Eight US presidents died while in office, as of 2013. From 1840 to 1960, every president who was elected in a year that ended with zero died while in office. This 20-year cycle of presidential deaths is often referred to…
About 12% of the United States population, or 36,460,000 people, live below the poverty level. Poverty not only indicates a lack of monetary funds, but also a lack of basic needs, which may include such things as clean water, shelter…
The Pony Express was a North American postal service in operation from 1860-1861. Although short-lived, the service highlighted the need for fast communication between the booming West Coast and the more settled and industrial East. In those days, the fastest…
The city of St. Louis, Missouri, is known as the “Gateway to the West.” It has this nickname because it was the starting point for the westward movement of settlers in the United States during the 1800s. It was a…
Detroit, Michigan, is a major urban center in the Great Lakes region of the American Midwest. The center of the American automotive industry for more than a century, it has many nicknames resulting from this status, including the Motor City…
Delaware is known as the first state in the United States because it was the first of the original 13 colonies to ratify the Constitution that formed the U.S. government. Prior to this unification, the 13 colonies were all under…
The first country to officially recognize the independence of the United States was Morocco, in 1777. This was a year before the second country, Holland, recognized the United States' independence and six years before Britain and most of the rest…
During the American Civil War, several states seceded from the United States of America (the "Union") to form the Confederate States of America. Also known as the Confederate States or Confederacy, it was made up of southern states and territories…
In August 1965, the primarily black Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts experienced six days of violent protests and police brutality which came to be known as the Watts Rebellion. The Watts Rebellion marked a major turning point in the growing…
The Battle of Seattle was a series of protests which took place during the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Ministerial Conference in 1999. The event marked a major resurgence in the American protest movement, which had been declining in the wake…