1.
Automatic Gun-Laying Turret
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The Automatic Gun-Laying Turret was a British radar-aimed FN121 turret fitted to some Avro Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax bombers in 1944. The AGLT system was devised to allow a target to be tracked and fired-on in total darkness, the system was referred to by the codename Village Inn during development, and given the number TR3548. The system was devised by a led by Dr Philip Dee and designed under the aegis of chief designer Dr Alan Hodgkin. The system consisted of a transmitter/receiver unit mounted in the navigators compartment and it worked on a wavelength of 9.1 cm with a pulse repetition frequency of 660 hertz. The magnetron used was the CV.186 of approx 35kW, the gunner simply maneuvered his guns to place the blip in the centre of the gunsights reticle, and opened fire when the range was appropriate. Windage, bullet drop and other factors were calculated by the gunsight. Village Inn was eventually produced in four Marks, AGLT Mark I — initial design — Airborne Radio Installation 5559, AGLT Mark II — modified, improved, Mark I — soon discontinued — ARI5561. AGLT Mark III — scanning aerial mounted remotely from turret, scan independent of turrets movements — ARI5562. AGLT Mark IV — ARI5632 The system was fitted to the Rose turret on at least one Avro Lincoln B. Mk II. Some Lincolns fitted with the Boulton Paul Type D tail turret also incorporated the equipment
2.
Restaurant
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A restaurant, or an eatery, is a business which prepares and serves food and drinks to customers in exchange for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many also offer take-out and food delivery services. In Western countries, most mid- to high-range restaurants serve alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine, some restaurants serve all the major meals, such as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Other restaurants may serve a single meal or they may serve two meals or even a kids meal. Restaurants may be classified or distinguished in different ways. The primary factors are usually the food itself, the cuisine and/or the style of offering, beyond this, restaurants may differentiate themselves on factors including speed, formality, location, cost, service, or novelty themes. In the former case, customers usually wear casual clothing, in the latter case, depending on culture and local traditions, customers might wear semi-casual, semi-formal or formal wear. Typically, at mid- to high-priced restaurants, customers sit at tables, their orders are taken by a waiter, after eating, the customers then pay the bill. Another restaurant approach which uses few waiters is the buffet restaurant, customers serve food onto their own plates and then pay at the end of the meal. Buffet restaurants typically still have waiters to serve drinks and alcoholic beverages, fast food restaurants are also considered a restaurant. The travelling public has long been catered for with ships messes and railway restaurant cars which are, in effect, many railways, the world over, also cater for the needs of travellers by providing railway refreshment rooms, a form of restaurant, at railway stations. In the 2000s, a number of travelling restaurants, specifically designed for tourists, have been created and these can be found on trams, boats, buses, etc. A restaurants proprietor is called a restaurateur /ˌrɛstərəˈtɜːr/, like restaurant, professional cooks are called chefs, with there being various finer distinctions. Most restaurant will have various waiting staff to serve food, beverages and alcoholic drinks, including busboys who remove used dishes and cutlery. In finer restaurants, this may include a host or hostess, a maître dhôtel to welcome customers and to them. A new route to becoming a restauranter, rather than working ones way up through the stages, is to operate a food truck, once a sufficient following has been obtained, a permanent restaurant site can be opened. This trend has become common in the UK and the US, a chefs table is a table located in the kitchen of a restaurant, reserved for VIPs and special guests. Patrons may be served a themed tasting menu prepared and served by the head chef, Restaurants can require a minimum party and charge a higher flat fee
3.
Nashville, Tennessee
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Nashville is the capital of the U. S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in the central part of the state. The city is a center for the music, healthcare, publishing, banking and transportation industries and it is known as a center of the country music industry, earning it the nickname Music City, U. S. A. Since 1963, Nashville has had a consolidated city-county government which includes six municipalities in a two-tier system. Nashville is governed by a mayor, vice-mayor, and 40-member Metropolitan Council, thirty-five of the members are elected from single-member districts, five are elected at-large. Reflecting the citys position in government, Nashville is home to the Tennessee Supreme Courts courthouse for Middle Tennessee. According to 2015 estimates from the U. S. Census Bureau, the balance population, which excludes semi-independent municipalities within Nashville, was 654,610. The 2015 population of the entire 13-county Nashville metropolitan area was 1,830,345, the 2015 population of the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Columbia combined statistical area, a larger trade area, was 1,951,644. The town of Nashville was founded by James Robertson, John Donelson, and it was named for Francis Nash, the American Revolutionary War hero. Nashville quickly grew because of its location, accessibility as a port on the Cumberland River, a tributary of the Ohio River. By 1800, the city had 345 residents, including 136 African American slaves and 14 free blacks, in 1806, Nashville was incorporated as a city and became the county seat of Davidson County, Tennessee. In 1843, the city was named the permanent capital of the state of Tennessee, by 1860, when the first rumblings of secession began to be heard across the South, antebellum Nashville was a prosperous city. The citys significance as a port made it a desirable prize as a means of controlling important river. In February 1862, Nashville became the first state capital to fall to Union troops, the state was occupied by Union troops for the duration of the war. Within a few years after the Civil War, the Nashville chapter of the Ku Klux Klan was founded by Confederate veteran John W. Morton, meanwhile, the city had reclaimed its important shipping and trading position and developed a solid manufacturing base. The post–Civil War years of the late 19th century brought new prosperity to Nashville and these healthy economic times left the city with a legacy of grand classical-style buildings, which can still be seen around the downtown area. Circa 1950 the state approved a new city charter that provided for the election of city council members from single-member districts. This change was supported because at-large voting diluted the minority populations political power in the city and they could seldom gain a majority of the population to support a candidate of their choice
4.
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
5.
Types of restaurant
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Various types of restaurant fall into several industry classifications based upon menu style, preparation methods and pricing. Additionally, how the food is served to the customer helps to determine the classification, historically, restaurant referred only to places that provided tables where one sat down to eat the meal, typically served by a waiter. Following the rise of fast food and take-out restaurants, a retronym for the older standard restaurant was created, sit-down restaurant. Most commonly, sit-down restaurant refers to a dining restaurant with table service, rather than a fast food restaurant or a diner. Sit-down restaurants are often categorized, in North America, as family-style or formal. In British English, the restaurant almost always means an eating establishment with table service. Fast food and takeaway outlets with counter service are not normally referred to as restaurants, outside of North-America, the terms fast casual dining restaurants, family style, and casual dining are not used and distinctions among different kinds of restaurants is often not the same. Others are called brasseries, a term which indicates hours of service, brasseries may serve food round the clock, whereas restaurants usually only serve at set intervals during the day. Any restaurant will be high or low in style and price, familiar or exotic in the cuisine it offers to different kinds of customers. Context is as important as the style and form, a taqueria is a more than familiar site in Guadalajara, Mexico, ethnic restaurants specialize in ethnic or national cuisines. For example, Greek restaurants specialize in Greek cuisine, fast food restaurants emphasize speed of service. Operations range from street vendors with food carts to multi-billion dollar corporations like McDonalds. Food is ordered not from the table, but from a front counter, diners typically then carry their own food from the counter to a table of their choosing, and afterward dispose of any waste from their trays. Drive-through and take-out service may also be available, fast food restaurants are known in the restaurant industry as QSRs or quick-service restaurants. Fast casual restaurants are primarily restaurants, such as Chipotle Mexican Grill. More of the food is prepared at the restaurant than is the case at fast food chains, fast casual restaurants usually do not offer full table service, but many offer non-disposable plates and cutlery. The quality of food and prices tend to be higher than those of a conventional fast food restaurant, a casual dining restaurant is a restaurant that serves moderately-priced food in a casual atmosphere. Except for buffet-style restaurants, casual dining restaurants typically provide table service, chain examples include Harvester in the United Kingdom and TGI Fridays in the United States
6.
Chain store
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Chain store or retail chain are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. In retail, dining, and many categories, chain businesses have come to dominate the market in many parts of the world. A franchise retail establishment is one form of chain store, in 2004, the worlds largest retail chain, Wal-Mart, became the worlds largest corporation based on gross sales. In the U. S. chain stores began with the founding of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company in 1859, by the early 1920s, the U. S. boasted three national chains, A&P, Woolworths, and United Cigar Stores. By the 1930s, chain stores had come of age, court decisions against the chains price-cutting appeared as early as 1906, and laws against chain stores began in the 1920s, along with legal countermeasures by chain-store groups. A restaurant chain is a set of related restaurants in different locations that are either under shared corporate ownership or franchising agreements. Typically, the restaurants within a chain are built to a standard format through architectural prototype development, fast food restaurants are the most common, but sit-down restaurant chains also exist. Restaurant chains are found near highways, shopping malls and tourist areas. The displacement of independent businesses by chains has sparked increased collaboration among independent businesses and communities to prevent chain proliferation and these efforts include community-based organizing through Independent Business Alliances and buy local campaigns. In the U. S. trade organizations such as the American Booksellers Association and American Specialty Toy Retailers do national promotion and they dont exclude the chain itself, only the standardized formula the chain uses. The reason these towns regulate chain stores is to protect independent businesses from competition, restaurant Organizational Forms and Community in the US in 2005. Store Wars, The Enactment and Repeal of Anti‐Chain‐Store Legislation in America, American Journal of Sociology 110#2, 446-487. Lebhar, Godfrey Montague, and W. C, matsunaga, Louella. The changing face of Japanese retail, Working in a chain store. Newman, Benjamin J. and John V. Kane, backlash against the Big Box, Local Small Business and Public Opinion toward Business Corporations. The Chain Store in the United States and Canada, American Economic Review 27#1, pp. 87-95 in JSTOR Schragger, the Anti-Chain Store Movement, Localist Ideology, and the Remnants of the Progressive Constitution, 1920-1940. The anti-chain store movement and the politics of consumption, culture of restraint, the British chain store 1920–39. Commercial Cultures, Economies, Practices, Spaces 31
7.
Breakfast
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Breakfast is the first meal of a day, most often eaten in the early morning before undertaking the days work. Among English speakers, breakfast can be used to refer to meal or to refer to a meal composed of traditional breakfast foods served at any time of day. The word literally refers to breaking the fasting period of the prior night, the meal has managed to generate a vast variety of popular restaurant chains dedicated to serving breakfast, namely, IHOP and Dennys. While current professional opinions are largely in favor of eating breakfast, the influence of breakfast on managing body weight is unclear. The Old English word for dinner, disner, means to break a fast, in Burma the traditional breakfast is htamin jaw, fried rice with boiled peas, and yei nway jan, especially among the poor. Glutinous rice or kao hnyin is steamed and wrapped in banana leaf often served with peas as kao hnyin baung with a sprinkle of crushed and salted toasted sesame. Equally popular is the variety of rice known as nga cheik which is cooked the same way. Si damin is sticky rice cooked with turmeric and onions in oil which is served with crushed and salted toasted sesame. Assorted fritters such as baya jaw are often served as a complement, nan bya or naan again with pè byouk or simply buttered, is served with Indian tea or coffee. Fried chapati, blistered like nan bya but crispy, with pè byouk, a hundred layers, is flaky multi-layered fried paratha served with either pè byouk or a sprinkle of sugar. Eeja gway with Indian tea or coffee is another favourite, add fritters such as split chickpea, urad dal or gourd, boiled egg and fried fish cake. As China is made up of many distinct provinces each with their own unique cuisine, in general, basic choices include sweet or salty pancakes, soup, deep fried bread sticks or doughnuts, buns, porridge, and fried or soup-based noodles. These options are accompanied by tea or sweetened soy bean milk. However, condiments for porridge and the soup base tend to vary between provinces and regions, the types of teas that are served and spices that are used can also differ significantly between the provinces. Cha Chaan Teng breakfasts often include Hong Kong style milk tea, pan fried egg, bread, each dish is designed to be sampled and diners can go through a large selection of dim sum quickly accompanied by a generous amount of good tea. Iron Buddha tea is the most common accompaniment, but other such as puer. Fried and rice-based noodles and cakes are also popular, in modern times, dim sum is commonly prepared and served in Yum Cha restaurants rather than home because of the skill and efforts involved in the preparation. Breakfast in modern Japanese households comes in two variations, Japanese style and Western style
8.
Pie
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A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Pies are defined by their crusts, a filled pie, has pastry lining the baking dish, and the filling is placed on top of the pastry but left open. A top-crust pie has the filling in the bottom of the dish and is covered with a pastry or other covering before baking, a two-crust pie has the filling completely enclosed in the pastry shell. Shortcrust pastry is a kind of pastry used for pie crusts, but many things can be used, including baking powder biscuits, mashed potatoes. Pies can be a variety of sizes, ranging from bite-size to ones designed for multiple servings. The need for nutritious, easy-to-store, easy-to-carry, and long-lasting foods on long journeys, however, this took up additional space on what were either horse-powered treks or small ships, reducing the time of travel before additional food was required. This resulted in early armies adopting the style of hunter-foraging, the introduction of the baking of processed cereals including the creation of flour, provided a more reliable source of food. Egyptian sailors carried a flat brittle loaf of millet bread called dhourra cake. Early pies were in the form of flat, round or freeform crusty cakes called galettes consisting of a crust of ground oats, wheat, rye, sometime before 2000 BC, a recipe for chicken pie was written on a tablet in Sumer. Ancient Greeks are believed to have originated pie pastry, in the plays of Aristophanes, there are mentions of sweetmeats including small pastries filled with fruit. Nothing is known of the pastry used, but the Greeks certainly recognized the trade of pastry-cook as distinct from that of baker. The Romans made a plain pastry of flour, oil, and water to meats and fowls which were baked. A richer pastry, intended to be eaten, was used to make small pasties containing eggs or little birds which were among the items served at banquets. The 1st-century Roman cookbook Apicius makes various mentions of recipes which involve a pie case, by 160 BC, Roman statesman Marcus Porcius Cato, who wrote De Agri Cultura, notes the recipe for the most popular pie/cake called placenta. Also called libum by the Romans, it was more like a modern-day cheesecake on a pastry base, with the development of the Roman Empire and its efficient road transport, pie cooking spread throughout Europe. The Cornish pasty is an excellent adaptation of the pie to a working mans daily food needs, medieval cooks had restricted access to ovens due to their costs of construction and need for abundant supplies of fuel. Pies could be cooked over an open fire, while partnering with a baker allowed them to cook the filling inside their own locally defined casing. The earliest pie-like recipes refer to coffyns, with straight sealed sides, song birds at the time were a fine delicacy and protected by Royal Law
9.
American Pie Council
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The American Pie Council is an organization committed to preserving Americas pie heritage and promoting Americas love affair with pies. As Americas only purely pie-focused national organization, the APC combines aspects of a club, professional association, trade group. The APC has run the APC National Pie Championships since 1995, the event is usually held in Celebration, Florida. The competition is open to amateur, professional, and commercial bakers, as an example of typical categories, the categories at the 2014 competition were, The APC also sponsors or promotes other pie-centric events throughout the year. The APC council also conducts surveys of pie consumption, APC research has shown that Apple is Americans favorite pie, that 59% of Americans consider pie an appropriate late-night snack, and that 20% of Americans have eaten an entire pie. National Pie Day, which is annually on January 23, is now sponsored by the APC since 1986. The holiday was started in the mid-1970s by Boulder, Colorado teacher Charlie Papazian after he declared his birthday to be National Pie Day and this should not be confused with Pi Day which the U. S. Congress recognizes as March 14. In 2014, the APC partnered with Paramount Pictures in promoting the romantic thriller film Labor Day in conjunction with National Pie Day. The APC distributed a promotional poster to pie shops and bakeries featuring images of the films stars Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Americas Best Pies, Nearly 200 Recipes Youll Love. Americas Best Pies 2014-2015, Nearly 200 Recipes Youll Love, List of food days List of pies, tarts and flans Official website
10.
Alaska
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Alaska is a U. S. state located in the northwest extremity of North America. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort seas–the southern parts of the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest. Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area, the 3rd least populous, approximately half of Alaskas residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaskas economy is dominated by the fishing, natural gas, military bases and tourism are also a significant part of the economy. The United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire on March 30,1867, the area went through several administrative changes before becoming organized as a territory on May 11,1912. It was admitted as the 49th state of the U. S. on January 3,1959, the name Alaska was introduced in the Russian colonial period when it was used to refer to the peninsula. It was derived from an Aleut, or Unangam idiom, which refers to the mainland of Alaska. Literally, it means object to which the action of the sea is directed, Alaska is the northernmost and westernmost state in the United States and has the most easterly longitude in the United States because the Aleutian Islands extend into the Eastern Hemisphere. Alaska is the only non-contiguous U. S. state on continental North America and it is technically part of the continental U. S. but is sometimes not included in colloquial use, Alaska is not part of the contiguous U. S. often called the Lower 48. The capital city, Juneau, is situated on the mainland of the North American continent but is not connected by road to the rest of the North American highway system. Alaskas territorial waters touch Russias territorial waters in the Bering Strait, as the Russian Big Diomede Island, Alaska has a longer coastline than all the other U. S. states combined. Alaska is the largest state in the United States by total area at 663,268 square miles, over twice the size of Texas, Alaska is larger than all but 18 sovereign countries. Counting territorial waters, Alaska is larger than the area of the next three largest states, Texas, California, and Montana. It is also larger than the area of the 22 smallest U. S. states. Also referred to as the Panhandle or Inside Passage, this is the region of Alaska closest to the rest of the United States, as such, this was where most of the initial non-indigenous settlement occurred in the years following the Alaska Purchase. The region is dominated by the Alexander Archipelago as well as the Tongass National Forest and it contains the state capital Juneau, the former capital Sitka, and Ketchikan, at one time Alaskas largest city. The Alaska Marine Highway provides a vital transportation link throughout the area. The Interior is the largest region of Alaska, much of it is uninhabited wilderness, Fairbanks is the only large city in the region
11.
Arizona
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Arizona is a state in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the Western United States and the Mountain West states and it is the sixth largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix, Arizona is one of the Four Corners states. It has borders with New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, and Mexico, Arizonas border with Mexico is 389 miles long, on the northern border of the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California. Arizona is the 48th state and last of the states to be admitted to the Union. Historically part of the territory of Alta California in New Spain, after being defeated in the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase, Southern Arizona is known for its desert climate, with very hot summers and mild winters. There are ski resorts in the areas of Flagstaff, Alpine, in addition to the Grand Canyon National Park, there are several national forests, national parks, and national monuments. To the European settlers, their pronunciation sounded like Arissona, the area is still known as alĭ ṣonak in the Oodham language. Another possible origin is the Basque phrase haritz ona, as there were numerous Basque sheepherders in the area, There is a misconception that the states name originated from the Spanish term Árida Zona. See also lists of counties, islands, rivers, lakes, state parks, national parks, Arizona is in the Southwestern United States as one of the Four Corners states. Arizona is the sixth largest state by area, ranked after New Mexico, of the states 113,998 square miles, approximately 15% is privately owned. The remaining area is public forest and park land, state trust land, Arizona is well known for its desert Basin and Range region in the states southern portions, which is rich in a landscape of xerophyte plants such as the cactus. This regions topography was shaped by volcanism, followed by the cooling-off. Its climate has hot summers and mild winters. The state is well known for its pine-covered north-central portion of the high country of the Colorado Plateau. Like other states of the Southwest United States, Arizona has an abundance of mountains, despite the states aridity, 27% of Arizona is forest, a percentage comparable to modern-day France or Germany. The worlds largest stand of pine trees is in Arizona
12.
Arkansas
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Arkansas is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. Its name is of Siouan derivation from the language of the Osage denoting their related kin, the states diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozark and the Ouachita Mountains, which make up the U. S. Interior Highlands, to the forested land in the south known as the Arkansas Timberlands, to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River. Arkansas is the 29th largest by area and the 33rd most populous of the 50 United States, the capital and most populous city is Little Rock, located in the central portion of the state, a hub for transportation, business, culture, and government. The northwestern corner of the state, such as the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers Metropolitan Area and Fort Smith metropolitan area, is a population, education, the largest city in the eastern part of the state is Jonesboro. The largest city in the part of the state is Pine Bluff. The Territory of Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the 25th state on June 15,1836, in 1861 Arkansas withdrew from the United States and joined the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Upon returning to the Union in 1868, the state would continue to suffer due to its reliance on slavery. White rural interests continued to dominate the politics until the Civil Rights Movement. Arkansas began to diversify its economy following World War II and relies on its service industry, aircraft, poultry, steel, tourism, cotton, and rice. The culture of Arkansas is observable in museums, theaters, novels, television shows, restaurants, wright, and physicist William L. McMillan, who was a pioneer in superconductor research, have all lived in Arkansas. The name Arkansas derives from the root as the name for the state of Kansas. The Kansa tribe of Native Americans are closely associated with the Sioux tribes of the Great Plains, the word Arkansas itself is a French pronunciation of a Quapaw word, akakaze, meaning land of downriver people or the Sioux word akakaze meaning people of the south wind. In 2007, the legislature passed a non-binding resolution declaring the possessive form of the states name to be Arkansass which has been followed increasingly by the state government. Arkansas borders Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, Oklahoma to the west, Missouri to the north, as well as Tennessee, the United States Census Bureau classifies Arkansas as a southern state, sub-categorized among the West South Central States. The state line along the Mississippi River is indeterminate along much of the border with Mississippi due to these changes. Arkansas can generally be split into two halves, the highlands in the northwest half and the lowlands of the southeastern half, the highlands are part of the Southern Interior Highlands, including The Ozarks and the Ouachita Mountains. The southern lowlands include the Gulf Coastal Plain and the Arkansas Delta and this dual split can yield to general regions named northwest, southwest, northeast, southeast, or central Arkansas
13.
Colorado
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Colorado is a state in the United States encompassing most of the Southern Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. Colorado is part of the Western United States, the Southwestern United States, Colorado is the 8th most extensive and the 21st most populous of the 50 United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Colorado was 5,540,545 on July 1,2016, the state was named for the Colorado River, which Spanish travelers named the Río Colorado for the ruddy silt the river carried from the mountains. The Territory of Colorado was organized on February 28,1861, Colorado is nicknamed the Centennial State because it became a state in the same year as the centennial of the United States Declaration of Independence. Colorado is noted for its landscape of mountains, forests, high plains, mesas, canyons, plateaus, rivers. Denver is the capital and the most populous city of Colorado, residents of the state are properly known as Coloradans, although the term Coloradoan has been used archaically and lives on in the title of Fort Collins newspaper, the Coloradoan. Colorado, Wyoming and Utah are the states which have boundaries defined solely by lines of latitude and longitude. The summit of Mount Elbert at 14,440 feet elevation in Lake County is the highest point in Colorado, Colorado is the only U. S. state that lies entirely above 1,000 meters elevation. The point where the Arikaree River flows out of Yuma County, Colorado and this point, which holds the distinction of being the highest low elevation point of any state, is higher than the high elevation points of 18 states and the District of Columbia. A little less than one half of the area of Colorado is flat, East of the Rocky Mountains are the Colorado Eastern Plains of the High Plains, the section of the Great Plains within Nebraska at elevations ranging from roughly 3,350 to 7,500 feet. The Colorado plains were mostly prairies, but they have many patches of forests, buttes. Eastern Colorado is presently covered in farmland and rangeland, along with small farming villages. Precipitation is fair, averaging from 15 to 25 inches annually, corn, wheat, hay, soybeans, and oats are all typical crops, and most of the villages and towns in this region boast both a water tower and a grain elevator. Irrigation water is available from the South Platte, the Arkansas River, and a few other streams, however, heavy use of ground water from wells for irrigation has caused underground water reserves to decline. As well as agriculture, eastern Colorado hosts considerable livestock, such as cattle ranches. Roughly 70% of Colorados population resides along the edge of the Rocky Mountains in the Front Range Urban Corridor between Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Pueblo, Colorado. This region is protected from prevailing storms that blow in from the Pacific Ocean region by the high Rockies in the middle of Colorado. The Front Range includes Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Loveland, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Greeley and other townships, on the other side of the Rockies, the significant population centers in Western Colorado are the cities of Grand Junction, Durango, and Montrose
14.
Florida
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Florida /ˈflɒrᵻdə/ is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, Florida is the 22nd-most extensive, the 3rd-most populous, and the 8th-most densely populated of the U. S. states. Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States, the Miami metropolitan area is Floridas most populous urban area. The city of Tallahassee is the state capital, much of the state is at or near sea level and is characterized by sedimentary soil. The climate varies from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south, the American alligator, American crocodile, Florida panther, and manatee can be found in the Everglades National Park. It was a location of the Seminole Wars against the Native Americans. Today, Florida is distinctive for its large Cuban expatriate community and high population growth, the states economy relies mainly on tourism, agriculture, and transportation, which developed in the late 19th century. Florida is also renowned for amusement parks, orange crops, the Kennedy Space Center, Florida has attracted many writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, and continues to attract celebrities and athletes. It is internationally known for golf, tennis, auto racing, by the 16th century, the earliest time for which there is a historical record, major Native American groups included the Apalachee, the Timucua, the Ais, the Tocobaga, the Calusa and the Tequesta. Florida was the first part of the continental United States to be visited and settled by Europeans, the earliest known European explorers came with the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. Ponce de León spotted and landed on the peninsula on April 2,1513 and he named the region La Florida. The story that he was searching for the Fountain of Youth is a myth, in May 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto skirted the coast of Florida, searching for a deep harbor to land. He described seeing a wall of red mangroves spread mile after mile, some reaching as high as 70 feet. Very soon, many smokes appeared along the whole coast, billowing against the sky, the Spanish introduced Christianity, cattle, horses, sheep, the Spanish language, and more to Florida. Both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success, in 1559, Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano established a settlement at present-day Pensacola, making it the first attempted settlement in Florida, but it was abandoned by 1561. Spain maintained tenuous control over the region by converting the tribes to Christianity. The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the establishment of English settlements to the north, the English attacked St. Augustine, burning the city and its cathedral to the ground several times. Florida attracted numerous Africans and African-Americans from adjacent British colonies who sought freedom from slavery, in 1738, Governor Manuel de Montiano established Fort Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose near St
15.
Illinois
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Illinois is a state in the midwestern region of the United States, achieving statehood in 1818. It is the 6th most populous state and 25th largest state in terms of land area, the word Illinois comes from a French rendering of a native Algonquin word. For decades, OHare International Airport has been ranked as one of the worlds busiest airports, Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics. With the War of 1812 Illinois growth slowed as both Native Americans and Canadian forces often raided the American Frontier, mineral finds and timber stands also had spurred immigration—by the 1810s, the Eastern U. S. Railroads arose and matured in the 1840s, and soon carried immigrants to new homes in Illinois, as well as being a resource to ship their commodity crops out to markets. Railroads freed most of the land of Illinois and other states from the tyranny of water transport. By 1900, the growth of jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted a new group of immigrants. Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars, the Great Migration from the South established a large community of African Americans in Chicago, who created the citys famous jazz and blues cultures. Three U. S. presidents have been elected while living in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, additionally, Ronald Reagan, whose political career was based in California, was the only U. S. president born and raised in Illinois. Today, Illinois honors Lincoln with its official slogan, Land of Lincoln. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is located in the capital of Springfield. Illinois is the spelling for the early French Catholic missionaries and explorers name for the Illinois Native Americans. American scholars previously thought the name Illinois meant man or men in the Miami-Illinois language and this etymology is not supported by the Illinois language, as the word for man is ireniwa and plural men is ireniwaki. The name Illiniwek has also said to mean tribe of superior men. The name Illinois derives from the Miami-Illinois verb irenwe·wa he speaks the regular way and this was taken into the Ojibwe language, perhaps in the Ottawa dialect, and modified into ilinwe·. The French borrowed these forms, changing the ending to spell it as -ois. The current spelling form, Illinois, began to appear in the early 1670s, the Illinois name for themselves, as attested in all three of the French missionary-period dictionaries of Illinois, was Inoka, of unknown meaning and unrelated to the other terms. American Indians of successive cultures lived along the waterways of the Illinois area for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, the Koster Site has been excavated and demonstrates 7,000 years of continuous habitation
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Iowa
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Iowa is a U. S. state in the Midwestern United States, bordered by the Mississippi River on the east and the Missouri River and the Big Sioux River on the west. Surrounding states include Wisconsin and Illinois to the east, Missouri to the south, Nebraska and South Dakota to the west, in colonial times, Iowa was a part of French Louisiana and Spanish Louisiana, its state flag is patterned after the flag of France. After the Louisiana Purchase, people laid the foundation for an economy in the heart of the Corn Belt. Iowa is the 26th most extensive in area and the 30th most populous of the 50 United States. Its capital and largest city by population is Des Moines, Iowa has been listed as one of the safest states in which to live. Its nickname is the Hawkeye State, Iowa derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many Native American tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa is bordered by the Mississippi River on the east, the Missouri River and the Big Sioux River on the west, Iowa is the only state whose east and west borders are formed entirely by rivers. Iowa has 99 counties, but 100 county seats because Lee County has two, the state capital, Des Moines, is in Polk County. Iowas bedrock geology generally increases in age from west to east, in northwest Iowa, Cretaceous bedrock can be 74 million years old, in eastern Iowa Cambrian bedrock dates to c.500 million years ago. Iowa is generally not flat, most of the consists of rolling hills. Iowa can be divided into eight landforms based on glaciation, soils, topography, Loess hills lie along the western border of the state, some of which are several hundred feet thick. Northeast Iowa along the Mississippi River is part of the Driftless Zone, consisting of steep hills, several natural lakes exist, most notably Spirit Lake, West Okoboji Lake, and East Okoboji Lake in northwest Iowa. To the east lies Clear Lake, man-made lakes include Lake Odessa, Saylorville Lake, Lake Red Rock, Coralville Lake, Lake MacBride, and Rathbun Lake. The states northwest area has remnants of the once common wetlands. Iowas natural vegetation is tallgrass prairie and savanna in areas, with dense forest and wetlands in flood plains and protected river valleys. Most of Iowa is used for agriculture, crops cover 60% of the state, grasslands cover 30%, as of 2005 Iowa ranked 49th of U. S. states in public land holdings. Endangered or threatened plants include western prairie fringed orchid, eastern prairie fringed orchid, Meads milkweed, prairie bush clover, the explosion in the number of high-density livestock facilities in Iowa has led to increased rural water contamination and a decline in air quality. Iowa has a continental climate throughout the state
17.
Kansas
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Kansas /ˈkænzəs/ is a U. S. state located in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas is named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribes name is said to mean people of the wind or people of the south wind. For thousands of years, what is now Kansas was home to numerous, tribes in the eastern part of the state generally lived in villages along the river valleys. Tribes in the part of the state were semi-nomadic and hunted large herds of bison. When it was opened to settlement by the U. S. Thus, the area was a hotbed of violence and chaos in its early days as these forces collided. The abolitionists eventually prevailed, and on January 29,1861, after the Civil War, the population of Kansas grew rapidly when waves of immigrants turned the prairie into farmland. By 2015, Kansas was one of the most productive agricultural states, producing high yields of wheat, corn, sorghum, and soybeans. Kansas, which has an area of 82,278 square miles is the 15th largest state by area and is the 34th most populous of the 50 United States with a population of 2,911,641, residents of Kansas are called Kansans, officially. Mount Sunflower is Kansass highest point at 4,041 feet, for a millennia, the land that is currently Kansas was inhabited by Native Americans. The first European to set foot in present-day Kansas was Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, in 1803, most of modern Kansas was secured by the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase. Southwest Kansas, however, was still a part of Spain, Mexico, from 1812 to 1821, Kansas was part of the Missouri Territory. The Santa Fe Trail traversed Kansas from 1821 to 1880, transporting manufactured goods from Missouri and silver and furs from Santa Fe, wagon ruts from the trail are still visible in the prairie today. In 1827, Fort Leavenworth became the first permanent settlement of white Americans in the future state, the Kansas–Nebraska Act became law on May 30,1854, establishing the U. S. territories of Nebraska and Kansas, and opening the area to broader settlement by whites. Kansas Territory stretched all the way to the Continental Divide and included the sites of present-day Denver, Colorado Springs, Missouri and Arkansas sent settlers into Kansas all along its eastern border. These settlers attempted to sway votes in favor of slavery, the secondary settlement of Americans in Kansas Territory were abolitionists from Massachusetts and other Free-Staters, who attempted to stop the spread of slavery from neighboring Missouri. Directly presaging the American Civil War, these forces collided, entering into skirmishes that earned the territory the name of Bleeding Kansas, Kansas was admitted to the United States as a free state on January 29,1861, making it the 34th state to enter the Union. He was roundly condemned by both the conventional Confederate military and the partisan rangers commissioned by the Missouri legislature and his application to that body for a commission was flatly rejected due to his pre-war criminal record
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Minnesota
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Minnesota is a state in the midwestern and northern regions of the United States. Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd U. S. state on May 11,1858, the state has a large number of lakes, and is known by the slogan Land of 10,000 Lakes. Its official motto is LÉtoile du Nord, Minnesota is the 12th largest in area and the 21st most populous of the U. S. Minnesota is known for its progressive political orientation and its high rate of civic participation and voter turnout. Until European settlement, Minnesota was inhabited by the Dakota and Ojibwe/Anishinaabe, in recent decades, immigration from Asia, the Horn of Africa, and Latin America has broadened its historic demographic and cultural composition. Minnesotas standard of living index is among the highest in the United States, Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers by dropping milk into water and calling it mnisota. Many places in the state have similar names, such as Minnehaha Falls, Minneiska, Minneota, Minnetonka, Minnetrista, and Minneapolis, a combination of mni and polis, Minnesota is the second northernmost U. S. state. Its isolated Northwest Angle in Lake of the Woods county is the part of the 48 contiguous states lying north of the 49th parallel. The state is part of the U. S. region known as the Upper Midwest and it shares a Lake Superior water border with Michigan and a land and water border with Wisconsin to the east. Iowa is to the south, North Dakota and South Dakota are to the west, with 86,943 square miles, or approximately 2.25 percent of the United States, Minnesota is the 12th-largest state. Minnesota has some of the Earths oldest rocks, gneisses that are about 3.6 billion years old. About 2.7 billion years ago, basaltic lava poured out of cracks in the floor of the primordial ocean, the roots of these volcanic mountains and the action of Precambrian seas formed the Iron Range of northern Minnesota. Following a period of volcanism 1, in more recent times, massive ice sheets at least one kilometer thick ravaged the landscape of the state and sculpted its terrain. The Wisconsin glaciation left 12,000 years ago and these glaciers covered all of Minnesota except the far southeast, an area characterized by steep hills and streams that cut into the bedrock. This area is known as the Driftless Zone for its absence of glacial drift, much of the remainder of the state outside the northeast has 50 feet or more of glacial till left behind as the last glaciers retreated. Gigantic Lake Agassiz formed in the northwest 13,000 years ago and its bed created the fertile Red River valley, and its outflow, glacial River Warren, carved the valley of the Minnesota River and the Upper Mississippi downstream from Fort Snelling. Minnesota is geologically quiet today, it experiences earthquakes infrequently, the states high point is Eagle Mountain at 2,301 feet, which is only 13 miles away from the low of 601 feet at the shore of Lake Superior. Notwithstanding dramatic local differences in elevation, much of the state is a rolling peneplain. Two major drainage divides meet in Minnesotas northeast in rural Hibbing, forming a triple watershed, precipitation can follow the Mississippi River south to the Gulf of Mexico, the Saint Lawrence Seaway east to the Atlantic Ocean, or the Hudson Bay watershed to the Arctic Ocean
19.
Missouri
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Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, achieving statehood in 1821. With over six million residents, it is the eighteenth most populous state, the largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia. The capitol is in Jefferson City on the Missouri River, the state is the twenty-first most extensive by area and is geographically diverse. The Northern Plains were once covered by glaciers, then tallgrass prairie, in the South are the Ozarks, a forested highland, providing timber, minerals, and recreation. The Mississippi River forms the border of the state, eventually flowing into the swampy Missouri Bootheel. Humans have inhabited the land now known as Missouri for at least 12,000 years, the Mississippian culture built cities and mounds, before declining in the 1300s. When European explorers arrived in the 1600s they encountered the Osage, the French established Louisiana, a part of New France, and founded Ste. Genevieve in 1735 and St. Louis in 1764, after a brief period of Spanish rule, the United States acquired the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Americans from the Upland South, including enslaved African Americans, rushed into the new Missouri Territory, many from Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee settled in the Boonslick area of Mid-Missouri. Soon after, heavy German immigration formed the Missouri Rhineland, Missouri played a central role in the westward expansion of the United States, as memorialized by the Gateway Arch. The Pony Express, Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail, as a border state, Missouris role in the American Civil War was complex and there were many conflicts within. After the war, both Greater St. Louis and the Kansas City metropolitan area became centers of industrialization and business, today, the state is divided into 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis. Missouris culture blends elements from the Midwestern and Southern United States, the musical styles of ragtime, Kansas City jazz, and St. Louis Blues, developed in Missouri. The well-known Kansas City-style barbecue, and lesser known St. Louis-style barbecue can be found across the state, St. Louis is also a major center of beer brewing, Anheuser-Busch is the largest producer in the world. Missouri wine is produced in the nearby Missouri Rhineland and Ozarks, Missouris alcohol laws are among the most permissive in the United States. Outside of the large cities popular tourist destinations include the Lake of the Ozarks, U. S. President Harry S. Truman is from Missouri. Other well known Missourians include Mark Twain, Walt Disney, Chuck Berry, some of the largest companies based in the state include Express Scripts, Monsanto, Emerson Electric, Edward Jones, and OReilly Auto Parts. Missouri has been called the Mother of the West and the Cave State, however, Missouris most famous nickname is the Show Me State, the state is named for the Missouri River, which was named after the indigenous Missouri Indians, a Siouan-language tribe
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Nebraska
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Nebraska /nᵻˈbræskə/ is a state that lies in both the Great Plains and the Midwestern United States. Its area is just over 77,220 sq mi with almost 1.9 million people and its largest city is Omaha, which is on the Missouri River. The state is crossed by many trails and was explored by the Lewis. Nebraska was admitted as the 37th state of the United States in 1867 and it is the only state in the United States whose legislature is unicameral and officially nonpartisan. Nebraska is composed of two major regions, the Dissected Till Plains and the Great Plains. The Dissected Till Plains is a region of rolling hills. The Great Plains occupy most of western Nebraska, characterized by treeless prairie, the state has a large agriculture sector and is a major producer of beef, pork, corn, and soybeans. Two major climatic zones are represented in Nebraska, the half of the state has a humid continental climate, and the western half. Indigenous peoples lived in the region of present-day Nebraska for thousands of years before European exploration. The historic tribes in the state included the Omaha, Missouria, Ponca, Pawnee, Otoe, when European exploration, trade, and settlement began, both Spain and France sought to control the region. In the 1690s, Spain established trade connections with the Apaches, by 1703, France had developed a regular trade with the native peoples along the Missouri River in Nebraska, and by 1719 had signed treaties with several of these peoples. After war broke out between the two countries, Spain dispatched an expedition to Nebraska under Lieutenant General Pedro de Villasur in 1720. The party was attacked and destroyed near present-day Columbus by a force of Pawnees and Otoes. The massacre of the Villasur expedition effectively put an end to Spanish exploration of Nebraska for the remainder of the 18th century, in 1762, during the Seven Years War, France ceded the Louisiana territory to Spain. Frances withdrawal from the area left Britain and Spain competing for dominance along the Mississippi, by 1773, later that year, Mackays party built a trading post, dubbed Fort Carlos IV, near present-day Homer. In 1819, the United States established Fort Atkinson as the first U. S. Army post west of the Missouri River, the army abandoned the fort in 1827 as migration moved further west. European-American settlement did not begin in any numbers until after 1848, on May 30,1854, the US Congress created the Kansas and the Nebraska territories, divided by the Parallel 40° North, under the Kansas–Nebraska Act. The Nebraska Territory included parts of the current states of Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, the territorial capital of Nebraska was Omaha
21.
New Mexico
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New Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. It was admitted to the Union as the 47th state on January 6,1912 and it is usually considered one of the Mountain States. New Mexico is fifth by area, the 36th-most populous, inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years before European exploration, New Mexico was colonized by the Spanish in 1598 Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain. Later, it was part of independent Mexico before becoming a U. S. territory and eventually a U. S. state as a result of the Mexican–American War. Among U. S. states, New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanics, the major Native American nations in the state are Navajo, Pueblo, and Apache peoples. The demography and culture of the state are shaped by these strong Hispanic and Native American influences and its scarlet and gold colors are taken from the royal standards of Spain, along with the ancient sun symbol of the Zia, a Pueblo-related tribe. New Mexico, or Nuevo México in Spanish, is incorrectly believed to have taken its name from the nation of Mexico. The name simply stuck, even though the area had no connection to Mexico or the Mexica Indian tribes, Mexico, formerly a part of New Spain, adopted its name centuries later in 1821, after winning independence from Spanish rule. New Mexico was a part of the independent Mexican Empire and Federal Republic of Mexico for 27 years,1821 through 1848, New Mexico and Mexico developed as neighboring Spanish-speaking communities under Spanish rule, with relatively independent histories. The states total area is 121,412 square miles, the eastern border of New Mexico lies along 103° W longitude with the state of Oklahoma, and 2.2 miles west of 103° W longitude with Texas. On the southern border, Texas makes up the eastern two-thirds, while the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora make up the western third, the western border with Arizona runs along the 109°03 W longitude. The southwestern corner of the state is known as the Bootheel, the 37° N latitude parallel forms the northern boundary with Colorado. The states New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah come together at the Four Corners in the corner of New Mexico. New Mexico, although a state, has very little water. Its surface water area is about 250 square miles, the New Mexican landscape ranges from wide, rose-colored deserts to broken mesas to high, snow-capped peaks. Despite New Mexicos arid image, heavily forested mountain wildernesses cover a significant portion of the state, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the southernmost part of the Rocky Mountains, run roughly north-south along the east side of the Rio Grande in the rugged, pastoral north. The most important of New Mexicos rivers are the Rio Grande, Pecos, Canadian, San Juan, the Rio Grande is tied for the fourth-longest river in the United States. Tourists visiting these sites bring significant money to the state, other areas of geographical and scenic interest include Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument and the Gila Wilderness in the southwest of the state
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North Dakota
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North Dakota is the 39th state of the United States, having been admitted to the union on November 2,1889. The state capital is Bismarck, and the largest city is Fargo, North Dakota is the 19th most extensive but the 4th least populous and the 4th least densely populated of the 50 United States. The development has driven strong job and population growth, and low unemployment, North Dakota is located in the U. S. region known as the Great Plains. The state shares the Red River of the North with Minnesota on the east, South Dakota is to the south, Montana is to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are to the north. North Dakota is situated near the middle of North America with a marker in Rugby. With an area of 70,762 square miles, North Dakota is the 19th largest state, the western half of the state consists of the hilly Great Plains as well as the northern part of the Badlands, which are to the west of the Missouri River. The states high point, White Butte at 3,506 feet, the region is abundant in fossil fuels including natural gas, crude oil and lignite coal. The Missouri River forms Lake Sakakawea, the third largest man-made lake in the United States, the central region of the state is divided into the Drift Prairie and the Missouri Plateau. The eastern part of the consists of the flat Red River Valley. Its fertile soil, drained by the meandering Red River flowing northward into Lake Winnipeg, Devils Lake, the largest natural lake in the state, is also found in the east. Eastern North Dakota is overall flat, however, there are significant hills, most of the state is covered in grassland, crops cover most of eastern North Dakota but become increasingly sparse in the center and farther west. This diverse terrain supports nearly 2,000 species of plants, the state of North Dakota is home to the geographical center of North America located near Rugby, North Dakota North Dakota has a continental climate with hot summers and cold winters. The temperature differences are rather extreme because of its far inland position and being in the center of the Northern Hemisphere, with equal distances to the North Pole. As such, summers are almost subtropical in nature, but winters are cold enough to plant hardiness is very low. Native American peoples lived in what is now North Dakota for thousands of years before the coming of Europeans and their tribes included the Mandan people, the Dakota people and the Yanktonai, the latter two from the Lakota peoples. The first European to reach the area was the French-Canadian trader Pierre Gaultier, sieur de La Vérendrye, in 1762 the region became part of Spanish Louisiana until 1802. Dakota Territory was settled sparsely by European Americans until the late 19th century, with the advantage of grants of land, they vigorously marketed their properties, extolling the region as ideal for agriculture. An omnibus bill for statehood for North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and his successor, Benjamin Harrison, signed the proclamations formally admitting North Dakota and South Dakota to the Union on November 2,1889
23.
Oklahoma
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Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central United States. Oklahoma is the 20th-most extensive and the 28th-most populous of the 50 United States, the states name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning red people. The name was settled upon statehood, Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory were merged, on November 16,1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state to enter the union. Its residents are known as Oklahomans, or informally Okies, and its capital, a major producer of natural gas, oil, and agricultural products, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, energy, telecommunications, and biotechnology. In 2007, it had one of the economies in the United States, ranking among the top states in per capita income growth. Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahomas primary economic anchors, with nearly two-thirds of Oklahomans living within their metropolitan statistical areas. With small mountain ranges, prairie, mesas, and eastern forests, most of Oklahoma lies in the Great Plains, Cross Timbers, interior Highlands—a region especially prone to severe weather. The name Oklahoma comes from the Choctaw phrase okla humma, literally meaning red people, equivalent to the English word Indian, okla humma was a phrase in the Choctaw language used to describe Native American people as a whole. Oklahoma later became the de facto name for Oklahoma Territory, and it was approved in 1890. Oklahoma is the 20th-largest state in the United States, covering an area of 69,898 square miles and it is one of six states on the Frontier Strip and lies partly in the Great Plains near the geographical center of the 48 contiguous states. It is bounded on the east by Arkansas and Missouri, on the north by Kansas, on the northwest by Colorado, on the far west by New Mexico, much of its border with Texas lies along the Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen, a failed continental rift. The geologic figure defines the placement of the Red River, the Oklahoma panhandles Western edge is out of alignment with its Texas border. The Oklahoma/New Mexico border is actually 2.1 to 2.2 miles east of the Texas line, the border between Texas and New Mexico was set first as a result of a survey by Spain in 1819. It was then set along the 103rd Meridian, in the 1890s, when Oklahoma was formally surveyed using more accurate surveying equipment and techniques, it was discovered the Texas line was not set along the 103rd Meridian. Surveying techniques were not as accurate in 1819, and the actual 103rd Meridian was approximately 2.2 miles to the east and it was much easier to leave the mistake than for Texas to cede land to New Mexico to correct the surveying error. The placement of the Oklahoma/New Mexico border represents the true 103rd Meridian, cimarron County in Oklahomas panhandle is the only county in the United States that touches four other states, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado and Kansas. Its highest and lowest points follow this trend, with its highest peak, Black Mesa, at 4,973 feet above sea level, situated near its far northwest corner in the Oklahoma Panhandle. The states lowest point is on the Little River near its far southeastern boundary near the town of Idabel, Oklahoma, which dips to 289 feet above sea level
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Oregon
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Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Oregon is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the north by Washington, on the south by California, on the east by Idaho, the Columbia River delineates much of Oregons northern boundary, and the Snake River delineates much of the eastern boundary. The parallel 42° north delineates the boundary with California and Nevada. Oregon was inhabited by indigenous tribes before Western traders, explorers. An autonomous government was formed in the Oregon Country in 1843 before the Oregon Territory was created in 1848, Oregon became the 33rd state on February 14,1859. Today, at 98,000 square miles, Oregon is the ninth largest and, with a population of 4 million, the capital of Oregon is Salem, the second most populous of its cities, with 164,549 residents. Portland is Oregons most populous city, with 632,309 residents, Portlands metro population of 2,389,228 ranks the 23rd largest metro in the nation. The Willamette Valley in western Oregon is the states most densely populated area, the tall conifers, mainly Douglas fir, along Oregons rainy west coast contrast with the lighter-timbered and fire-prone pine and juniper forests covering portions to the east. Abundant alders in the west fix nitrogen for the conifers, stretching east from central Oregon are semi-arid shrublands, prairies, deserts, steppes, and meadows. At 11,249 feet, Mount Hood is the states highest point, Oregons only national park, Crater Lake National Park, comprises the caldera surrounding Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the United States. The state is home to the single largest organism in the world, Armillaria ostoyae. Because of its landscapes and waterways, Oregons economy is largely powered by various forms of agriculture, fishing. It is also the top timber-producer of the lower 48 states, Technology is another one of the states major economic forces, which began in the 1970s with the establishment of the Silicon Forest and the expansion of Tektronix and Intel. Sportswear company Nike, Inc. headquartered in Beaverton, is the states largest public corporation with a revenue of $30.6 billion. The earliest evidence of the name Oregon has Spanish origins and this chronicle is the first topographical and linguistic source with respect to the place name Oregon. There are also two other sources with Spanish origins such as the name Oregano which grows in the part of the region. Another early use of the name, spelled Ouragon, was in a 1765 petition by Major Robert Rogers to the Kingdom of Great Britain, the term referred to the then-mythical River of the West. By 1778 the spelling had shifted to Oregon, in his 1765 petition, Rogers wrote, The rout. is from the Great Lakes towards the Head of the Mississippi, and from thence to the River called by the Indians Ouragon
25.
Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south
26.
Utah
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Utah is a state in the western United States. It became the 45th state admitted to the U. S. on January 4,1896, Utah is the 13th-largest by area, 31st-most-populous, and 10th-least-densely populated of the 50 United States. Utah has a population of more than 3 million, approximately 80% of whom live along the Wasatch Front, Utah is bordered by Colorado to the east, Wyoming to the northeast, Idaho to the north, Arizona to the south, and Nevada to the west. It also touches a corner of New Mexico in the southeast, approximately 62% of Utahns are reported to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or LDS, which greatly influences Utahn culture and daily life. The LDS Churchs world headquarters is located in Salt Lake City, Utah is the only state with a majority population belonging to a single church. The state is a center of transportation, education, information technology and research, government services, mining, in 2013, the U. S. Census Bureau estimated that Utah had the second fastest-growing population of any state. St. George was the metropolitan area in the United States from 2000 to 2005. Utah also has the 14th highest median income and the least income inequality of any U. S. state. A2012 Gallup national survey found Utah overall to be the best state to live in based on 13 forward-looking measurements including various economic, lifestyle, the name Utah is derived from the name of the Ute tribe. It means people of the mountains in the Ute language, according to other sources Utah is derived from the Apache name Yudah which means Tall. These Native American tribes are subgroups of the Ute-Aztec Native American ethnicity and were sedentary, the Ancestral Pueblo people built their homes through excavations in mountains, and the Fremont people built houses of straw before disappearing from the region around the 15th century. Another group of Native Americans, the Navajo, settled in the region around the 18th century, in the mid-18th century, other Uto-Aztecan tribes, including the Goshute, the Paiute, the Shoshone, and the Ute people, also settled in the region. These five groups were present when the first European explorers arrived, the southern Utah region was explored by the Spanish in 1540, led by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, while looking for the legendary Cíbola. A group led by two Catholic priests—sometimes called the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition—left Santa Fe in 1776, hoping to find a route to the coast of California, the expedition traveled as far north as Utah Lake and encountered the native residents. The Spanish made further explorations in the region, but were not interested in colonizing the area because of its desert nature, in 1821, the year Mexico achieved its independence from Spain, the region became known as part of its territory of Alta California. European trappers and fur traders explored some areas of Utah in the early 19th century from Canada, the city of Provo, Utah was named for one, Étienne Provost, who visited the area in 1825. The city of Ogden, Utah was named after Peter Skene Ogden, in late 1824, Jim Bridger became the first known English-speaking person to sight the Great Salt Lake. Due to the salinity of its waters, Bridger thought he had found the Pacific Ocean
27.
Virginia
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Virginia is a state located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, as well as in the historic Southeast. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, the capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond, Virginia Beach is the most populous city, and Fairfax County is the most populous political subdivision. The Commonwealths estimated population as of 2014 is over 8.3 million, the areas history begins with several indigenous groups, including the Powhatan. In 1607 the London Company established the Colony of Virginia as the first permanent New World English colony, slave labor and the land acquired from displaced Native American tribes each played a significant role in the colonys early politics and plantation economy. Although the Commonwealth was under one-party rule for nearly a century following Reconstruction, the Virginia General Assembly is the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World. The state government was ranked most effective by the Pew Center on the States in both 2005 and 2008 and it is unique in how it treats cities and counties equally, manages local roads, and prohibits its governors from serving consecutive terms. Virginias economy changed from agricultural to industrial during the 1960s and 1970s. Virginia has an area of 42,774.2 square miles, including 3,180.13 square miles of water. Virginias boundary with Maryland and Washington, D. C. extends to the mark of the south shore of the Potomac River. The southern border is defined as the 36° 30′ parallel north, the border with Tennessee was not settled until 1893, when their dispute was brought to the U. S. Supreme Court. The Chesapeake Bay separates the portion of the Commonwealth from the two-county peninsula of Virginias Eastern Shore. The bay was formed from the river valleys of the Susquehanna River. Many of Virginias rivers flow into the Chesapeake Bay, including the Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James, the Tidewater is a coastal plain between the Atlantic coast and the fall line. It includes the Eastern Shore and major estuaries of Chesapeake Bay, the Piedmont is a series of sedimentary and igneous rock-based foothills east of the mountains which were formed in the Mesozoic era. The region, known for its clay soil, includes the Southwest Mountains around Charlottesville. The Blue Ridge Mountains are a province of the Appalachian Mountains with the highest points in the state. The Ridge and Valley region is west of the mountains and includes the Great Appalachian Valley, the region is carbonate rock based and includes Massanutten Mountain. The Cumberland Plateau and the Cumberland Mountains are in the southwest corner of Virginia, in this region, rivers flow northwest, with a dendritic drainage system, into the Ohio River basin
28.
Wyoming
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Wyoming /waɪˈoʊmɪŋ/ is a state in the mountain region of the western United States. The state is the tenth largest by area, the least populous, Wyoming is bordered on the north by Montana, on the east by South Dakota and Nebraska, on the south by Colorado, on the southwest by Utah, and on the west by Idaho. Cheyenne is the capital and the most populous city in Wyoming, the state population was estimated at 586,107 in 2015, which is less than the population of 31 of the largest U. S. cities. The Crow, Arapaho, Lakota, and Shoshone were some of the inhabitants of the region. Southwestern Wyoming was included in the Spanish Empire and then Mexican territory until it was ceded to the United States in 1848 at the end of the Mexican–American War. The region acquired the name Wyoming when a bill was introduced to Congress in 1865 to provide a government for the territory of Wyoming. The territory was named after the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania, with the name ultimately being derived from the Munsee word xwé, wamənk, the mineral extraction industry—especially coal, oil, natural gas, and trona—along with the travel and tourism sector are the main drivers behind Wyomings economy. Agriculture has historically been an important component of the economy with the main commodities being livestock, hay, sugar beets, grain. The climate is generally semi-arid and continental, being drier and windier in comparison to the rest of the United States, except for the 1964 election, Wyoming has been a politically conservative state since the 1950s, with the Republican party winning every presidential election. Wyoming is one of three states to have borders along only straight latitudinal and longitudinal lines, rather than being defined by natural landmarks. Wyoming is bordered on the north by Montana, on the east by South Dakota and Nebraska, on the south by Colorado, on the southwest by Utah, and on the west by Idaho. It is the tenth largest state in the United States in total area, from the north border to the south border it is 276 miles, and from the east to the west border is 365 miles at its south end and 342 miles at the north end. The Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming, the state is a great plateau broken by many mountain ranges. Surface elevations range from the summit of Gannett Peak in the Wind River Mountain Range, at 13,804 feet, to the Belle Fourche River valley in the states northeast corner, at 3,125 feet. In the northwest are the Absaroka, Owl Creek, Gros Ventre, Wind River, in the north central are the Big Horn Mountains, in the northeast, the Black Hills, and in the southern region the Laramie, Snowy and Sierra Madre ranges. The Snowy Range in the central part of the state is an extension of the Colorado Rockies in both geology and appearance. The Wind River Range in the west central part of the state is remote and includes more than 40 mountain peaks in excess of 13,000 ft tall in addition to Gannett Peak, the highest peak in the state. The Big Horn Mountains in the central portion are somewhat isolated from the bulk of the Rocky Mountains
29.
Guam
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Guam is an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, Guam is one of five American territories with a civilian government. The capital city is Hagåtña and the most populous city is Dededo, in 2015,161,785 people resided on Guam. Guamanians are American citizens by birth, Guam has an area of 210 sq mi and a population density of 770/sq mi. It is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands and the largest island in Micronesia, among its municipalities, Mongmong-Toto-Maite has the highest density at 3, 691/sq mi, whereas Inarajan and Umatac have the lowest density at 119/sq mi. The highest point is Mount Lamlam at 406 meters above sea level, the Chamorros, Guams indigenous people, settled the island approximately 4,000 years ago. Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to visit the island on March 6,1521, Guam was colonized in 1668 with settlers, like Diego Luis de San Vitores, a Catholic missionary. Between the 16th century and the 18th century, Guam was an important stopover for the Spanish Manila Galleons, during the Spanish–American War, the United States captured Guam on June 21,1898. Under the Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded Guam to the United States on December 10,1898, Guam is among the seventeen Non-Self-Governing Territories of the United Nations. Before World War II, Guam and three other territories – American Samoa, Hawaii, and the Philippines – were the only American jurisdictions in the Pacific Ocean. On December 7,1941, hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Guam was captured by the Japanese, during the occupation, Guamanians were subjected to beheadings, forced labor, rape, and torture. Guam endured hostilities when American forces recaptured the island on July 21,1944, since the 1960s, the economy is supported by two industries, tourism and the United States Armed Forces. The original inhabitants of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are believed to be descendants of Austronesian people originating from Southeast Asia as early as 2000 BC and they evolved into the Chamorro people. The ancient-Chamorro society had four classes, chamorri, matua, achaot, the matua were located in the coastal villages, which meant they had the best access to fishing grounds, whereas the manachang were located in the interior of the island. Matua and manachang rarely communicated with other, and matua often used achaot as intermediaries. There were also makåhna, skilled in healing and medicine, belief in spirits of ancient Chamorros called Taotao mona still persists as a remnant of pre-European culture. Their society was organized along matrilineal clans, Latte stones are stone pillars that are found only in the Mariana Islands, and, they are a recent development in Pre-Contact Chamorro society. The latte-stone was used as a foundation on which thatched huts were built, Latte stones consist of a base shaped from limestone called the haligi and with a capstone, or tåsa, made either from a large brain coral or limestone, placed on top
30.
Colorado Springs, Colorado
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Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in the east central portion of the state and it is situated on Fountain Creek and is located 60 miles south of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. At 6,035 feet the city stands over 1 mile above sea level, Colorado Springs is situated near the base of one of the most famous American mountains, Pikes Peak, rising above 14,000 feet on the eastern edge of the Southern Rocky Mountains. The city is home to 24 national governing bodies of sport, the United States Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic Training Center. The city had an population of 456,568 in 2015, ranking as the second most populous city in the state of Colorado, behind Denver. The Colorado Springs, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area had an population of 712,327 in 2016. The city covers 194.9 square miles, making it the most extensive municipality in Colorado, Colorado Springs was ranked number five by U. S. News & World Report on the list of 2016 Best Places to Live in the USA. The Ute, Arapaho and Cheyenne peoples were the first to inhabit the area which would become Colorado Springs, part of the territory included in the United States 1803 Louisiana Purchase, the current city area was designated part of the 1854 Kansas Territory. In 1859, after the first local settlement was established, it part of the Jefferson Territory on October 24. Colorado City at the Front Range confluence of Fountain and Camp creeks was formally organized on August 13,1859 during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. It served as the capital of the Colorado Territory from November 5,1861, until August 14,1862, in 1871 the Colorado Springs Company laid out the towns of La Font and Fountain Colony, upstream and downstream respectively, of Colorado City. Within a year, Fountain Colony would be renamed Colorado Springs, the El Paso County seat shifted from Colorado City in 1873 to the Town of Colorado Springs. On December 1,1880, Colorado Springs expanded northward with two annexations, the second period of annexations was during 1889–90, and included Seaveys Addition, West Colorado Springs, East End, and another North End addition. In 1891 the Broadmoor Land Company built the Broadmoor suburb, which included the Broadmoor Casino, and by December 12,1895, by 1898, the city was designated into quadrants by the north-south Cascade Avenue and the east-west Washington/Pikes Peak avenues. From 1899 to 1901 Tesla Experimental Station operated on Knob Hill, alexander Airport north of the city opened in 1925, and in 1927 the original Colorado Springs Municipal Airport land was purchased east of the city. In World War II the United States Army Air Forces leased land adjacent to the municipal airfield and this was only one of several military presences in and around Colorado Springs during the war. In November 1950, Ent Air Force Base was selected as the Cold War headquarters for Air Defense Command. The former WWII Army Air Base, Peterson Field, which had been inactivated at the end of the war, was re-opened in 1951 as a U. S. Air Force base
31.
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
32.
Franchising
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Franchising is the practice of the right to use a firms business model and brand for a prescribed period of time. The word franchise is of Anglo-French derivation—from franc, meaning free—and is used both as a noun and as a verb, for the franchisor, the franchise is an alternative to building chain stores to distribute goods that avoids the investments and liability of a chain. The franchisors success depends on the success of the franchisees, the franchisee is said to have a greater incentive than a direct employee because they have a direct stake in the business. Franchising is also used as a market entry mode. The boom in franchising did not take place until after World War II, the practice ended around 1562 but spread to other endeavors. For example, in 17th century England franchisees were granted the right to sponsor markets, there was little growth in franchising, though, until the mid-19th century, when it appeared in the United States for the first time. One of the first successful American franchising operations was started by an enterprising druggist named John S. Pemberton, in 1886, he concocted a beverage comprising sugar, molasses, spices, and cocaine. Pemberton licensed selected people to bottle and sell the drink, which is now known as Coca-Cola and his was one of the earliest—and most successful—franchising operations in the United States. The Singer Company implemented a plan in the 1850s to distribute its sewing machines. The operation failed, though, because the company did not earn money even though the machines sold well. The dealers, who had rights to their territories, absorbed most of the profits because of deep discounts. Some failed to push Singer products, so competitors were able to outsell the company, under the existing contract, Singer could neither withdraw rights granted to franchisees nor send in its own salaried representatives. So, the company started repurchasing the rights it had sold, the experiment proved to be a failure. That may have one of the first times a franchisor failed. Fortunately, the Singer venture did not put an end to franchising, other companies tried franchising in one form or another after the Singer experience. For example, several decades later, General Motors Corporation established a somewhat successful franchising operation in order to raise capital, perhaps the father of modern franchising, though, is Louis Kroh Liggett. In 1902, Liggett invited a group of druggists to join a drug cooperative, as he explained to them, they could increase profits by paying less for their purchases, especially if they set up their own manufacturing company. His idea was to market private label products, about 40 druggists pooled $4,000 of their own money and adopted the name Rexall
33.
Tampa, Florida
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Tampa is a major city in, and the county seat of, Hillsborough County, Florida. It is located on the west coast of Florida on Tampa Bay, near the Gulf of Mexico, the city had a population of 346,037 in 2011. The current location of Tampa was once inhabited by peoples of the Safety Harbor culture. The area was explored by Spanish explorers in the 16th century, resulting in violent conflicts and the introduction of European diseases, which wiped out the original native cultures. In 1824, the United States Army established a frontier outpost called Fort Brooke at the mouth of the Hillsborough River, near the site of todays Tampa Convention Center. The first civilian residents were pioneers who settled near the fort for protection from the nearby Seminole population, today, Tampa is part of the metropolitan area most commonly referred to as the Tampa Bay Area. For U. S. Census purposes, Tampa is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, the Greater Tampa Bay area has over 4 million residents and generally includes the Tampa and Sarasota metro areas. The Tampa Bay Partnership and U. S. Census data showed an annual growth of 2.47 percent. A2012 estimate shows the Tampa Bay area population to have 4,310,524 people, Tampa was ranked as the 5th best outdoor city by Forbes in 2008. Tampa also ranks as the fifth most popular American city, based on where people want to live, a 2004 survey by the NYU newspaper Washington Square News ranked Tampa as a top city for twenty-somethings. Tampa is ranked as a Gamma+ world city by Loughborough University, ranked alongside other world cities such as Phoenix, Charlotte, Rotterdam, and Santo Domingo. The word Tampa may mean sticks of fire in the language of the Calusa and this might be a reference to the many lightning strikes that the area receives during the summer months. Other historians claim the name means the place to gather sticks, toponymist George R. Stewart writes that the name was the result of a miscommunication between the Spanish and the Indians, the Indian word being itimpi, meaning simply near it. The name first appears in the Memoir of Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda and he calls it Tanpa and describes it as an important Calusa town. While Tanpa may be the basis for the modern name Tampa, archaeologist Jerald Milanich places the Calusa village of Tanpa at the mouth of Charlotte Harbor, the original Bay of Tanpa. A later Spanish expedition did not notice Charlotte Harbor while sailing north along the west coast of Florida, the name was accidentally transferred north. Map makers were using the term Bay or Bahia Tampa as early as 1695, people from Tampa are known as Tampans or Tampanians. Latin Americans from Tampa are known as tampeños, or tampeñas for females and these terms of Spanish origin emerged after 1900 for the immigrant communities in West Tampa and Ybor City
34.
Pillsbury Company
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Pillsbury is a brand name used by Minneapolis-based General Mills and Orrville, Ohio-based J. M. Smucker Company. Antitrust law required General Mills to sell off some of the products, General Mills kept the rights to refrigerated and frozen Pillsbury products, while dry baking products and frosting are now sold by Smucker under license. Leo Burnett created Pillsburys Doughboy and Jolly Green Giant, which are two of the top brand icons. Pillsbury and Company was founded in 1872 by Charles Alfred Pillsbury, the company was second only to Washburn-Crosby to use steel rollers for processing grain in the United States. The finished product required transportation, so the Pillsburys assisted in funding railroad development in Minnesota, in 1889, Pillsbury and its five mills on the banks of the Mississippi River were purchased by a British company. The company also tried to purchase and merge with the Washburn Crosby Company, in 1923, the Pillsbury family reacquired Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Company, Limited which subsequently was incorporated in 1935 as Pillsbury Flour Mills Company. In 1949, the company introduced a national baking competition, which would come to be known as the Pillsbury Bake-Off, only seven products used the Pillsbury name in 1950, but the company began adding to its product line. The company began advertising heavily on television, in the 1960s, Pillsbury added Sweet*10 made with cyclamate, which became the most popular artificial sweetener. In 1964, Pillsbury introduced Funny Face Drink Mix with the names Goofy Grape, Rootin Tootin Raspberry, Freckle Face Strawberry, Loud Mouth Lime, Chinese Cherry, lefty Lemon followed in 1965, along with other flavors. The Funny Face characters, as well as the Funny Face brand were created in 1963 by Hal Silverman, when cyclamate was banned, Sweet*10 and Funny Face had to be dropped, resulting in a $4.5 million loss. Both products were re-introduced after changes, and the drinks became available sweetened and unsweetened, another drink mix introduced in the 1960s was Moo Juice, a flavored powder combined with milk in a shaker to produce a milkshake. Moo Juice was also created by Hal Silverman and its TV commercial featured a talking animation of the products cartoon cow head mascot. This was voiced by Frank Fontaine, who was familiar at that time as Crazy Guggenheim in The Jackie Gleason Shows Joe the Bartender skits. Moo Juice was short-lived, as its milkshakes tended to be compared to similar products such as Bordens Frosted and Birds Eyes Thick. The TV commercial featured Buddy Hackett as the voice of the little bear sheriff. Also, there was Gorilla Milk—. youll go ape for Gorilla Milk and this product, aimed at teenagers, was not successful going against Carnation Instant Breakfast. That decade, Pillsbury also created Space Food Sticks to capitalize on the popularity of the space program, Space Food Sticks were developed by Robert Muller, the inventor of the HACCP standards used by the food industry to ensure food safety. It acquired Burger King in 1967, however, the baking products division was sold to International Multifoods Corporation, which was later acquired by Smuckers
35.
Bakers Square
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Bakers Square Restaurant & Bakery is a casual dining restaurant chain in the United States. Known for its pies, Bakers Square also offers full breakfast, lunch, the chain is owned by American Blue Ribbon Holdings. As of July 2011, it had 46 locations, Bakers Square began in December 1969 with a restaurant called Mrs. Cs in Des Moines, Iowa, that became popular for its pies. Pillsbury purchased Mrs. Cs around that time, renamed it Poppin Fresh Pies, VICORP, owners of the Village Inn restaurant chain, purchased Poppin Fresh Pies from Pillsbury in 1983 and renamed the chain Bakers Square. Bakers Square restaurants are found in the Upper Midwest. Except for the Des Moines area, Bakers Square and Village Inn operate in markets without overlap. The original Mrs. Cs restaurant, on Merle Hay Road in Des Moines, remained in business as a Bakers Square until it closed on April 2,2008, as parent company VICORP filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In 2009, American Blue Ribbon Holdings, a company owned by Fidelity National Financial and Newport Global Advisors, acquired the assets of VICORP, including Village Inn, in late 1993, VICORP acquired from Eric A. Holm the rights to the small Florida chain Angel’s Diner. Unfortunately Holm had also sold the rights to Golden Corral, the intent was to convert under-performing Village Inn and Bakers Square units to this new concept. After building seven units, VICORP realized that the concept was not economically viable, during this time, Eric Holm filed for personal bankruptcy. On April 3,2008, VICORP filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code. VICORP closed 56 company-owned restaurants as a result of the move, leaving a total of 343 Village Inn and Bakers Square locations. Village Inn restaurants are found in the Midwest states such as Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, and Nebraska, the Western United States, Texas, Virginia, and Florida. Bakers Square once had a presence in California with over 90 locations and competed directly with Marie Callenders, Cocos Bakery. Bakers Square entered the California market when its parent company acquired the Sambos chain in October 1984, many Sambos locations were converted to Bakers Square restaurants and the ones that werent were sold to other chains, including Dennys. VICORPs Bakers Square concept flourished in the Golden State through the early 2000s, however, the declining economy took its toll on the restaurant industry and, by 2005, profit margins began to decline. Bakers Square restaurants began closing rural and suburban California locations as leases expired and those that remained open were not remodeling, as were other chains, and the business continued to decline. By February 2009, more than 80 California locations had closed, most locations were shuttered and are vacant today while a few locations around the Los Angeles area converted to Du-pars Restaurant & Bakery or Pollys Pies
36.
Ralston Purina
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Ralston Purina Company was a St. Louis, Missouri-based American animal feed and pet food company. On December 12,2001, it merged with Swiss food-giant Nestlés Friskies division to form Nestlé Purina PetCare Company, Ralston Purina traces its roots to 1894, when founder William H. Danforth established the animal feed company Purina Mills. Its predominant brand for each animal was referred to as Chow, hence Purina Horse Chow, Purina Dog Chow, Purina Cat Chow, Purina Rabbit Chow, Purina Pig Chow. Later, the company began producing cereal, which received endorsement by Webster Edgerly, founder of Ralstonism, Edgerly was at the time promoting the consumption of whole-grain cereal. These cereals became so successful that the name of the enterprise was changed in 1902 to the Ralston-Purina Company, in 1986, Ralston Purina sold Purina Mills, its US animal feed business, to British Petroleum. Purina Mills is now owned by Land OLakes, in 1994, the Ralston human food operations of the Ralston Purina Company were spun off into a new company called Ralcorp Holdings. In 1998, Ralston Purina spun off its international animal feed business as Agribrands which was acquired by Cargill in 2001, the animal feed businesses continue to use the Purina and Chow brands which Purina Mills and Cargill license for use in the US and internationally, respectively. Ralston Purina became the subject of a bid by Swiss-based Nestlé. Nestlé S. A. and Ralston Purina announced in January 2001 a definitive merger agreement, under the agreement, Nestlé acquired all of Ralston Purinas outstanding shares for US$33.50 per share in cash. The offer represented a premium of 36% over the price on Friday. The transaction had a value of US$10.3 billion. Both corporations saw this major strategic transaction as the way to benefit from their combined know-how, complementary strengths. Several brands of pet food had to be divested separately to meet antitrust concerns, Purina brands are now made and marketed by a division of Nestlé which is still headquartered in St. Louis. Also, Purina has honoured several Canadian animals every year since 1968 in their Animal Hall of Fame, the latest inductees included a police service dog which rushed and subdued an armed robber. In 1977, Ralston Purina acquired Missouri Arena Corporation and the St. Louis Blues National Hockey League franchise, during the companys ownership of the team, they changed the name of the St. Louis Arena to the Checkerdome, reflecting the Ralston Purina logo. The franchise was sold to Harry Ornest on July 27,1983, Ralston Purina purchased the Eveready Battery Company in 1986, owner of the Eveready and Energizer brands. The company was spun off in 2000, Ralston Purina purchased Continental Baking Company, makers of Wonder bread and Hostess cakes, from ITT in 1984. Ralston spun off Continental Baking Company, subsequently bought by Irving, Ralston Purina opened test market pizza stores called Checkerboard Pizza in 1986
37.
Sambo's
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Sambos is a restaurant, formerly an American restaurant chain, started in 1957 by Sam Battistone, Sr. and Newell Bohnett. Though the name was taken from portions of the names of its founders, by the early 1960s, the illustrations depicted a light-skinned boy wearing a jeweled Indian-style turban with the tigers. A kids club, Sambos Tiger Tamers, promoted the family image. By 1979, Sambos had 1,117 outlets in 47 American states, there were other corporate level decisions being made at the time that also led to Sambos corporate demise. There was pressure to take Sambos into a more normal salaried manager compensation package, in March 1981, in a further attempt to give the chain a new image the company again renamed some locations, this time to No Place Like Sams. By November 1981, the company filed for bankruptcy, neither the name change nor bankruptcy protection reversed the downward trend, and in 1982 all but the original Sambos at 216 West Cabrillo Boulevard in Santa Barbara, California, closed their doors. By February 1983,618 of the locations were renamed Seasons Friendly Eating, several locations were sold to Dennys, including the Fort Lauderdale store. Bakers Squares parent company acquired Sambos in California in October 1984, many Sambos locations were converted to Bakers Square restaurants and the ones that werent were sold to other chains, including Dennys. Sam Battistone, Jr. is also the owner of the New Orleans Jazz in the NBA. He later moved the team to Utah and sold it, battistones grandson, restaurateur Chad Stevens, owns the only remaining Sambos. The Original Sambos Restaurant TV commercials at The Museum of Classic Chicago Television
38.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
39.
Des Moines, Iowa
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Des Moines /dᵻˈmɔɪn/ is the capital and the most populous city in the U. S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County, a small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22,1851, as Fort Des Moines and it is located on and named after the Des Moines River, which likely was adapted from the French colonial name, Rivière des Moines, meaning River of the Monks. The citys population was 203,433 as of the 2010 census, the five-county metropolitan area is ranked 91st in terms of population in the United States with 599,789 residents according to the 2013 estimate by the United States Census Bureau. Des Moines is a center of the U. S. insurance industry and has a sizable financial services. The city was credited as the one spot for U. S. insurance companies in a Business Wire article. The city is the headquarters for the Principal Financial Group, the Meredith Corporation, Ruan Transportation, EMC Insurance Companies, and Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. Other major corporations such as Wells Fargo, Voya Financial, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, ACE Limited, Marsh, Monsanto, in recent years Microsoft, Hewlett Packard and Facebook have established data processing and logistical facilities in the Des Moines metro. Forbes magazine ranked Des Moines as the Best Place for Business in both 2010 and 2013, in 2014, NBC ranked Des Moines as the Wealthiest City in America, according to its criteria. Des Moines is an important city in U. S. presidential politics, as the capital of the state, many presidential candidates set up campaign headquarters in Des Moines. Des Moines takes its name from Fort Des Moines, which was named for the Des Moines River and this was adopted from the name given by French colonists. Des Moines translates literally to either from the monks or of the monks, the historian Virgil Vogel claimed that the name was derived from Moingona, the Algonquian clan name for Loon, one of the clans of the local Native American people. Some historians and researchers lacking linguistic or Algonquianist training concluded that Moingona meant people by the portage or something similar and this was the site of the earliest known encounters between the Moingona and European explorers took place. This was some 200 miles from the Des Moines River, based on archeological evidence, the juncture of the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers has attracted humans for at least 7,000 years. Several prehistoric occupation areas have been identified by archeologists in downtown Des Moines, discovered in December 2010, the Palace is an expansive 7, 000-year-old site found during excavations prior to construction of the new wastewater treatment plant in southeastern Des Moines. It contains well-preserved house deposits and numerous graves, more than 6,000 artifacts were found at this site. State of Iowa archaeologist John Doershuk was assisted by University of Iowa archaeologists at this dig, at least three Late Prehistoric villages, dating from about AD1300 to 1700, stood in or near what developed later as downtown Des Moines. In addition,15 to 18 prehistoric American Indian mounds were observed in area by early settlers
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Mansard roof
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A mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The steep roof with windows creates a floor of habitable space. The upper slope of the roof may not be visible from street level when viewed from close proximity to the building, the earliest known example of a mansard roof is credited to Pierre Lescot on part of the Louvre built around 1550. This roof design was popularized in the early 17th century by François Mansart and it became especially fashionable during the Second French Empire of Napoléon III. Mansard in Europe also means the attic space itself, not just the roof shape and is used in Europe to mean a gambrel roof. Two distinct traits of the mansard roof – steep sides and a double pitch – sometimes lead to it being confused with other roof types. Since the upper slope of a roof is rarely visible from the ground. The gambrel roof style, commonly seen in barns in North America, is a cousin of the mansard. Both mansard and gambrel roofs fall under the classification of curb roofs. However, the mansard is a hip roof, with slopes on all sides of the building. French roof is used as a synonym for a mansard but is also defined as an American variation of a mansard with the lower pitches nearly vertical. In France and Germany, no distinction is made between gambrels and mansards – they are both called mansards, in the French language, mansarde can be a term for the style of roof, or for the garret living space, or attic, directly within it. The mansard style makes use of the interior space of the attic. Often the decorative potential of the Mansard is exploited through the use of convex or concave curvature, one frequently seen explanation for the popularity of the mansard style is that it served to shelter its owners against taxes as well as rain. Later examples suggest that either French or American buildings were taxed by their height to the base of the roof and this last explanation is the nearest to the truth, a Parisian law had been in place since 1783, restricting the heights of buildings to 20 metres. The height was measured up to the cornice line, making any living space contained in a mansard roof exempt. A1902 revision of the law permitted building three or even four stories within such a roof, the style was popularized in France by architect François Mansart. Although he was not the inventor of the style, his extensive and prominent use of it in his designs gave rise to the mansard roof
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Golden Corral
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It is a privately held company headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, with locations in forty-one states. In 1971, James Maynard and William F. Carl conceived the idea that became Golden Corral after several attempts to acquire a franchise with other companies. Golden Corral was incorporated in 1972 and the first Golden Corral Family Steak House opened on January 3,1973, in Fayetteville, the company has since expanded to 500 locations across the United States, about 100 of them are company-owned. Gross sales are over $1.53 billion, the company had more than 500 restaurants by 1987. That year, they decided to begin franchising by licensing 55 distressed restaurants to their most successful general managers, because of poor training, nationwide concerns about the consumption of red meat, and a shift in market shares to upscale restaurants, sales were falling. The company added salad bars to all of its locations, sacrificed seating in most, in 1991, the first seven Metro Market concept restaurants opened. They were 10,000 square feet and seated between 400 and 450 customers and these new Golden Corral restaurants more than doubled the size of the old, which were typically 5,000 square feet with a capacity of 175 people. There was the addition of the Brass Bell Bakery, named for the bell which rang every fifteen minutes to signal that fresh bread, rolls. An expanded buffet, dubbed the Golden Choice Buffet, was also added, in 2001, system-wide annual sales exceeded $1 billion for the first time. As of 2008, there were 485 restaurants in 41 states, in April 2009, Golden Corral entered New England with a restaurant in Springfield, Massachusetts. In late 1993, VICORP acquired the right to a small Florida chain called Angel’s Diner and they acquired this from Eric A. Holm. Unfortunately he had sold the rights to Golden Corral and VICORP was forced to pay Golden Corral $1M to secure the exclusive rights. The intent was to convert under performing Village Inn and Bakers Square units to this new concept, after building 7 units, VICORP realized that the concept was not economically viable and wrote off $11M on the venture. During this time frame, Eric A. Holm filed for personal bankruptcy, the companys most recent restaurant concept, called Strata, was rolled out during the mid-2000s in an effort to bring more of the food preparation into view of the guests. In all locations, guests serve themselves, including requesting made-to-order items such as Belgian waffles, omelets, many locations offer a To-Go service, which allows customers to pack anything they want into a To-Go container and then pay for it by the pound. Many restaurants also offer reserved parking, in 2003, an outbreak of salmonella was linked to a Golden Corral restaurant in Kennesaw, Georgia. Twenty-three people were affected by the outbreak, the salmonella bacteria was found in a floor drain, leading health inspectors to believe that it had been washed off of equipment earlier. A similar outbreak occurred in Wyoming and Orlando, Florida, in late 2012, in 2012, an outbreak of norovirus was linked to a Golden Corral restaurant in Casper, Wyoming
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Bankruptcy
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Bankruptcy is a legal status of a person or other entity that cannot repay the debts it owes to creditors. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, Bankruptcy is not the only legal status that an insolvent person may have, and the term bankruptcy is therefore not a synonym for insolvency. In some countries, including the United Kingdom, bankruptcy is limited to individuals, in the United States, bankruptcy is applied more broadly to formal insolvency proceedings. In France, the cognate French word banqueroute is used solely for cases of fraudulent bankruptcy, in Ancient Greece, bankruptcy did not exist. If a man owed and he could not pay, he and his wife, children or servants were forced into debt slavery, until the creditor recouped losses through their physical labour. Many city-states in ancient Greece limited debt slavery to a period of five years, debt slaves had protection of life and limb, which regular slaves did not enjoy. However, servants of the debtor could be retained beyond that deadline by the creditor and were forced to serve their new lord for a lifetime. An exception to rule was Athens, which by the laws of Solon forbade enslavement for debt, as a consequence. The Statute of Bankrupts of 1542 was the first statute under English law dealing with bankruptcy or insolvency, Bankruptcy is also documented in East Asia. According to al-Maqrizi, the Yassa of Genghis Khan contained a provision that mandated the death penalty for anyone who became bankrupt three times, a failure of a nation to meet bond repayments has been seen on many occasions. Philip II of Spain had to declare four state bankruptcies in 1557,1560,1575 and 1596, at the edge of Europe, Egypt, Russia, and Turkey have histories of chronic default as well. For private households, it is argued to be insufficient to merely dismiss debts after a certain period and it is important to assess the underlying problems and to minimize the risk of financial distress to re-occur. In most EU Member States, debt discharge is conditioned by a partial payment obligation, in the United States, discharge is conditioned to a lesser extent. The spectrum is broad in the EU, with the UK coming closest to the US system, the Other Member States do not provide the option of a debt discharge. It is almost impossible to discharge student loan debt by filing bankruptcy, unlike most other debtors, the individual with student debt must give a series of reasons and tests to prove that the debtor could not pay the debt. If the person were to file bankruptcy, he or she is encouraged to do so under Chapter 13. In order to avoid bankruptcy, one could negotiate with the lender to lower monthly payments, student loan bankruptcy is considered a last resort. However, some find themselves being forced to file bankruptcy, as the lender refused to lower payments
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Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
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Chapter 11 is a chapter of Title 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. In contrast, Chapter 7 governs the process of a liquidation bankruptcy, when a business is unable to service its debt or pay its creditors, the business or its creditors can file with a federal bankruptcy court for protection under either Chapter 7 or Chapter 11. In Chapter 7, the business operations, a trustee sells all of its assets. Any residual amount is returned to the owners of the company, in Chapter 11, in most instances the debtor remains in control of its business operations as a debtor in possession, and is subject to the oversight and jurisdiction of the court. Chapter 11 retains many of the present in all, or most. It provides additional tools for debtors as well, most importantly,11 U. S. C. §1108 empowers the trustee to operate the debtors business. In Chapter 11, unless a separate trustee is appointed for cause, Chapter 11 affords the debtor in possession a number of mechanisms to restructure its business. A debtor in possession can acquire financing and loans on favorable terms by giving new lenders first priority on the businesss earnings, the court may also permit the debtor in possession to reject and cancel contracts. Debtors are also protected from other litigation against the business through the imposition of an automatic stay, an example of proceedings that are not necessarily stayed automatically are family law proceedings against a spouse or parent. Further, creditors may file with the court seeking relief from the automatic stay, all creditors are entitled to be heard by the court. The court is responsible for determining whether the proposed plan of reorganization complies with the bankruptcy law. Chapter 11 usually results in reorganization of the business or personal assets and debts. Debtors may emerge from a chapter 11 bankruptcy within a few months or within several years, depending on the size, the Bankruptcy Code accomplishes this objective through the use of a bankruptcy plan. The debtor in possession typically has the first opportunity to propose a plan during the period of exclusivity and this period allows the debtor 120 days from the date of filing for chapter 11, to propose a plan of reorganization before any other party in interest may propose a plan. With some exceptions, the plan may be proposed by any party in interest, interested creditors then vote for a plan. If the judge approves the plan and if the creditors all agree the plan can be confirmed. If at least one class of creditors votes against the plan and thus objects, in order to be confirmed over their objection the plan must not discriminate against that class of creditors, and the plan must be found fair and equitable to that class. Upon its confirmation, the plan becomes binding and identifies the treatment of debts, if the case is dismissed, creditors will look to non-bankruptcy law in order to satisfy their claims
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Fidelity National Financial
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Fidelity National Financial, Inc. a Fortune 500 company, is the United States largest provider of commercial and residential mortgage and diversified services. FNF generates approximately seven billion in revenue from their title. Fidelity National Financial, Inc. is currently ranked number 316 on Fortune’s list of America’s Largest Companies. S, FNF also owns 100% of J. Alexanders, an upscale dining concept, which also owns Stoney River Legendary Steaks. In addition, FNF owns Digital Insurance, Inc. owns a 51% stake in Remy International, Inc. Fidelity National Title Group, a subsidiary of FNF established in 2005, provides title insurance and escrow services. The FNTG website claims that the group underwriters issue approximately half of the insurance contracts in the United States. FNTG provides additional real estate related services through brand names such as Fidelity National Home Warranty, ServiceLink, for example, Fidelity Residential Solutions provides title insurance and closings services for relocation companies. Fidelity National Title Group owns and operates the consumer education website title. com
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Rocky Mountain News
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The Rocky Mountain News was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States from April 23,1859, until February 27,2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing, as of March 2006, the Monday–Friday circulation was 255,427. From the 1940s until 2009, the newspaper was printed in a tabloid format, under the leadership of president, publisher, and editor John Temple, the Rocky Mountain News had won four Pulitzer Prizes since 2000. Most recently in 2006, the newspaper won two Pulitzers, in Feature Writing and Feature Photography, the papers final issue appeared on Friday, February 27,2009, less than two months shy of its 150th anniversary. Its demise left Denver a one-newspaper town, with The Denver Post as the sole remaining large-circulation daily and it became Colorados oldest newspaper and possibly its longest continuously operated business. Its first issue was printed on a press from Omaha, Nebraska. That first issue was printed only 20 minutes ahead of its rival, the Rocky went from a weekly to a daily newspaper in August 1860, and from an evening to a morning newspaper in July 1870. In 1883, the took a stand against corruption and crime in Denver. One of its primary targets was city crime boss Jefferson Randolph Smith, the News continued its crusade to rid Denver of its most celebrated bad man, which took nearly a decade to complete. The E. W. Scripps Company bought the Rocky Mountain News in 1926, the Rocky Mountain News and its competitors, including The Denver Post, resorted to gasoline giveaways and other promotions in an attempt to boost circulation. By the early 1940s, the Rocky had nearly died and it was saved by then editor Jack Foster when he convinced Scripps to approve changing the newspaper from a broadsheet format to a tabloid design. Foster reasoned that the new format would make it easier for readers to hold and navigate, fosters wife, Frances, introduced Americas first advice column, called Molly Mayfield. It became an instant favorite among readers and was adopted in many other newspapers, paving the way for advice columnists such as Ann Landers. After a continued rivalry that almost put both out of business, the Rocky and The Post merged operations in 2001 under a joint operating agreement. Through the agreement, the Denver Newspaper Agency was formed, the new company ran all noneditorial operations of both papers, namely advertising and circulation, and was equally owned by the E. W. Scripps Company and by MediaNews Group, which owns The Post. The Rocky was considered more conservative than the Post. The redesign was the result of new presses that allowed the newspaper to print about 25% faster than its old presses, at an average speed of 60,000 issues per hour. On December 4,2008, E. W. Scripps put the News up for sale, following the shutdown of the Rocky, the Post, now the only daily newspaper in Denver, resumed seven-day-a-week publication
