1.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress and Supreme Court.
Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia.
Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles.
Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
2.
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
It took place in Paris during 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities. The main result was the Treaty of Versailles with Germany, which in section 231 laid the guilt for the war on the aggression of Germany and this provision proved humiliating for Germany and set the stage for the expensive reparations Germany was intended to pay. They met together informally 145 times and made all the major decisions, the conference opened on 18 January 1919. Key recommendations were folded into the Treaty of Versailles with Germany, the five major powers controlled the Conference. Amongst the Big Five, in practice Japan played a small role, the four met together informally 145 times and made all the major decisions, which in turn were ratified by other attendees. The open meetings of all the approved the decisions made by the Big Four. The conference came to an end on 21 January 1920 with the inaugural General Assembly of the League of Nations, the main result was the Treaty of Versailles, with Germany, which in section 231 laid the guilt for the war on the aggression of Germany and her allies.
This provision proved humiliating for Germany and set the stage for very high reparations Germany was supposed to pay, republican Germany was not invited to attend the conference at Versailles. Representatives of White Russia were present, a central issue of the Conference was the disposition of the overseas colonies of Germany. The British dominions wanted their reward for their sacrifice, Australia wanted New Guinea, New Zealand wanted Samoa, and South Africa wanted South West Africa. Wilson wanted the League of Nations to administer all the German colonies until such time as they were ready for independence, Lloyd George realized he needed to support his dominions, and he proposed a compromise that there be three types of mandates. Mandates for the Turkish provinces were one category, they would be divided up between Britain and France and the others finally went along with the solution. The dominions received Class C Mandates to the colonies they wanted, Japan obtained mandates over German possessions north of the equator.
Wilson wanted no mandates for the United States, his top advisor Colonel House was deeply involved in awarding the others, Wilson was especially offended by Australian demands. He and Hughes had some clashes, with the most famous being, But after all. Hughes, I represent sixty thousand dead, prior to Wilsons arrival in Europe in December 1918, no American president had ever visited Europe while in office. High hopes and expectations were placed on him to deliver what he had promised for the post-war era, in doing so, Wilson ultimately began to lead the foreign policy of the United States toward interventionism, a move strongly resisted in some domestic circles. Once Wilson arrived, however, he found rivalries, and conflicting claims previously submerged and he worked mostly trying to sway the direction that the French and British delegations were taking towards Germany and its allies in Europe, as well as the former Ottoman lands in the Middle East
3.
American entry into World War I
The American entry into World War I came in April 1917, after two and a half years of efforts by President Woodrow Wilson to keep the United States neutral. Apart from an Anglophile element supporting the British, American public opinion went along with neutrality at first, the sentiment for neutrality was strong among Irish Americans, German Americans and Scandinavian Americans, as well as among church leaders and women. On the other hand, even before World War I broke out, the citizenry increasingly came to see the German Empire as the villain after news of atrocities in Belgium in 1914, and the sinking of the passenger liner RMS Lusitania in May 1915. Wilson made all the key decisions and kept the economy on a basis, while allowing banks to make large-scale loans to Britain. However, he did enlarge the United States Navy, in early 1917, Germany decided to resume all-out submarine warfare on every commercial ship headed toward Britain, realizing that this decision would almost certainly mean war with the U. S.
Germany offered to help Mexico regain territories lost in the Mexican–American War in the Zimmermann Telegram, publication of that offer outraged Americans just as German U-boats started sinking American ships in the North Atlantic. Wilson asked Congress for a war to end all wars that would make the safe for democracy. On December 7,1917, the U. S. declared war on Austria-Hungary, United States insisted on maintaining the traditional rights of neutrals, protested strongly against violations by Britain and especially by Germany. The British seized American ships for supposed violations, the Germans sank them without warning, in violation of international law that said sailors must be allowed an opportunity to reach their lifeboats. A critical indirect strategy used by both sides was the blockade, the British Royal Navy successfully stopped the shipment of most war supplies and food to Germany. Neutral American ships that tried to trade with Germany were seized or turned back by the Royal Navy who viewed such trade as in conflict with the Allies war efforts.
The strangulation came about slowly, because Germany and the Central Powers controlled extensive farmlands. It was eventually successful because Germany and Austria-Hungary had decimated their agricultural production by taking so many farmers into their armies, by 1918, German cities were on the verge of starvation, the front-line soldiers were on short rations and were running out of essential supplies. England wants to starve us, said Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the man who built the German fleet and we can play the same game. We can bottle her up and destroy every ship that endeavors to break the blockade, unable to challenge the more powerful Royal Navy on the surface, Tirpitz wanted to scare off merchant and passenger ships en route to Britain. While Germany had only nine long-range U-boats at the start of the war, Americans insisted that the drowning of innocent civilians was barbaric and grounds for a declaration of war. The British frequently violated Americas neutral rights by seizing ships, Wilsons top advisor, Colonel Edward M.
House commented that, The British have gone as far as they possibly could in violating neutral rights, though they have done it in the most courteous way. When Wilson protested British violations of American neutrality, the British backed down, German submarines torpedoed ships without warning, causing sailors and passengers to drown
4.
Pancho Villa Expedition
The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition but originally referred to as the Punitive Expedition, U. S. The expedition was launched in retaliation for Villas attack on the town of Columbus, New Mexico, the declared objective of the expedition by the Wilson administration was the capture of Villa. The Constitutionalist forces used arms at the town of Parral to resist passage of a U. S. Army column, the U. S. mission was changed to prevent further attacks on it by Mexican troops and to plan for war in the eventuality it broke out. When war was averted diplomatically, the expedition remained in Mexico until February 1917 to encourage Carranzas government to pursue Villa, feeling betrayed, Villa began attacking U. S. nationals and their property in northern Mexico. On November 26,1915, Villa sent a force to attack the city of Nogales and in the course of the ensuing battle, engaged with American forces before withdrawing. On January 11,1916, sixteen American employees of the American Smelting and Refining Company were removed from a train near Santa Isabel, brigadier General John J.
Raids were so commonplace, that the rumor was not seen as credible. Ten civilians and eight soldiers were killed in the attack, the raiders burned the town, stole horses and mules, and seized machine guns and merchandise, before fleeing back to Mexico. However, Villas soldiers had suffered losses, with at least sixty-seven dead. Many of the casualties were inflicted when the machine gun troop of the 13th Cavalry led by 2nd Lt. John P, about thirteen of Villas wounded died of their wounds, and five wounded Villistas taken prisoner by the Americans were tried and hanged for murder. Local lore in Columbus holds that the attack may have been caused by a merchant in Columbus who supplied Villa with arms and ammunition. Villa is said to have several thousand dollars in cash for the weapons. The next day, acting on the recommendations of the commanders of his cavalry regiments and this can and will be done in entirely friendly aid to the constituted authorities in Mexico and with scrupulous respect for the sovereignty of that Republic.
The 2nd Provisional Cavalry Brigade reached Colonia Dublán after dark on March 17, the entire squadron flew to the advanced camp at Colonia Dublán on March 19–20, losing two aircraft in the process. Pershing immediately sent the 7th Cavalry south just after midnight on March 18 to begin the pursuit, persistent winter weather through early April, particularly bitterly cold nights at high altitude, made both pursuit and logistics more difficult. An additional regiment of cavalry and two of infantry were added to the expedition in late April, bringing its size to 4,800 men. This was the first use of convoys in a U. S. military operation. His headquarters advanced as far as the 1st Aero Squadrons field at Satevó, southeast of Chihuahua City, before falling back at the end of April. Villa had a head start on the pursuit, all but ensuring that his forces would successfully break up into smaller bands
5.
Thomas Woodrow Wilson Boyhood Home
The Thomas Woodrow Wilson Boyhood Home is located in Columbia, South Carolina and was one of the childhood homes of the 28th President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson. The home, built in 1872, was the only ever owned by the Wilson family. They lived there for four years, before Wilsons father resigned his position as pastor, a grassroots movement in 1928 preserved the home and prevented its scheduled demolition. It opened to the public as a museum in 1932, the house is furnished with period pieces from the 1850s–1870s, although only a few were owned by the Wilson family. They include, although he was not born in the house, stewardship of the home was granted to the Historic Columbia Foundation in 1967. In October 2005, the closed to tours in preparation for a complete renovation of the structure. In April 2009 the first of three phases of renovation began, starting with structural repairs, phase two, which included a new building on the property, electrical upgrades and minor carpentry work, was completed in late 2012.
The renovation completed in 2013, with re-opening to the public planned for 2014, Woodrow Wilson Birthplace and Presidential Library, Virginia Woodrow Wilson House Woodrow Wilson Family Home - Historic Columbia
6.
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act. Its principal mission is the promotion of consumer protection and the elimination and prevention of anticompetitive business practices, the Federal Trade Commission Act was one of President Woodrow Wilsons major acts against trusts. Trusts and trust-busting were significant political concerns during the Progressive Era. Since its inception, the FTC has enforced the provisions of the Clayton Act, over time, the FTC has been delegated with the enforcement of additional business regulation statutes and has promulgated a number of regulations. He would make the first speech on the House floor advocating its creation on February 21,1912, though the initial bill did not pass, the questions of trusts and antitrust dominated the 1912 election. With the 1912 presidential election decided in favor of the Democrats and Woodrow Wilson, the national debate culminated in Wilsons signing of the FTC Act on September 26, with additional tightening of regulations in the Clayton Antitrust Act three weeks later.
The new Federal Trade Commission would absorb the staff and duties of Bureau of Corporations, previously established under the Department of Commerce, the following table lists commissioners as of March 2017. Recent former commissioners were, The Bureau of Consumer Protections mandate is to protect consumers against unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce, with the written consent of the Commission, Bureau attorneys enforce federal laws related to consumer affairs and rules promulgated by the FTC. Its functions include investigations, enforcement actions, and consumer and business education, areas of principal concern for this bureau are and marketing, financial products and practices, telemarketing fraud and identity protection, etc. The bureau is responsible for the United States National Do Not Call Registry, under the FTC Act, the Commission has the authority, in most cases, to bring its actions in federal court through its own attorneys. In some consumer protection matters, the FTC appears with, or supports, the Bureau of Competition is the division of the FTC charged with elimination and prevention of anticompetitive business practices.
It accomplishes this through the enforcement of antitrust laws, review of proposed mergers, the FTC shares enforcement of antitrust laws with the Department of Justice. The FTC investigates issues raised by reports from consumers and businesses, pre-merger notification filings, congressional inquiries and these issues include, for instance, false advertising and other forms of fraud. FTC investigations may pertain to a company or an entire industry. Traditionally an administrative complaint is heard in front of an independent administrative law judge with FTC staff acting as prosecutors. The case is reviewed de novo by the full FTC commission which may be appealed to the U. S. Court of Appeals, in numerous cases, the FTC employs this authority to combat serious consumer deception or fraud. Additionally, the FTC has rulemaking power to address concerns regarding industry-wide practices, Rules promulgated under this authority are known as Trade Rules. In the mid-1990s, the FTC launched the fraud sweeps concept where the agency and its federal, the first sweeps operation was Project Telesweep in July 1995 which cracked down on 100 business opportunity scams
7.
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution, established in 1846 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge, is a group of museums and research centers administered by the Government of the United States. Originally organized as the United States National Museum, that ceased to exist as an administrative entity in 1967. Additional facilities are located in Arizona, Massachusetts, New York City, Virginia, more than 200 institutions and museums in 45 states, Puerto Rico, and Panama are Smithsonian Affiliates. The Institutions thirty million annual visitors are admitted without charge and its annual budget is around $1.2 billion with 2/3 coming from annual federal appropriations. Other funding comes from the Institutions endowment and corporate contributions, membership dues, and earned retail, Institution publications include Smithsonian and Air & Space magazines. The British scientist James Smithson left most of his wealth to his nephew Henry James Hungerford, Congress officially accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation, and pledged the faith of the United States to the charitable trust on July 1,1836.
The American diplomat Richard Rush was dispatched to England by President Andrew Jackson to collect the bequest, Rush returned in August 1838 with 105 sacks containing 104,960 gold sovereigns. Once the money was in hand, eight years of Congressional haggling ensued over how to interpret Smithsons rather vague mandate for the increase, the money was invested by the US Treasury in bonds issued by the state of Arkansas which soon defaulted. The United States Exploring Expedition by the U. S. Navy circumnavigated the globe between 1838 and 1842, in 1846, the regents developed a plan for weather observation, in 1847, money was appropriated for meteorological research. The Institution became a magnet for young scientists from 1857 to 1866, the Smithsonian played a critical role as the U. S. partner institution in early bilateral scientific exchanges with the Academy of Sciences of Cuba. The Smithsonian Institution Building began construction in 1849, designed by architect James Renwick Jr. its interiors were completed by general contract Gilbert Cameron and the building opened in 1855.
The Smithsonians first expansion came with construction of the Arts and Industries Building in 1881, Congress had promised to build a new structure for the museum if the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition generated enough income. It did, and the building was designed by architects Adolf Cluss and Paul Schulze, meigs of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The National Zoological Park opened in 1889 to accommodate the Smithsonians Department of Living Animals and this structure was designed by the D. C. architectural firm of Hornblower & Marshall. More than 40 years would pass before the museum, the Museum of History. It was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White. That same year, the Smithsonian signed an agreement to take over the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum opened in the Old Patent Office Building on October 7,1968. The first new building to open since the National Museum of Natural History was the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
8.
Rex Tillerson
Rex Wayne Tillerson is an American energy executive, civil engineer, and diplomat who is the 69th and current United States Secretary of State, serving since February 1,2017. Tillerson joined ExxonMobil in 1975 and rose to serve as the chairman, Tillerson began his career as an engineer and holds a bachelors degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. By 1989 he had become manager of the Exxon USA central production division. In 1995, he became president of Exxon Yemen Inc. in 2006, Tillerson was elected chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon, the worlds 6th largest company by revenue. Tillerson retired from Exxon effective January 1,2017, and was succeeded by Darren Woods and he is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Tillerson is a volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America. He is a contributor to Republican campaigns, although he did not donate to Donald Trumps presidential campaign. In 2014, who had made deals on behalf of Exxon with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He has previously been the director of the joint US-Russian oil company Exxon Neftegas, Tillerson was born on March 23,1952, in Wichita Falls, the son of Patty Sue and Bobby Joe Tillerson. He was raised in Vernon, Stillwater and Huntsville and his sister Rae Ann Hamilton is a physician and resides in Abilene, Texas. The other, Jo Lynn Peters, is a high school educator, active in the Boy Scouts of America for most of his life, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 1965. At 14 he began to work as a bus boy in the student union building at Oklahoma State University, two years in 1968 he became a janitor working in one of the engineering buildings at the University. Tillerson graduated from Huntsville High School in 1970 and he received a bachelors degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1975. During his time at UT Austin, he was involved with the Tejas Club, the Longhorn Band, in 2006 he was named a Distinguished Engineering Graduate. Tillerson joined Exxon Company, U. S.
A in 1975 as a production engineer, in 1989, Tillerson became general manager of the central production division of Exxon USA. In 1995, he became President of Exxon Yemen Inc. in 1998, he became a vice president of Exxon Ventures and president of Exxon Neftegas Limited with responsibility for Exxons holdings in Russia and the Caspian Sea. In 1999, with the merger of Exxon and Mobil, he was named vice president of ExxonMobil Development Company. In 2004, he became president and director of ExxonMobil, upon this appointment Tillersons replacement of Lee Raymond as CEO of Exxon Mobil was implicitly implied
9.
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organisation founded on 10 January 1920 as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first international organisation whose mission was to maintain world peace. Its primary goals, as stated in its Covenant, included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament, at its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members. The diplomatic philosophy behind the League represented a shift from the preceding hundred years. The League lacked its own armed force and depended on the Great Powers to enforce its resolutions, keep to its economic sanctions, the Great Powers were often reluctant to do so. Sanctions could hurt League members, so they were reluctant to comply with them, after a number of notable successes and some early failures in the 1920s, the League ultimately proved incapable of preventing aggression by the Axis powers in the 1930s. Germany withdrew from the League, as did Japan, Spain, the onset of the Second World War showed that the League had failed its primary purpose, which was to prevent any future world war.
The League lasted for 26 years, the United Nations replaced it after the end of the Second World War on 20 April 1946 and inherited a number of agencies and organisations founded by the League. As historians William H. Harbaugh and Ronald E. Powaski point out, the organisation was international in scope, with a third of the members of parliaments serving as members of the IPU by 1914. Its aims were to encourage governments to solve disputes by peaceful means. Annual conferences were held to help refine the process of international arbitration. Its structure consisted of a council headed by a president, which would be reflected in the structure of the League, at the start of the 20th century, two power blocs emerged from alliances between the European Great Powers. It was these alliances that, at the start of the First World War in 1914 and this was the first major war in Europe between industrialised countries, and the first time in Western Europe that the results of industrialisation had been dedicated to war.
By the time the fighting ended in November 1918, the war had had an impact, affecting the social and economic systems of Europe. Anti-war sentiment rose across the world, the First World War was described as the war to end all wars, the causes identified included arms races, militaristic nationalism, secret diplomacy, and the freedom of sovereign states to enter into war for their own benefit. Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson, a British political scientist, coined the term League of Nations in 1914, together with Lord Bryce, he played a leading role in the founding of the group of internationalist pacifists known as the Bryce Group, the League of Nations Union. The group became more influential among the public and as a pressure group within the governing Liberal Party. In Dickinsons 1915 pamphlet After the War he wrote of his League of Peace as being essentially an organisation for arbitration and conciliation
