported in the Statements are currently being expressed in U. S. dollars, the U. S. dollar may therefore be described as the unit of account of the United States. The word dollar is one of the words in the first paragraph of Section 9 of Article I of the Constitution, there, dollars is a reference to the Spanish milled dollar, a coin that had a monetary value of 8 Spanish units of currency, or reales. In 1792 the U. S. Congress passed a Coinage Act, Section 20 of the act provided, That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units. And that all accounts in the offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. In other words, this act designated the United States dollar as the unit of currency of the United States, unlike the Spanish milled dollar the U. S. dollar is based upon a decimal system of values. Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the form is significantly more common
5.
Transport
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Transport or transportation is the movement of people, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, the field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles and operations. Transport is important because it enables trade between people, which is essential for the development of civilizations, terminals may be used both for interchange of passengers and cargo and for maintenance. Vehicles traveling on these networks may include automobiles, bicycles, buses, trains, trucks, people, helicopters, operations deal with the way the vehicles are operated, and the procedures set for this purpose including financing, legalities and policies. In the transport industry, operations and ownership of infrastructure can be public or private, depending on the country. Passenger transport may be public, where operators provide scheduled services, freight transport has become focused on containerization, although bulk transport is used for large volumes of durable items. Transport plays an important part in growth and globalization, but most types cause air pollution. While it is subsidized by governments, good planning of transport is essential to make traffic flow. A mode of transport is a solution that makes use of a type of vehicle, infrastructure. The transport of a person or of cargo may involve one mode or several of the modes, each mode has its own advantages and disadvantages, and will be chosen for a trip on the basis of cost, capability, and route. Human powered transport, a form of transportation, is the transport of people and/or goods using human muscle-power. Modern technology has allowed machines to enhance human power, human-powered vehicles have also been developed for difficult environments, such as snow and water, by watercraft rowing and skiing, even the air can be entered with human-powered aircraft. Animal-powered transport is the use of working animals for the movement of people, humans may ride some of the animals directly, use them as pack animals for carrying goods, or harness them, alone or in teams, to pull sleds or wheeled vehicles. A fixed-wing aircraft, commonly called airplane, is a craft where movement of the air in relation to the wings is used to generate lift. The term is used to distinguish this from rotary-wing aircraft, where the movement of the lift surfaces relative to the air generates lift, a gyroplane is both fixed-wing and rotary-wing. Fixed-wing aircraft range from small trainers and recreational aircraft to large airliners, two things necessary for aircraft are air flow over the wings for lift and an area for landing. The majority of aircraft also need an airport with the infrastructure to receive maintenance, restocking, refueling and for the loading and unloading of crew, cargo and passengers. While the vast majority of land and take off on land, some are capable of take off and landing on ice, snow
6.
Aviation accidents and incidents
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If the aircraft is destroyed or severely damaged so that it must be written off, it is further defined as a hull loss accident. Annex 13 further defines an aviation incident as an occurrence, other than an accident,583, The Tenerife airport disaster, which occurred on March 27,1977, remains the accident with the highest number of airliner passenger fatalities. 583 people died when a KLM Boeing 747 attempted to take off without clearance, there were no survivors from the KLM aircraft,61 of the 396 passengers and crew on the Pan Am aircraft survived. Pilot error was the cause, as the KLM captain began his takeoff run without obtaining air traffic control clearance. A contributing factor was the dense fog, the KLM flight crew could not see the Pan Am aircraft on the runway until immediately before the collision. The accident had a influence on the industry, particularly in the area of communication. An increased emphasis was placed on using standardized phraseology in air traffic control communication by controllers and pilots alike. Furthermore, all members of the crew are now able to question the captains judgment concerning the safety of the airliner. 520, The crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123 on August 12,1985, is the disaster with the highest number of fatalities,520 people died on board a Boeing 747. Pilots were able to keep the plane flying for 32 minutes after the mechanical failure before crashing into a mountain, all 15 crew members and 505 of the 509 passengers on board died. The death toll was exacerbated by delays in the rescue operation, although a number of people survived the impact, by the time the Japanese rescue teams arrived at the crash site all but four had succumbed to their injuries. 349, On November 12,1996, the worlds deadliest mid-air collision was the Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision involving Saudia Flight 763 and Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907 over Charkhi Dadri, the collision was mainly the result of the Kazakh pilot flying lower than the assigned clearance altitude. All 349 passengers and crew on both aircraft died. The Ramesh Chandra Lahoti Commission, empowered to study the causes, recommended the creation of the semi-circular rule,346, On March 3,1974, Turkish Airlines Flight 981, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, crashed in a forest northeast of Paris, France. The London-bound plane crashed shortly after taking off from Orly airport and it was later determined that the cargo door detached, which caused an explosive decompression, this caused the floor just above to collapse. The collapsed floor severed the control cables, which left the pilots without control of the elevators, the plane entered a steep dive and crashed. It was the deadliest plane crash of all time until the Tenerife disaster in 1977,329, On June 23,1985, Air India Flight 182, a Boeing 747-237B crashed off the southwest coast of Ireland when a bomb exploded in the cargo hold. All 307 passengers and 22 crew members died, one passenger had checked in as M. Singh
7.
Maritime transport
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Ship transport is watercraft carrying people or goods. Freight transport has been achieved widely by sea throughout recorded history, although the importance of sea travel for passengers has decreased due to aviation, it is effective for short trips and pleasure cruises. Transport by water is cheaper than transport by air, despite fluctuating exchange rates, ship transport can be realized over any distance by boat, ship, sailboat or barge, over oceans and lakes, through canals or along rivers. Virtually any material can be moved by water, however, water transport becomes impractical when material delivery is highly time-critical such as types of perishable produce. Containerization revolutionized ship transport starting in the 1970s, general cargo includes goods packaged in boxes, cases, pallets, and barrels. When a cargo is carried in more than one mode, it is intermodal or co-modal, a nations shipping fleet consists of the ships operated by civilian crews to transport passengers or cargo from one place to another. Ores, Coal, and grains can travel along the rivers of the American midwest to Pittsburgh, professional mariners are merchant seaman, merchant sailor, and merchant mariner, or simply seaman, sailor, or mariners. The terms seaman or sailor may refer to a member of a countrys navy, according to the 2005 CIA World Factbook, the total number of merchant ships of at least 1,000 gross register tons in the world was 30,936. In 2010, it was 38,988, an increase of 26%, statistics for individual countries are available at the list of merchant navy capacity by country. A ships complement can be divided into four categories, the department, the engineering department, the stewards department. Officer positions in the department include but not limited to, Master and his Chief, Second. The official classifications for unlicensed members of the department are Able Seaman. Their time on board is spent learning the operations and tasks of life on a merchant vessel. A ships engineering department consists of the members of a crew that operate and maintain the propulsion. Marine Engineering staff also deal with the Hotel facilities on board, notably the sewage, lighting, air conditioning, on LPG and LNG tankers however, a cargo engineer works with the deck department during cargo operations, as well as being a watchkeeping engineer. Other possible positions include Motorman, Machinist, Electrician, Refrigeration Engineer, engine Cadets are trainee engineers who are completing sea time necessary before they can obtain a watchkeeping license. A typical Stewards department for a ship would be composed of a Chief Steward, a Chief Cook. All three positions are filled by unlicensed personnel
8.
Pipeline transport
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Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods or material through a pipe. The latest data, in 2014, gives a total of less than 2,175,000 miles of pipeline in 120 countries of the world. The United States had 65%, Russia had 8%, and Canada had 3%, Pipeline and Gas Journal’s worldwide survey figures indicate that 118,623 miles of pipelines are planned and under construction. Of these,88,976 miles represent projects in the planning, Liquids and gases are transported in pipelines and any chemically stable substance can be sent through a pipeline. Pipelines exist for the transport of crude and refined petroleum, fuels - such as oil, natural gas and biofuels - and other fluids including sewage, slurry, water, pneumatic tubes using compressed air can be used to transport solid capsules. Oil pipelines are made from steel or plastic tubes which are usually buried, the oil is moved through the pipelines by pump stations along the pipeline. Natural gas are lightly pressurised into liquids known as Natural Gas Liquids, Natural gas pipelines are constructed of carbon steel. Highly toxic ammonia is theoretically the most dangerous substance to be transported through long-distance pipelines, hydrogen pipeline transport is the transportation of hydrogen through a pipe. District heating or teleheating systems use a network of insulated pipes which transport heated water, pipelines conveying flammable or explosive material, such as natural gas or oil, pose special safety concerns and there have been various accidents. Pipelines can be the target of vandalism, sabotage, or even terrorist attacks, in war, pipelines are often the target of military attacks. It is uncertain when the first crude oil pipeline was built, pipelines are generally the most economical way to transport large quantities of oil, refined oil products or natural gas over land. Natural gas are lightly pressurized into liquids knows as Natural Gas Liquids, small NGL processing facilities can be located in oil fields so the butane and propane liquid under light pressure of 125 pounds per square inch, can be shipped by rail, truck or pipeline. Propane can be used as a fuel in oil fields to heat various facilities used by the oil drillers or equipment and trucks used in the oil patch. EG, Propane will convert from a gas to a liquid under pressure,100 psi, give or take depending on temperature. Pipelines and rail cars use about double that pressure to pump at 250 psi, the distance to ship propane to markets is much shorter, as thousands of natural-gas processing plants are located in or near oil fields. Compared to shipping by railroad, pipelines have lower cost per unit, pipelines are preferable to transportation by truck for a number of reasons. Employment on completed pipelines represents only 1% of that of the trucking industry and this allows the Bakken Basin and Three Forks oil producers to get higher negotiated prices for their oil because they will not be restricted to just one wholesale market in the US. The distance from the biggest oil patch in North Dakota, is Williston, North Dakota, only about 85 miles or 137 kilometers to the Canada–US border, mutual funds and joint ventures are big investors in new oil and gas pipelines
9.
Military
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The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their body and to defend that body. Armed force is the use of armed forces to achieve political objectives, the study of the use of armed forces is called military science. Broadly speaking, this involves considering offense and defense at three levels, strategy, operational art, and tactics, all three levels study the application of the use of force in order to achieve a desired objective. In most countries the basis of the forces is the military. However, armed forces can include other paramilitary structures, the obvious benefit to a country in maintaining armed forces is in providing protection from foreign threats and from internal conflict. In recent decades armed forces personnel have also used as emergency civil support roles in post-disaster situations. On the other hand, they may harm a society by engaging in counter-productive warfare. Expenditure on science and technology to develop weapons and systems sometimes produces side benefits, although some claim that greater benefits could come from targeting the money directly
10.
Dangerous goods
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Dangerous goods or hazardous goods are solids, liquids, or gases that can harm people, other living organisms, property, or the environment. They are often subject to chemical regulations, in the United States, United Kingdom and sometimes in Canada, dangerous goods are more commonly known as hazardous materials. In the United States, dangerous goods are often indicated by diamond-shaped signage on the item, its container, mitigating the risks associated with hazardous materials may require the application of safety precautions during their transport, use, storage and disposal. Most countries regulate hazardous materials by law, and they are subject to international treaties as well. Even so, different countries may use different class diamonds for the same product, for example, in Australia, Anhydrous Ammonia UN1005 is classified as 2.3 with sub risk 8, whereas in the U. S. it is only classified as 2.2. People who handle dangerous goods will often wear protective equipment, and metropolitan fire departments often have a team specifically trained to deal with accidents. Laws and regulations on the use and handling of materials may differ depending on the activity. For example, one set of requirements may apply to their use in the workplace while a different set of requirements may apply to spill response, sale for consumer use, most countries regulate some aspect of hazardous materials. The most widely applied regulatory scheme is that for the transportation of dangerous goods, individual airline and governmental requirements are incorporated with this by the International Air Transport Association to produce the widely used IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations. Similarly, the International Maritime Organization has developed the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code for transportation of goods by sea. IMO member countries have developed the HNS Convention to provide compensation in case of dangerous goods spills in the sea. The Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail has developed the Regulations concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail, many individual nations have also structured their dangerous goods transportation regulations to harmonize with the UN Model in organization as well as in specific requirements. GHS will use consistent criteria for classification and labeling on a global level, Dangerous goods are divided into nine classes on the basis of the specific chemical characteristics producing the risk. Note, The graphics and text in this article representing the dangerous goods safety marks are derived from the United Nations-based system of identifying dangerous goods, not all countries use precisely the same graphics in their national regulations. Some use graphic symbols, but without English wording or with similar wording in their national language, refer to the Dangerous Goods Transportation Regulations of the country of interest. For example, see the TDG Bulletin, Dangerous Goods Safety Marks based on the Canadian Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations, the statement above applies equally to all the Dangerous Goods classes discussed in this article. Australia uses the standard international UN numbers with a few slightly different signs on the back, front, the country uses the same Hazchem code system as the UK to provide advisory information to emergency services personnel in the event of an emergency. New Zealands Land Transport Rule, Dangerous Goods 2005 and the Dangerous Goods Amendment 2010 describe the rules applied to the transportation of hazardous and dangerous goods in New Zealand
11.
Anchorage, Alaska
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Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the U. S. state of Alaska. All together, the Anchorage metropolitan area, which combines Anchorage with the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 401,635 in 2016. Anchorage is located in the portion of Alaska at the terminus of the Cook Inlet on a peninsula formed by the Knik Arm to the north. The city limits span 1,961.1 square miles encompass the urban core. Due to its location on the globe, being almost equidistant from New York City, Tokyo, Anchorage has been named an All-America City four times, in 1956,1965, 1984–85, and 2002, by the National Civic League. It has also named by Kiplinger as the most tax-friendly city in the United States. Russian presence in south central Alaska was well established in the 19th century, in 1867, U. S. Secretary of State William H. Seward brokered a deal to purchase Alaska from Imperial Russia for $7.2 million. His political rivals lampooned the deal as Sewards folly, Sewards icebox, by 1888, gold was discovered along Turnagain Arm. Alaska became a United States territory in 1912, Anchorage, unlike every other large town in Alaska south of the Brooks Range, was neither a fishing nor mining camp. The area surrounding Anchorage lacks significant economic metal minerals, a number of Denaina settlements existed along Knik Arm for years. By 1911 the families of J. D. Bud Whitney, jack Brown, and his bride, Nellie, in 1912 to have lived in the Ship Creek valley in the 1910s prior to the large influx of settlers. The city grew from its choice as the site, in 1914, under the direction of Frederick Mears. The area near the mouth of Ship Creek, where the headquarters was located. A town site was mapped out on higher ground to the south of the tent city, greatly noted in the years since for its order and rigidity compared with other Alaska town sites. In 1915, territorial governor John Franklin Alexander Strong encouraged residents to change the name to one that had more significance. In the summer of year, residents held a vote to change the citys name. However, the government ultimately declined to change the citys name. Anchorage was incorporated on November 23,1920, construction of the Alaska Railroad continued until its completion in 1923
12.
Denver
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Denver, officially the City and County of Denver, is the capital and most populous municipality of the U. S. state of Colorado. Denver is in the South Platte River Valley on the edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The Denver downtown district is immediately east of the confluence of Cherry Creek with the South Platte River, Denver is nicknamed the Mile-High City because its official elevation is exactly one mile above sea level, making it the highest major city in the United States. The 105th meridian west of Greenwich, the reference for the Mountain Time Zone. Denver is ranked as a Beta- world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. With a 2015 estimated population of 682,545, Denver ranks as the 19th-most populous U. S. city, and with a 2. 8% increase in 2015, the city is also the fastest-growing major city in the United States. The 10-county Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area had an estimated 2015 population of 2,814,330 and ranked as the 19th most populous U. S. metropolitan statistical area. The 12-city Denver-Aurora, CO Combined Statistical Area had an estimated 2015 population of 3,418,876, which ranks as the 16th most populous U. S. metropolitan area. Denver is the most populous city of the 18-county Front Range Urban Corridor, Denver is the most populous city within a 500-mile radius and the second-most populous city in the Mountain West after Phoenix, Arizona. In 2016, Denver was named the best place to live in the USA by U. S. News & World Report and this was the first historical settlement in what was later to become the city of Denver. The site faded quickly, however, and by the summer of 1859 it was abandoned in favor of Auraria, Larimer named the townsite Denver City to curry favor with Kansas Territorial Governor James W. Denver. Larimer hoped the name would help make it the county seat of Arapaho County but, unbeknownst to him. The location was accessible to existing trails and was across the South Platte River from the site of seasonal encampments of the Cheyenne, the site of these first towns is now the site of Confluence Park near downtown Denver. Larimer, along with associates in the St. Charles City Land Company, sold parcels in the town to merchants and miners, Denver City was a frontier town, with an economy based on servicing local miners with gambling, saloons, livestock and goods trading. In the early years, land parcels were often traded for grubstakes or gambled away by miners in Auraria, in May 1859, Denver City residents donated 53 lots to the Leavenworth & Pikes Peak Express in order to secure the regions first overland wagon route. Offering daily service for passengers, mail, freight, and gold, in 1863, Western Union furthered Denvers dominance of the region by choosing the city for its regional terminus. The Colorado Territory was created on February 28,1861, Arapahoe County was formed on November 1,1861, Denver City served as the Arapahoe County Seat from 1861 until consolidation in 1902. In 1867, Denver City became the territorial capital, with its newfound importance, Denver City shortened its name to Denver
13.
Seattle
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Seattle is a seaport city on the west coast of the United States and the seat of King County, Washington. With an estimated 684,451 residents as of 2015, Seattle is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America. In July 2013, it was the major city in the United States. The city is situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about 100 miles south of the Canada–United States border, a major gateway for trade with Asia, Seattle is the fourth-largest port in North America in terms of container handling as of 2015. The Seattle area was inhabited by Native Americans for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent European settlers. Arthur A. Denny and his group of travelers, subsequently known as the Denny Party, arrived from Illinois via Portland, the settlement was moved to the eastern shore of Elliott Bay and named Seattle in 1852, after Chief Siahl of the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. Logging was Seattles first major industry, but by the late-19th century, growth after World War II was partially due to the local Boeing company, which established Seattle as a center for aircraft manufacturing. The Seattle area developed as a technology center beginning in the 1980s, in 1994, Internet retailer Amazon was founded in Seattle. The stream of new software, biotechnology, and Internet companies led to an economic revival, Seattle has a noteworthy musical history. From 1918 to 1951, nearly two dozen jazz nightclubs existed along Jackson Street, from the current Chinatown/International District, to the Central District, the jazz scene developed the early careers of Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson, and others. Seattle is also the birthplace of rock musician Jimi Hendrix and the alternative rock subgenre grunge, archaeological excavations suggest that Native Americans have inhabited the Seattle area for at least 4,000 years. By the time the first European settlers arrived, the people occupied at least seventeen villages in the areas around Elliott Bay, the first European to visit the Seattle area was George Vancouver, in May 1792 during his 1791–95 expedition to chart the Pacific Northwest. In 1851, a party led by Luther Collins made a location on land at the mouth of the Duwamish River. Thirteen days later, members of the Collins Party on the way to their claim passed three scouts of the Denny Party, members of the Denny Party claimed land on Alki Point on September 28,1851. The rest of the Denny Party set sail from Portland, Oregon, after a difficult winter, most of the Denny Party relocated across Elliott Bay and claimed land a second time at the site of present-day Pioneer Square, naming this new settlement Duwamps. For the next few years, New York Alki and Duwamps competed for dominance, david Swinson Doc Maynard, one of the founders of Duwamps, was the primary advocate to name the settlement after Chief Sealth of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. The name Seattle appears on official Washington Territory papers dated May 23,1853, in 1855, nominal land settlements were established. On January 14,1865, the Legislature of Territorial Washington incorporated the Town of Seattle with a board of managing the city
14.
Air Commerce Act
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Early aviation in America was unregulated, with government involvement limited to scientific research and the launching of airmail. But frequent accidents led to demand for regulatory powers. Its functions included testing and licensing of pilots, certificating of aircraft, under the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, the CAA’s powers were transferred to a new independent body, the Federal Aviation Agency. In the same year, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was created after the Soviet Union’s launch of the first artificial satellite, despite its early start, the United States soon lost aeronautical leadership. European enthusiasm for air power was sparked by an arms race, upon entering World War I in 1917, the United States government mobilized the nations economy, with results that included an expansion of the small aviation manufacturing industry. Before the end of the conflict, Congress voted funds for an innovative program that would serve as a model for commercial air operations. With initial help from the U. S. Army, the Post Office in 1918 initiated an intercity airmail route, the subsequent achievements of the Air Mail Service included the establishment of a transcontinental route and the development of airway lighting. In 1925, the Airmail Act of 1925 authorized the Post Office to contract with private airlines to transport mail, the Airmail Act created American commercial aviation and several of todays airlines were formed to carry airmail in the late 1920s. In the early years of the 20th century aviation in America was not regulated, there were frequent accidents, during the pre-war exhibition era and especially during the barnstorming decade of the 1920s. Many aviation leaders of the believed that federal regulation was necessary to give the public confidence in the safety of air transportation. Opponents of this included those who distrusted government interference or wished to leave any such regulation to state authorities. Barnstorming accidents that led to such regulations during this period is depicted in the 1975 film The Great Waldo Pepper. The boards report favored federal safety regulation, to that end, the Air Commerce Act became law on May 20,1926. The Act created an Aeronautic Branch assigned to the United States Department of Commerce, the first head of the Branch was William P. MacCracken, Jr. who played a key part in convincing Congress of the need for this new governmental role. In fulfilling its civil aviation responsibilities, the Department of Commerce initially concentrated on such as safety rulemaking. It took over the building and operation of the system of lighted airways. The Department of Commerce improved aeronautical radio communications, and introduced radio beacons as an aid to air navigation. In 1934, the Aeronautics Branch was renamed the Bureau of Air Commerce to reflect its status within the Department
15.
United States Department of Commerce
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The United States Department of Commerce is the Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with promoting economic growth. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for business and government decision-making and this organizations main purpose is to create jobs, promote economic growth, encourage sustainable development and improve standards of living for all Americans. The Department of Commerce headquarters is the Herbert C. Hoover Building in Washington, the department was originally created as the United States Department of Commerce and Labor on February 14,1903. It was subsequently renamed the Department of Commerce on March 4,1913, as the bureaus, in 1940, the Weather Bureau was transferred from the Agriculture Department, and the Civil Aeronautics Authority was merged into the department. In 1949, the Public Roads Administration was added to the department due to the dissolution of the Federal Works Agency, in 1958, the independent Federal Aviation Agency was created and the Civil Aeronautics Authority was abolished. In 1966, the Bureau of Public Roads was transferred to the newly created Department of Transportation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was created on October 3,1970.6 billion. The budget authorization is broken down as follows, Proposals to reorganize the Department go back many decades, the Economic Development Administration would be completely eliminated. The Obama administration projects that the reorganization would save $3 billion, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would be transferred from the Department of Commerce into the Department of the Interior. Later that year, shortly before the 2012 presidential election, Obama invoked the idea of a secretary of business in reference to the plan. The reorganization was part of a proposal which would grant the President the authority to propose mergers of federal agencies. This ability had existed from the Great Depression until the Reagan presidency, the Obama administration plan faced criticism for some of its elements. However, environmental groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council feared that the reorganization could distract the agency from its mission of protecting the nations oceans, the plan was reiterated in the Obama administrations FY2016 budget proposal that was released in February 2015
16.
United States Department of Transportation
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The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the U. S. government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15,1966 and it is governed by the United States Secretary of Transportation. Prior to the Department of Transportation, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Transportation administered the functions now associated with the DOT, the awardees include light rail projects. Other projects include both a rail extension and a subway project in New York City, and a bus rapid transit system in Springfield. The budget provided funding for all of the projects currently receiving Recovery Act funding. It also continued funding for another 18 transit projects that are currently under construction or soon will be. Following the same the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 delegates $600 million for Infrastructure Investments, the Department of Transportation was authorized a budget for Fiscal Year 2016 of $75.1 billion. e. Did not earn an overall grade
17.
Federal Aviation Administration
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The Federal Aviation Administration of the United States is a national authority with powers to regulate all aspects of civil aviation. The FAAs roles include, Regulating U. S, each LOB has a specific role within the FAA. Airports — plans and develops projects involving airports, overseeing their construction, Air Traffic Organization — primary duty is to safely and efficiently move air traffic within the National Airspace System. ATO employees manage air traffic facilities including Airport Traffic Control Towers, Aviation Safety — Responsible for aeronautical certification of personnel and aircraft, including pilots, airlines, and mechanics. Commercial Space Transportation — ensures protection of U. S. assets during the launch or reentry of commercial space vehicles, the FAA is headquartered in Washington, D. C. as well as the William J. The newly created Aeronautics Branch, operating under the Department of Commerce assumed primary responsibility for aviation oversight, in fulfilling its civil aviation responsibilities, the Department of Commerce initially concentrated on such functions as safety regulations and the certification of pilots and aircraft. It took over the building and operation of the system of lighted airways. The Aeronautics Branch was renamed the Bureau of Air Commerce in 1934 to reflect its status within the Department. As commercial flying increased, the Bureau encouraged a group of airlines to establish the first three centers for providing air traffic control along the airways, in 1936, the Bureau itself took over the centers and began to expand the ATC system. The pioneer air traffic controllers used maps, blackboards, and mental calculations to ensure the separation of aircraft traveling along designated routes between cities. In 1938, the Civil Aeronautics Act transferred the civil aviation responsibilities from the Commerce Department to a new independent agency. The legislation also expanded the role by giving them the authority. President Franklin D. Roosevelt split the authority into two agencies in 1940, the Civil Aeronautics Administration and the Civil Aeronautics Board, CAA was responsible for ATC, airman and aircraft certification, safety enforcement, and airway development. CAB was entrusted with safety regulation, accident investigation, and economic regulation of the airlines, the CAA was part of the Department of Commerce. The CAB was an independent federal agency, on the eve of Americas entry into World War II, CAA began to extend its ATC responsibilities to takeoff and landing operations at airports. This expanded role eventually became permanent after the war, the application of radar to ATC helped controllers in their drive to keep abreast of the postwar boom in commercial air transportation. The approaching era of jet travel, and a series of midair collisions and this legislation gave the CAAs functions to a new independent body, the Federal Aviation Agency. The act transferred air safety regulation from the CAB to the new FAA, the FAAs first administrator, Elwood R. Quesada, was a former Air Force general and adviser to President Eisenhower
18.
United States Senate
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The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article One of the United States Constitution. S. From 1789 until 1913, Senators were appointed by the legislatures of the states represented, following the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. The Senate chamber is located in the wing of the Capitol, in Washington. It further has the responsibility of conducting trials of those impeached by the House, in the early 20th century, the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began, although they are not constitutional officers. This idea of having one chamber represent people equally, while the other gives equal representation to states regardless of population, was known as the Connecticut Compromise, there was also a desire to have two Houses that could act as an internal check on each other. One was intended to be a Peoples House directly elected by the people, the other was intended to represent the states to such extent as they retained their sovereignty except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government. The Senate was thus not designed to serve the people of the United States equally, the Constitution provides that the approval of both chambers is necessary for the passage of legislation. First convened in 1789, the Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate, the name is derived from the senatus, Latin for council of elders. James Madison made the comment about the Senate, In England, at this day, if elections were open to all classes of people. An agrarian law would take place. If these observations be just, our government ought to secure the permanent interests of the country against innovation, landholders ought to have a share in the government, to support these invaluable interests, and to balance and check the other. They ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority, the senate, therefore, ought to be this body, and to answer these purposes, the people ought to have permanency and stability. The Constitution stipulates that no constitutional amendment may be created to deprive a state of its equal suffrage in the Senate without that states consent, the District of Columbia and all other territories are not entitled to representation in either House of the Congress. The District of Columbia elects two senators, but they are officials of the D. C. city government. The United States has had 50 states since 1959, thus the Senate has had 100 senators since 1959. In 1787, Virginia had roughly ten times the population of Rhode Island, whereas today California has roughly 70 times the population of Wyoming and this means some citizens are effectively two orders of magnitude better represented in the Senate than those in other states. Seats in the House of Representatives are approximately proportionate to the population of each state, before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, Senators were elected by the individual state legislatures
19.
United States Code
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The Code of Laws of the United States of America is the official compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal statutes of the United States. It contains 52 titles, and a further three titles have been proposed, the main edition is published every six years by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives, and cumulative supplements are published annually. The official version of those laws not codified in the United States Code can be found in United States Statutes at Large, the official text of an Act of Congress is that of the enrolled bill presented to the President for his signature or disapproval. Upon enactment of a law, the bill is delivered to the Office of the Federal Register within the National Archives. After authorization from the OFR, copies are distributed as slip laws by the Government Printing Office, the Archivist assembles annual volumes of the enacted laws and publishes them as the United States Statutes at Large. By law, the text of the Statutes at Large is legal evidence of the laws enacted by Congress, slip laws are also competent evidence. The Statutes at Large, however, is not a convenient tool for legal research and it is arranged strictly in chronological order so that statutes addressing related topics may be scattered across many volumes. Statutes often repeal or amend laws, and extensive cross-referencing is required to determine what laws are in force at any given time. The United States Code is the result of an effort to make finding relevant and effective statutes simpler by reorganizing them by subject matter, the Code is maintained by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U. S. House of Representatives. The LRC updates the Code accordingly, because of this codification approach, a single named statute may or may not appear in a single place in the Code. Often, complex legislation bundles a series of provisions together as a means of addressing a social or governmental problem, for example, an Act providing relief for family farms might affect items in Title 7, Title 26, and Title 43. When the Act is codified, its various provisions might well be placed in different parts of those various Titles, usually, the individual sections of a statute are incorporated into the Code exactly as enacted, however, sometimes editorial changes are made by the LRC. Though authorized by statute, these changes do not constitute positive law, the authority for the material in the United States Code comes from its enactment through the legislative process and not from its presentation in the Code. For example, the United States Code omitted 12 U. S. C. §92 for decades, apparently because it was thought to have been repealed. In its 1993 ruling in U. S. National Bank of Oregon v. Independent Insurance Agents of America, by law, those titles of the United States Code that have not been enacted into positive law are prima facie evidence of the law in effect. The United States Statutes at Large remains the ultimate authority, if a dispute arises as to the accuracy or completeness of the codification of an unenacted title, the courts will turn to the language in the United States Statutes at Large. This process makes that title of the United States Code legal evidence of the law in force, where a title has been enacted into positive law, a court may neither permit nor require proof of the underlying original Acts of Congress. The distinction between enacted and unenacted titles is largely academic because the Code is nearly always accurate, the United States Code is routinely cited by the Supreme Court and other federal courts without mentioning this theoretical caveat
20.
Transportation safety in the United States
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Transportation safety encompasses automobile accidents, airplane crashes, railroad and motorcoach fatalities and maimings, and other mass transit incidents. The U. S. governments National Center for Health Statistics reported 33,736 motor vehicle deaths in 2014. This exceeded the number of deaths which was 33,599 in 2014. According to another U. S. government office, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatalities of drivers of large trucks remained unchanged. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration performed a regression analysis between monthly roadway fatalities and various possible explanatory variables over the five year period 2011–2015. Part of the reason for that pattern may be more people are out walking and biking in the warmer months. The report also suggests there may be more vacation travel during warmer months. Although not mentioned, motorcycle use, and therefore motorcyclist fatalities, the National Safety Council, a nonprofit safety advocacy group, estimates U. S. motor vehicle deaths in 2016 were 40,200, a 14 percent increase from its 2014 estimate. The National Safety Council measures roadside deaths differently than U. S. government agencies, the National Safety Council counts traffic and non-traffic deaths within one year of an accident while the government counts only traffic deaths occurring within 30 days of a crash. Motor vehicle deaths are most often expressed as a rate, often deaths per 100 million vehicle-miles or per billion vehicle-miles, or, for international comparisons, Safety overall has steadily improved in the United States for many decades. Between 1920 and 2000, the rate of automobile accidents per vehicle-mile decreased by a factor of about 17. Except for a pause during the youth bulge of the 1960s, Safety for other types of U. S. passenger transportation has also improved substantially, but long-term statistical data are not as readily available. While the fatality rate roughly leveled off around 2000–2005 at around 1.5 fatalities per 100 million miles traveled, it has resumed a downward trend, the National Safety Council reports a rate of 1.25 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2016. The fatality rate in the United States is high relative to most other high income nations. The 2013 U. S. rate of 7.1 road fatalities per 1 billion vehicle-km is about double the 2013 rate in Sweden, which was 3.5 road fatalities per 1 billion vehicle-km. Ontario, which is a vast province of more than 1 million square kilometers, has a mix of highway types including congested urban. This suggests that differences in fatality rates are due to factors such as driver behavior. The death rate per 100 million miles traveled in 2015 ranged from 0.52 in Massachusetts to 1.89 in South Carolina, in South Carolina, North Dakota and Texas, more than 40% of road fatalities were attributed to Driving Under the Influence
21.
Asiana Airlines Flight 214
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Asiana Airlines Flight 214 was a scheduled transpacific passenger flight from Incheon International Airport near Seoul, South Korea, to San Francisco International Airport in the United States. On the morning of Saturday, July 6,2013, the Boeing 777-200ER aircraft operating the flight crashed on approach into SFO. Of the 307 people aboard, two died at the crash scene, and a third died in a hospital several days later. Another 187 individuals were injured,49 of them seriously, among the injured were three flight attendants who were thrown onto the runway while still strapped in their seats when the tail section broke off after striking the seawall short of the runway. It was the first crash of a Boeing 777 that resulted in fatalities since that aircraft model entered service in 1995. The Boeing 777-200ER, registration HL7742, was powered by two Pratt and Whitney PW4090 engines and it was delivered new to Asiana Airlines on 7 March 2006 and at the time of the crash had accumulated 36,000 flight hours and 5,000 cycles. The Boeing 777 has a reputation for safety. This was its first fatal accident, second crash, and third hull loss since the 777 began operating commercially in 1995. On July 6,2013, Flight OZ214 took off from Incheon International Airport at 5,04 p. m. KST,34 minutes after its departure time. It was scheduled to land at San Francisco International Airport at 11,04 a. m, the flight was cleared for a visual approach to runway 28L at 11,21 a. m. PDT, and told to maintain a speed of 180 knots until the aircraft was 5 miles from the runway, Northern California TRACON passed air traffic control to the San Francisco tower. A tower controller acknowledged the call from the crew at 11,27 a. m. when the plane was 1.5 miles away. The weather was good, the latest METAR reported light wind,10 miles visibility, no precipitation. The pilots performed a visual approach assisted by the precision approach path indicator. HL7742 crashed short of runway 28Ls threshold, the landing gear and then the tail struck the seawall that projects into San Francisco Bay. Both engines and the tail separated from the aircraft. The NTSB noted that the landing gear, the first part of the aircraft to hit the seawall. The vertical and both horizontal stabilizers fell on the runway before the threshold, the remainder of the fuselage and wings rotated counter-clockwise approximately 330 degrees, as it slid westward
22.
2015 Philadelphia train derailment
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Of 238 passengers and 5 crew on board,8 were killed and over 200 injured,11 critically. The train was traveling at 102 mph in a 50 mph zone of curved tracks when it derailed, some of the passengers had to be extricated from the crashed cars. Many of the passengers and local residents helped first responders during the rescue operation, five local hospitals treated the injured. The derailment disrupted train service for several days, shortly after the derailment, Amtrak completed ATC installation on the northbound track. The 2015 crash was the deadliest on the Northeast Corridor since 1987, when 16 people died in a crash near Baltimore. At about 9,10 p. m. on May 12,2015, Amtraks northbound Northeast Regional No.188 departed Philadelphias 30th Street Station en route from Washington, the train consisted of seven cars hauled by a year-old Amtrak Cities Sprinter -64 locomotive, No.601. The engineer was Brandon Bostian, who had begun working the route a few weeks prior. m, passengers reported that the front of the train shook at first, then came to a sudden stop. The entire train went off the track, with three cars rolling onto their sides, Sumwalt, the National Transportation Safety Boards lead investigator, who cited the onboard event recorder recovered from the wreckage. Investigators are working to determine why the train entered the curve too fast, the windshield of the locomotive may have been hit by a projectile shortly before the derailment. Proponents argue the train should have been equipped with train control. Shortly after the derailment, Amtrak completed that ATC installation on the northbound track and this fatal derailment was the second at Frankford Junction. Some passengers were able to walk off the train, while others needed to be rescued with cutting tools, eventually, a crane was brought to the site to lift the overturned train cars, in part to search for trapped victims. More than 200 passengers were treated at hospitals, including Temple University Hospital, Aria Health, Hahnemann University Hospital, Jefferson University Hospital. Most of the passengers sustained minor lacerations and contusions, while some also had fractured bones,11 were critically injured. Bostian, the engineer, survived the crash with leg injuries, a concussion, eight passengers died, including one at Temple University Hospital. Another passenger, former Congressman Patrick Murphy, said, There was a lot of mayhem, a lot of blood, a lot of bleeding. The guy who I kind of landed on was OK, the guy next to him was completely passed out, knocked unconscious. He said that after the train derailed, there were loud banging sounds, Murphy, who sustained minor injuries in the crash, helped other passengers leave the train
23.
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
24.
United States Coast Guard
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The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the countrys seven uniformed services. This has happened twice, in 1917, during World War I, created by Congress on 4 August 1790 at the request of Alexander Hamilton as the Revenue Marine, it is the oldest continuous seagoing service of the United States. As Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton headed the Revenue Marine, by the 1860s, the service was known as the U. S. Revenue Cutter Service and the term Revenue Marine gradually fell into disuse, the modern Coast Guard was formed by a merger of the Revenue Cutter Service and the U. S. Life-Saving Service on 28 January 1915, under the U. S. Department of the Treasury. As one of the five armed services, the Coast Guard has been involved in every U. S. war from 1790 to the Iraq War. As of 2014 the Coast Guard had over 36,000 men and women on duty,7,350 reservists,29,620 auxiliarists. In terms of size, the U. S. Coast Guard by itself is the worlds 12th largest naval force. Because of its authority, the Coast Guard can conduct military operations under the U. S. Department of Defense or directly for the President in accordance with Title 14 USC 1–3. The Coast Guards enduring roles are maritime safety, security, to carry out those roles, it has 11 statutory missions as defined in 6 U. S. C. §468, which include enforcing U. S. law in the worlds largest exclusive economic zone of 3.4 million square miles, the Coast Guards motto is the Latin phrase, Semper Paratus. In a 2005 article in Time magazine following Hurricane Katrina, the author wrote, the Coast Guards most valuable contribution to may be as a model of flexibility, and most of all, spirit. Wil Milam, a swimmer from Alaska told the magazine, In the Navy. Practicing for war, training for war, in the Coast Guard, it was, take care of our people and the mission will take care of itself. The Coast Guard carries out three basic roles, which are subdivided into eleven statutory missions. Both agencies maintain rescue coordination centers to coordinate this effort, and have responsibility for military and civilian search and rescue. The two services jointly provide instructor staff for the National Search and Rescue School that trains SAR mission planners and coordinators, previously located on Governors Island, New York, the school is now located at Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown at Yorktown, Virginia. The NRC also takes Maritime Suspicious Activity and Security Breach Reports, details on the NRC organization and specific responsibilities can be found in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan. The Marine Information for Safety and Law Enforcement database system is managed and used by the Coast Guard for tracking pollution, the five uniformed services that make up the U. S
25.
United States Attorney General
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The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice per 28 U. S. C. §503, concerned with affairs, and is the chief law enforcement officer. The 84th and current Attorney General is Jeff Sessions, who assumed the office on February 9,2017, the attorney general serves as a member of the Cabinet of the President of the United States and is the only cabinet officer who does not have the title Secretary of. The Attorney General is appointed by the President and takes office after confirmation by the United States Senate, the office of Attorney General was established by Congress by the Judiciary Act of 1789. In 1870, the Department of Justice was established to support the general in the discharge of their responsibilities. Parties No party Federalist Democratic-Republican Democratic Whig Republican Status As of April 2017, there are eleven, living former US Attorneys General, the most recent Attorney General to die was Janet Reno on November 7,2016. Barr served as acting general in their capacity as deputy attorney general. 2 Richard L. Thornburgh and Eric Holder served as acting general in their capacity as deputy attorney general. Both subsequently served as general, Thornburgh 1988–1991 and Holder 2009–2015. 4 Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ Civil Division Stuart M. Gerson was acting general from January 20,1993. Gerson was fourth in the line of succession at the Justice Department, during his time as Acting AG, Gerson supported the Brady bill and was in office in the beginnings of the Waco siege. Janet Reno, President Clintons nominee for attorney general, was confirmed on March 12, Acting Attorney General Gersons last day at the Justice Department was March 19. 5 On August 27,2007, President Bush named Solicitor General Paul Clement as the acting attorney general, to take office upon the resignation of Alberto Gonzales. According to administration officials, Clement took that office at 12,01 am September 17,2007, keisler served as acting attorney general until the nomination of Michael Mukasey on November 9,2007. 6 Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip was asked to assume the position of acting attorney general by then President-elect Obama, Filip led the Department while President Obamas nominee, then Attorney-General Designate Eric Holder, awaited confirmation by the United States Senate. Holder was confirmed on February 2,2009, and sworn in the next day, thus ending Filips tenure as the acting attorney general
26.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States, which simultaneously serves as the nations prime federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the U. S. Department of Justice, Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. A leading U. S. counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization, although many of the FBIs functions are unique, its activities in support of national security are comparable to those of the British MI5 and the Russian FSB. At an FBI field office, a senior-level FBI officer concurrently serves as the representative of the Director of National Intelligence. Despite its domestic focus, the FBI also maintains a significant international footprint and these overseas offices exist primarily for the purpose of coordination with foreign security services and do not usually conduct unilateral operations in the host countries. The FBI can and does at times carry out secret activities overseas, just as the CIA has a domestic function. The FBI was established in 1908 as the Bureau of Investigation and its name was changed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1935. The FBI headquarters is the J. Edgar Hoover Building, located in Washington, in the fiscal year 2012, the Bureaus total budget was approximately $8.12 billion. In 1896, the National Bureau of Criminal Identification was founded, the 1901 assassination of President William McKinley created an urgent perception that America was under threat from anarchists. The Departments of Justice and Labor had been keeping records on anarchists for years, the Justice Department had been tasked with the regulation of interstate commerce since 1887, though it lacked the staff to do so. It had made little effort to relieve its staff shortage until the breakage of the Oregon land fraud scandal at approximately the turn of the 20th Century, President Roosevelt instructed Attorney General Charles Bonaparte to organize an autonomous investigative service that would report only to the Attorney General. Bonaparte reached out to other agencies, including the Secret Service, for personnel, on May 27,1908, the Congress forbade this use of Treasury employees by the Justice Department, citing fears that the new agency would serve as a secret police department. Again at Roosevelts urging, Bonaparte moved to organize a formal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Investigation was created on July 26,1908, after the Congress had adjourned for the summer. Attorney General Bonaparte, using Department of Justice expense funds, hired thirty-four people, including veterans of the Secret Service. Its first Chief was Stanley Finch, Bonaparte notified the Congress of these actions in December 1908. The bureaus first official task was visiting and making surveys of the houses of prostitution in preparation for enforcing the White Slave Traffic Act, or Mann Act, in 1932, the bureau was renamed the United States Bureau of Investigation. The following year it was linked to the Bureau of Prohibition, in the same year, its name was officially changed from the Division of Investigation to the present-day Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI. J. Edgar Hoover served as Director from 1924 to 1972, a combined 48 years with the BOI, DOI, Hoover was substantially involved in most major cases and projects that the FBI handled during his tenure
27.
Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771
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PSA Flight 1771 was a British Aerospace 146-200A, registration N350PS, on a scheduled flight from Los Angeles, California to San Francisco. On December 7,1987, it crashed in Cayucos, California, all 43 passengers and crew aboard the BAe 146 died, five of whom, including the two pilots, were presumably shot dead before the plane crashed. The man who caused the crash, David A. Burke, was a former employee of USAir. A dramatization of the incident was portrayed on the TV documentary series, USAir had recently purchased Pacific Southwest Airlines. After meeting with Ray Thomson, his manager, in an attempt to be reinstated, Burke purchased a ticket on PSA flight 1771. Thomson was a passenger on the flight, which he took for his daily commute from his workplace at LAX to his home in the San Francisco Bay Area. After boarding the plane, Burke wrote a message on an airsickness bag and it is not known if he gave the message to Thomson to read before shooting him, Hi Ray. I think its sort of ironical that we end up like this, I asked for some leniency for my family. Well, I got none and youll get none, the Mayday episode suggests that this was Burke entering the lavatory to draw his revolver discreetly, possibly loading it and giving Thomson time to read the note before killing him. Forty-four-year-old pilot Gregg Lindamood and 48-year-old co-pilot James Nunn were asking air traffic control about turbulence when the CVR picked up the sound of two shots being fired in the cabin. The most plausible theory as to what happened was deduced from the pattern, according to the Mayday episode, it is likely that Burke first shot Thomson twice. Thomsons own seat was never recovered, part of a seat that was identified from its serial number as being directly behind Thomsons was found to have two bullet holes in it. Due to the power of the revolver, the bullets must have traveled through Thomsons body, his seat, first Officer Nunn immediately reported to air traffic control that a gun had been fired on board and no further transmissions were received from the crew. At that point, the CVR recorded the cockpit door opening and Flight Attendant Deborah Neil telling the cockpit crew, captain Lindamood replied, Whats the problem. A shot was heard as Burke shot the flight attendant dead and he then fired two more rounds. Most likely, he shot the pilot and copilot once each, incapacitating them, several seconds later, the CVR picked up increasing windscreen noise as the airplane pitched down and accelerated. The remains of the data recorder indicated Burke had pushed the control column forward into a dive. A final gunshot was heard followed not long after by a sudden silence
28.
September 11 attacks
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The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11,2001. The attacks killed 2,996 people, injured over 6,000 others, two of the planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, were crashed into the North and South towers, respectively, of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, was crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia and it was the deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement officers in the history of the United States, with 343 and 72 killed respectively. Suspicion for the attack fell on al-Qaeda. The United States responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror and invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, many countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded the powers of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to prevent terrorist attacks. Although al-Qaedas leader, Osama bin Laden, initially denied any involvement, al-Qaeda and bin Laden cited U. S. support of Israel, the presence of U. S. troops in Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq as motives. Having evaded capture for almost a decade, bin Laden was located and killed by SEAL Team Six of the U. S. Navy in May 2011. S. many closings, evacuations, and cancellations followed, out of respect or fear of further attacks. Cleanup of the World Trade Center site was completed in May 2002, on November 18,2006, construction of One World Trade Center began at the World Trade Center site. The building was opened on November 3,2014. The origins of al-Qaeda can be traced to 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden traveled to Afghanistan and helped organize Arab mujahideen to resist the Soviets. Under the guidance of Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden became more radical, in 1996, bin Laden issued his first fatwā, calling for American soldiers to leave Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden used Islamic texts to exhort Muslims to attack Americans until the stated grievances are reversed, Muslim legal scholars have throughout Islamic history unanimously agreed that the jihad is an individual duty if the enemy destroys the Muslim countries, according to bin Laden. Bin Laden, who orchestrated the attacks, initially denied but later admitted involvement, in November 2001, U. S. forces recovered a videotape from a destroyed house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. In the video, bin Laden is seen talking to Khaled al-Harbi, on December 27,2001, a second bin Laden video was released. In the video, he said, It has become clear that the West in general and it is the hatred of crusaders. Terrorism against America deserves to be praised because it was a response to injustice, aimed at forcing America to stop its support for Israel, the transcript refers several times to the United States specifically targeting Muslims. He said that the attacks were carried out because, we are free, and want to regain freedom for our nation. As you undermine our security we undermine yours, Bin Laden said he had personally directed his followers to attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
29.
NASA
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower established NASA in 1958 with a distinctly civilian orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science. The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29,1958, disestablishing NASAs predecessor, the new agency became operational on October 1,1958. Since that time, most US space exploration efforts have led by NASA, including the Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station. Currently, NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for unmanned NASA launches. NASA shares data with various national and international such as from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite. Since 2011, NASA has been criticized for low cost efficiency, from 1946, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics had been experimenting with rocket planes such as the supersonic Bell X-1. In the early 1950s, there was challenge to launch a satellite for the International Geophysical Year. An effort for this was the American Project Vanguard, after the Soviet launch of the worlds first artificial satellite on October 4,1957, the attention of the United States turned toward its own fledgling space efforts. This led to an agreement that a new federal agency based on NACA was needed to conduct all non-military activity in space. The Advanced Research Projects Agency was created in February 1958 to develop technology for military application. On July 29,1958, Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, a NASA seal was approved by President Eisenhower in 1959. Elements of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency and the United States Naval Research Laboratory were incorporated into NASA, earlier research efforts within the US Air Force and many of ARPAs early space programs were also transferred to NASA. In December 1958, NASA gained control of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA has conducted many manned and unmanned spaceflight programs throughout its history. Some missions include both manned and unmanned aspects, such as the Galileo probe, which was deployed by astronauts in Earth orbit before being sent unmanned to Jupiter, the experimental rocket-powered aircraft programs started by NACA were extended by NASA as support for manned spaceflight. This was followed by a space capsule program, and in turn by a two-man capsule program. This goal was met in 1969 by the Apollo program, however, reduction of the perceived threat and changing political priorities almost immediately caused the termination of most of these plans. NASA turned its attention to an Apollo-derived temporary space laboratory, to date, NASA has launched a total of 166 manned space missions on rockets, and thirteen X-15 rocket flights above the USAF definition of spaceflight altitude,260,000 feet. The X-15 was an NACA experimental rocket-powered hypersonic research aircraft, developed in conjunction with the US Air Force, the design featured a slender fuselage with fairings along the side containing fuel and early computerized control systems
30.
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
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The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11,39 EST. Disintegration of the vehicle began after an O-ring seal in its solid rocket booster failed at liftoff. The O-ring was not designed to fly under unusually cold conditions as in this launch and this led to the separation of the right-hand SRBs aft field joint attachment and the structural failure of the external tank. Aerodynamic forces broke up the orbiter, the crew compartment and many other vehicle fragments were eventually recovered from the ocean floor after a lengthy search and recovery operation. The exact timing of the death of the crew is unknown, the shuttle had no escape system, and the impact of the crew compartment with the ocean surface was too violent to be survivable. The Rogers Commission found NASAs organizational culture and decision-making processes had been key contributing factors to the accident, NASA managers had known since 1977 that contractor Morton Thiokols design of the SRBs contained a potentially catastrophic flaw in the O-rings, but they had failed to address this problem properly. Approximately 17 percent of Americans witnessed the launch live because of the presence of Payload Specialist Christa McAuliffe, media coverage of the accident was extensive, one study reported that 85 percent of Americans surveyed had heard the news within an hour of the accident. The Challenger disaster has been used as a study in many discussions of engineering safety. Each of the Space Shuttles two Solid Rocket Boosters was constructed of seven sections, six of which were joined in pairs at the factory. For each flight, the four resulting segments were then assembled in the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, the factory joints were sealed with asbestos-silica insulation applied over the joint, while each field joint was sealed with two rubber O-rings. During the Space Shuttle design process, a McDonnell Douglas report in September 1971 discussed the safety record of solid rockets, while a safe abort was possible after most types of failures, one was especially dangerous, a burnthrough by hot gases of the rockets casing. The report stated that if burnthrough occurs adjacent to tank or orbiter, timely sensing may not be feasible and abort not possible, Morton Thiokol was the contractor responsible for the construction and maintenance of the shuttles SRBs. This phenomenon, known as joint rotation, caused a drop in air pressure. This made it possible for combustion gases to erode the O-rings, in the event of widespread erosion, a flame path could develop, causing the joint to burst—which would have destroyed the booster and the shuttle. Evidence of serious O-ring erosion was present as early as the space shuttle mission, STS-2. Contrary to NASA regulations, the Marshall Center did not report this problem to senior management at NASA, by 1985, Marshall and Thiokol realized that they had a potentially catastrophic problem on their hands. They began the process of redesigning the joint with three inches of steel around the tang. This tang would grip the inner face of the joint and prevent it from rotating and they did not call for a halt to shuttle flights until the joints could be redesigned, but rather treated the problem as an acceptable flight risk
31.
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
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On February 1,2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon reentering Earths atmosphere, killing all seven crew members. The disaster was the tragedy in the Space Shuttle program after Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986. During the launch of STS-107, Columbias 28th mission, a piece of foam broke off from the Space Shuttle external tank. A few previous shuttle launches had seen damage ranging from minor to major from foam shedding, NASA managers limited the investigation, reasoning that the crew could not have fixed the problem if it had been confirmed. After the disaster, Space Shuttle flight operations were suspended for more than two years, as they had been after the Challenger disaster. Commander, Rick D. Husband, a U. S. Air Force colonel and mechanical engineer, payload Commander, Michael P. Anderson, a U. S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, physicist, and mission specialist who was in charge of the science mission. Payload Specialist, Ilan Ramon, a colonel in the Israeli Air Force, Mission Specialist, Kalpana Chawla, aerospace engineer who was on her second space mission. Mission Specialist, David M. Brown, a U. S. Navy captain trained as an aviator, Mission Specialist, Laurel Blair Salton Clark, a U. S. Navy captain and flight surgeon. The shuttles main fuel tank is covered in thermal insulation foam intended to prevent ice from forming when the tank is full of liquid hydrogen and oxygen, such ice could damage the shuttle if shed during lift-off. Mission STS-107 was the 113th Space Shuttle launch, planned to begin on January 11,2001, the mission was delayed 18 times and eventually launched on January 16,2003, following STS-113. About 82 seconds after launch from Kennedy Space Centers LC-39-A, a piece of foam broke off from the External Tank. At the time of the strike, the orbiter was at an altitude of about 66,000 feet. The Left Bipod Foam Ramp is an approximately three-foot long aerodynamic component made entirely of foam, the foam, not normally considered to be a structural material, is required to bear some aerodynamic loads. Because of these requirements, the casting-in-place and curing of the ramps may be performed only by a senior technician. Bipod Ramp insulation had been observed falling off, in whole or in part, on four flights, STS-7, STS-32, STS-50. All affected shuttle missions completed successfully, NASA management came to refer to this phenomenon as foam shedding. This phenomenon was termed normalization of deviance by sociologist Diane Vaughan in her book on the Challenger launch decision process. As it happened, STS-112 had been the first flight with the ET Cam, after STS-112, NASA leaders analyzed the situation and decided to press ahead under the justification that he ET is safe to fly with no new concerns of further foam strikes
32.
United States Armed Forces
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The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
33.
1996 Croatia USAF CT-43 crash
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On April 3,1996, a United States Air Force Boeing CT-43A crashed on approach to Dubrovnik, Croatia, while on an official trade mission. While attempting an instrument approach to Dubrovnik Airport, the airplane crashed into a mountainside, Air Force Technical Sergeant Shelly Kelly survived the initial impact, but died en route to hospital. Everyone else on board died at the scene of the crash, the aircraft was operated by the 86th Airlift Wing, based at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Unlike civilian 737s, the military CT-43A version was equipped with neither a flight data recorder nor a cockpit voice recorder, the official US Air Force accident investigation board report noted several reasons that led the Boeing CT-43A, callsign IFO-21, to crash. Chief among the findings was a failure of command, aircrew error, the inclement weather was not deemed a substantial contributing factor in the crash. The Boeing CT-43A used for flight was formerly a T-43A navigator training aircraft that was converted for distinguished visitor travel. The flight was on an instrument flight rules non-directional beacon approach, non-precision approaches are those that do not incorporate vertical guidance. While NDB approaches are essentially obsolete in the United States, they are used widely in other parts of the world. Because of their infrequent use in the United States, many American pilots are not fully proficient in performing them, the investigation board determined that the approach used was not approved for Department of Defense aircraft, and should not have been used by the aircraft crew. The crash site, on a 2,300 ft hill, was 1.6 miles northeast of where the aircraft should have been on the course to the NDB. The runway is at 510 ft MSL, five other aircraft had landed prior to the CT-43A and had not experienced any problems with the navigational aids. There was no call from the pilots, and they did not initiate a missed approach. The area of the site is identified by a large stainless steel cross on Stražišće peak. Hikers can reach the peak via the Ronald Brown Path, which is named in commemoration of the U. S. Secretary of Commerce who died in the crash, a memorial room has been installed in the Ronald Brown memorial house in the old city of Dubrovnik. It features portraits of the victims as well as a guest book. The head of navigation at Čilipi Airport, Niko Jerkuić, was found three days after the accident with a bullet wound to his chest. The police investigation concluded that the case was a suicide, the crash is featured in episode 8 of the 4th season of the air-crash investigation television show Mayday, entitled Fog of War. USAF accident report Dover AFB Military Arrival Ceremony on YouTube
34.
Yugoslavia
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Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe during most of the 20th century. The Serbian royal House of Karađorđević became the Yugoslav royal dynasty, Yugoslavia gained international recognition on 13 July 1922 at the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris. The country was named after the South Slavic peoples and constituted their first union, following centuries in which the territories had been part of the Ottoman Empire, renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 3 October 1929, it was invaded by the Axis powers on 6 April 1941. In 1943, a Democratic Federal Yugoslavia was proclaimed by the Partisan resistance, in 1944, the king recognised it as the legitimate government, but in November 1945 the monarchy was abolished. Yugoslavia was renamed the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946 and it acquired the territories of Istria, Rijeka, and Zadar from Italy. Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito ruled the country as president until his death in 1980, in 1963, the country was renamed again as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The constituent six socialist republics that made up the country were the SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SR Croatia, SR Macedonia, SR Montenegro, SR Serbia, and SR Slovenia. Serbia contained two Socialist Autonomous Provinces, Vojvodina and Kosovo, which after 1974 were largely equal to the members of the federation. After an economic and political crisis in the 1980s and the rise of nationalism, Yugoslavia broke up along its republics borders, at first into five countries, eventually, Serbia and Montenegro accepted the opinion of the Badinter Arbitration Committee about shared succession. Serbia and Montenegro themselves broke up in 2006 and became independent states, the concept of Yugoslavia, as a single state for all South Slavic peoples, emerged in the late 17th century and gained prominence through the Illyrian Movement of the 19th century. The name was created by the combination of the Slavic words jug, Yugoslavia was the result of the Corfu Declaration, as a project of the Serbian Parliament in exile and the Serbian royal Karađorđević dynasty, who became the Yugoslav royal dynasty. The country was formed in 1918 immediately after World War I as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by union of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and it was commonly referred to at the time as the Versailles state. Later, the government renamed the country leading to the first official use of Yugoslavia in 1929, on 6 January 1929 King Alexander I suspended the constitution, banned national political parties, assumed executive power and renamed the country Yugoslavia. He hoped to curb separatist tendencies and mitigate nationalist passions and he imposed a new constitution and relinquished his dictatorship in 1931. None of these three regimes favored the policy pursued by Alexander I, Alexander attempted to create a centralised Yugoslavia. He decided to abolish Yugoslavias historic regions, and new internal boundaries were drawn for provinces or banovinas, the banovinas were named after rivers. Many politicians were jailed or kept under police surveillance, the effect of Alexanders dictatorship was to further alienate the non-Serbs from the idea of unity. During his reign the flags of Yugoslav nations were banned, Alexander was succeeded by his eleven-year-old son Peter II and a regency council headed by his cousin, Prince Paul
35.
Ron Brown (U.S. politician)
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Ronald Harmon Ron Brown was the United States Secretary of Commerce, serving during the first term of President Bill Clinton. He was the first African American to hold this position and he was killed, along with 34 others, in a 1996 plane crash in Croatia. Ron Brown was born in Washington, D. C. and was raised in Harlem, New York and he was a member of an African-American social and philanthropic organization, Jack and Jill of America, where he met many African-American friends. Brown attended Hunter College Elementary School and Rhodes Preparatory School and his father managed the Theresa Hotel in Harlem, where Ron lived growing up. His best friend John R. Nailor moved into the penthouse while a student at Rhodes, Nailor was one of the other few black students who attended Rhodes Prep. As a child, Brown appeared in an advertisement for Pepsi-Cola, while at Middlebury College, Ron Brown became the first African-American member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, collegiate fraternity. As a result, the charter of SPE at Middlebury was rescinded. Brown joined the United States Army in 1962, after graduating from Middlebury, and served in South Korea and Europe, after being discharged in 1967, Brown joined the National Urban League, a leading economic equality group in the United States. Meanwhile, Brown enrolled in law school at St. Johns University, by 1976, Brown had been promoted to Deputy Executive Director for Programs and Governmental Affairs of the National Urban League. However, he resigned in 1979 to work as a deputy manager for Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Brown was hired in 1981 by the Washington, D. C. law firm Patton Boggs as a lawyer, in May 1988, Brown was named by Jesse L. Jackson to head Jacksons convention team at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. Brown was named along with other experienced party insiders to Jacksons convention operation. By June, it was apparent that Brown was also running Jacksons campaign, President Clinton then appointed Brown to the position of Secretary of Commerce in 1993. During his tenure Brown was involved in the Commerce Department trade mission controversy. On April 3,1996, when Brown was 54 and on a trade mission. While attempting an instrument approach to Dubrovniks Čilipi airport, the airplane crashed into a mountainside, everyone aboard was killed instantly except Air Force Tech. Shelly Kelly, an attendant, who died while being transported to a hospital. The final Air Force investigation attributed the crash to pilot error, of specific concern was a trip Brown had made to Vietnam on behalf of the Clinton Administration
36.
I-35W Mississippi River bridge
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During the evening rush hour on August 1,2007, it suddenly collapsed, killing 13 people and injuring 145. The bridge was Minnesotas third busiest, carrying 140,000 vehicles daily, immediately after the collapse, help came from mutual aid in the seven-county Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area and emergency response personnel, charities, and volunteers. Within a few days of the collapse, the Minnesota Department of Transportation planned a replacement bridge, Construction was completed rapidly, and it opened on September 18,2008. Located in Minneapolis, Minnesotas largest city, the bridge connected the Minneapolis neighborhoods of Downtown East, the south abutment was northeast of the Metrodome, and the north abutment was northwest of the University of Minnesota East Bank campus. The bridge was the boundary of the Mississippi Mile downtown riverfront parkland. Downstream is the 10th Avenue Bridge, once known as the Cedar Avenue Bridge, immediately upstream is the lock and dam at Saint Anthony Falls, where Minneapolis began. The first bridge upstream is the historic Stone Arch Bridge, built for the Great Northern Railway and now used for bicycle, the north foundation pier of the bridge was near a hydroelectric plant, razed in 1988. The south abutment was in an area polluted by a processing plant. These uses effectively created a toxic waste site under the bridge, leading to a lawsuit, no relationship between these prior uses and the bridge failure has been claimed. The bridge, officially designated Bridge 9340, was designed by Sverdrup & Parcel to 1961 AASHO standard specifications. The construction contracts, worth in more than US$5.2 million at the time, went to Hurcon Inc. and Industrial Construction Company. Construction on the began in 1964 and the structure was completed and opened to traffic in 1967 during an era of large-scale projects related to building the Twin Cities freeway system. When the bridge fell, it was still the most recent river crossing built on a new site in Minneapolis, after the building boom ebbed during the 1970s, infrastructure management shifted toward inspection and maintenance. The bridges fourteen spans extended 1,907 feet long, the three main spans were of deck truss construction while all but two of the eleven approach spans were steel multi-girder construction, the two exceptions being concrete slab construction. The piers were not built in the channel, instead. The two support piers for the trusses, each with two load-bearing concrete pylons at either side of the center main span, were located on opposite banks of the river. The center span was connected to the north and south approaches by shorter spans formed by the main trusses. Each was 266 feet in length, and was connected to the approach spans by a 38 foot cantilever, at the top of the main trusses were the deck trusses,12 feet in depth and integral with the main trusses
37.
Minneapolis
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Minneapolis is the county seat of Hennepin County, and the larger of the Twin Cities, the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the United States. As of 2015, Minneapolis is the largest city in the state of Minnesota, Minneapolis and Saint Paul anchor the second-largest economic center in the Midwest, after Chicago. Minneapolis lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, just north of the confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Saint Paul. It was once the worlds flour milling capital and a hub for timber, the city and surrounding region is the primary business center between Chicago and Seattle, with Minneapolis proper containing Americas fifth-highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies. As an integral link to the economy, Minneapolis is categorized as a global city. Noted for its music and performing arts scenes, Minneapolis is home to both the award-winning Guthrie Theater and the historic First Avenue nightclub. The name Minneapolis is attributed to Charles Hoag, the citys first schoolteacher, who combined mni, a Dakota Sioux word for water, and polis, Dakota Sioux had long been the regions sole residents when French explorers arrived around 1680. For a time relations were based on fur trading, gradually more European-American settlers arrived, competing for game and other resources with the Dakota. In the early 19th century, the United States acquired this territory from France, fort Snelling was built in 1819 by the United States Army, and it attracted traders, settlers and merchants, spurring growth in the area. The United States government pressed the Mdewakanton band of the Dakota to sell their land, the Minnesota Territorial Legislature authorized present-day Minneapolis as a town in 1856 on the Mississippis west bank. Minneapolis incorporated as a city in 1867, the rail service began between Minneapolis and Chicago. It later joined with the city of St. Anthony in 1872. Minneapolis developed around Saint Anthony Falls, the highest waterfall on the Mississippi River, forests in northern Minnesota were a valuable resource for the lumber industry, which operated seventeen sawmills on power from the waterfall. By 1871, the west river bank had twenty-three businesses, including mills, woolen mills, iron works, a railroad machine shop, and mills for cotton, paper, sashes. Due to the hazards of milling, six local sources of artificial limbs were competing in the prosthetics business by the 1890s. The farmers of the Great Plains grew grain that was shipped by rail to the citys thirty-four flour mills, a father of modern milling in America and founder of what became General Mills, Cadwallader C. Some ideas were developed by William Dixon Gray and some acquired through industrial espionage from the Hungarians by William de la Barre, pillsbury Company across the river were barely a step behind, hiring Washburn employees to immediately use the new methods. The hard red spring wheat that grows in Minnesota became valuable, not until later did consumers discover the value in the bran that Minneapolis
38.
June 2009 Washington Metro train collision
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During the afternoon rush hour of June 22,2009, a subway train-on-train collision occurred between two southbound Red Line Washington Metro trains in Northeast, Washington, D. C. The struck train came to a stop because of traffic ahead, because the entire train was within the faulty circuit, it became invisible to the Automatic Train Control system. The train behind it was commanded to proceed at 55 mph. At approximately 4,57 pm EDT on Monday, June 22,2009, Washington Metro Train 112, bound from Glenmont for Shady Grove, left the Takoma station. Minutes later at 5,02 pm, Train 112 rear-ended Train 214, nine people were killed, including the operator in the lead car of the moving train, Jeanice McMillan,42, of Springfield, Virginia, at least 80 people were injured. The death toll makes the crash the deadliest in Metro history, the NTSB found that Train 214 had come to a stop entirely within the faulty circuit B2-304, making it effectively invisible to the automatic train control system. Train 214 was going slower than normal because it was being driven in manual mode by its operator, Train 112 behind it was given full speed commands by the ATC to proceed on the track. The investigation found that the brakes had been applied by the operator of train 112 when train 214 came into view. However, by 2009, Metro engineers were unaware of this incident or the tests developed to detect the failure condition, Train 112 was made up of cars 1079,1078,1071,1070,1130 and 1131—all from the 1000-Series. Train 214 was made up of cars 3036,3037,3257,3256,5067 and 5066, from the Breda 3000-Series, the cars are equipped with on-board systems called Automatic Train Operation and Automatic Train Control, which allow autonomous operation with little human intervention. At 5,20 pm, rescuers first entered car 1079 and this car had telescoped over the rear car of the stationary train, trapping many passengers who required rescue by emergency workers using ladders for access. Survivors described the crash as like, hit a concrete wall, with air clouded by smoke and debris, and panic among passengers when car doors did not immediately open. Oglesby and Griffith then noticed that six to eight people from the train had been ejected by the force of the collision and were more seriously injured. One person from the train had been thrown onto the roof of the stationary train and had suffered a severe head wound. The soldiers gave first aid to the seriously injured victims until help arrived. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin stated that the initial 9-1-1 emergency calls made the incident seem small, within two hours, more than 200 firefighters were on-scene in response to the three-alarm incident. Rescuers worked through the night of June 22, using cranes and heavy equipment to free trapped passengers. Chief Rubin initially confirmed four fatalities and 74 injuries,14 of which were considered moderate and 6 critical
39.
San Bruno pipeline explosion
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The loud roar and shaking led some residents of the area, first responders, and news media to initially believe that it was an earthquake or that a large jetliner had crashed. It took crews nearly an hour to determine it was a gas pipeline explosion, as of September 29,2010, the death toll was eight people. The United States Geological Survey registered the explosion and resulting shock wave as a magnitude 1.1 earthquake, eyewitnesses reported the initial blast had a wall of fire more than 1,000 feet high. At 6,11,12 pm PDT on September 9,2010 and this caused a fire, which quickly engulfed nearby houses. Emergency responders from San Bruno and nearby cities soon arrived at the scene, strong winds fanned the flames, hampering fire fighting efforts. The blaze was fed by a gas pipe, and large clouds of smoke soared into the sky. It took 60 to 90 minutes to shut off the gas after the explosion, the explosion and resulting fire leveled 35 houses and damaged many more. Three of the houses, deemed uninhabitable, were torn down in December. About 200 firefighters battled the eight alarm fire that resulted from the explosions, the fire continued to burn for several hours after the initial explosion. The explosion compromised a water main and required firefighters to truck in water from outside sources, firefighters were assisted by residents who dragged fire hoses nearly 4,000 feet to working hydrants. Ordinary citizens drove injured people and burn victims to the hospital, the fire was only fifty percent contained by 10 pm PDT and continued to burn until about 11,40 am PDT the next day. As of September 29,2010, the toll was eight people. Among the eight deaths was 20-year-old Jessica Morales, who was with her boyfriend, Joseph Ruigomez, despite his proximity to the epicenter of the fire, Mr. Ruigomez survived but spent nearly five months recovering in the St. Francis Hospital Burn Center. Two other people at the Claremont address close to the explosion were among those killed, Jacqueline Greig,44, Greig worked for the California Public Utilities Commission, in a small unit that advocates for consumer rights pertaining to natural gas regulations. She had spent part of the summer evaluating PG&Es expansion plans, also killed in the blast were Lavonne Bullis,82, Greg Bullis,50, and Will Bullis,17. A Red Cross shelter was set up at the Veterans Memorial Recreation Center in San Bruno, some people were evacuated to Tanforan and Bayhill Shopping Centers. All elementary schools in the San Bruno Park Elementary School District, however, Capuchino High School remained open. Some residents who were evacuated from their homes were allowed to return to those undamaged on Sunday, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company is the owner of the pipeline
