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Export-Import Bank Of The United States

Export-Import Bank of the United States

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank, Exim Bank or Eximbank) is an independent bank established by the Congress of the United States in 1945 that finances or insures foreign purchases of U.S. goods for customers unable or unwilling to accept credit risk. For instance, in 2004 it insured the purchase by Iraq of fogging machines for insect abatement. There are many other banks around the world called Eximbank, some analogous to the U.S. Ex-Im Bank, and some private commercial banks.

See also


- Export Credit Agencies

External links


- [http://www.exim.gov/ Ex-Im Bank home page]
- [http://www.meridianfinance.com/other_exim.shtml Meridian Finance: What is Ex-Im Bank?] Category:Banks of the United States Category:United States government corporations

Bank

A bank is an institution that provides financial service, particularly taking deposits and extending credit. Currently the term bank is generally understood as an institution that holds a banking license. Banking licenses are granted by bank regulatory authorities and provide rights to conduct the most fundamental banking services such as accepting deposits and making loans. There are also financial institutions that provide certain banking services without meeting the legal definition of a bank, a so called non-banking financial company. Banks have a long history, and have influenced economies and politics for centuries. The word bank is derived from the Italian banca, which is derived from German language and means bench. The terms bankrupt and "broke" are similarly derived from banca rotta, which refers to an out of business bank, having its bench physically broken. Money lenders in Northern Italy originally did business in open areas, or big open rooms, with each lender working from his own bench or table. Typically, a bank generates profits from transaction fees on financial services and on the interest it charges for lending.

Services typically offered by banks

Although the type of services offered by a bank depends upon the type of bank and the country, services provided usually include:
- Taking deposits from the general public and issuing checking and savings accounts
- Making loans to indivudals and businesses
- Cashing cheques
- Facilitating money transactions such as wire transfers and cashiers checks
- Issuing credit cards, ATM, and debit cards
- Storing valuables, particularly in a safe deposit box

Types of banks

Banks' activities can be characterised as retail banking, dealing direct with individuals and small businesses, and investment banking, relating to activities on the financial markets. Most banks are profit-making, private enterprises. However, some are owned by government, or are non-profit making. In some jurisdictions retail and investment activities are, or have been, separated by law. Central banks are non-commercial bodies or government agencies tasked with responsibility for controlling interest rates and money supply across the whole economy. They act as Lender of last resort in event of a crisis.

Types of retail bank


- Commercial bank, is the term used for a normal bank to distinguish it from an investment bank. Since the two no longer have to be under separate ownership, some use the term "commercial bank" to refer to a bank or a division of a bank that mostly deals with corporations or large businesses.
- Community development bank are regulated banks that provide financial services and credit to underserved markets or populations.
- Postal savings banks are savings banks associated with national postal systems. Japan and Germany are examples of countries with prominent postal savings banks.
- Private banks manage the assets of high net worth individuals.
- Offshore banks are banks located in jurisdictions with low taxation and regulation, such as Switzerland or the Channel Islands. Many offshore banks are essentially private banks.
- Savings banks traditionally accepted savings deposits and issued mortgages. Today, some countries have broadened the permitted activities of savings banks.
- Building societies and Landesbanks both conduct retail banking

Types of Investment Banks


- Investment banks "underwrite" (guarantee the sale of) stock and bond issues and advise on mergers. Examples of investment banks are Goldman Sachs of the USA or Nomura Group of Japan.
- Merchant banks were traditionally banks which engaged in trade financing. The modern definition, however, refers to banks which provides capital to firms in the form of shares rather than loans. Unlike Venture capital firms, they tend not to invest in new companies.

Both combined


- Universal banks, more commonly known as a financial services company, engage in several of these activities. For example, Citigroup, a very large American bank, is involved in commercial and retail lending; it owns a merchant bank (Citicorp Merchant Bank Limited) and an investment bank (Salomon Smith Barney); it operates a private bank (Citigroup Private Bank); finally, its subsidiaries in tax-havens offer offshore banking services to customers in other countries. Almost all large financial institutions are diversified and engage in multiple activities. In Europe, big banks are very diversified groups that, among other services, distribute also insurance, whence the bancassurance term.

Other types of bank


- Islamic Banks, Islamic banking revolves around several well established concepts which are based on Islamic canons. Since the concept of Interest is forbidden in Islam, all banking activities must avoid interest. Instead of interest, the Bank earns profit (mark-up) and fees on financing facilities that it extends to the customers. Also, deposit makers earn a share of the Bank’s profit as opposed to a predetermined interest.

Banks in the economy

Role in the money supply

A bank raises funds by attracting deposits, borrowing money in the inter-bank market, or issuing financial instruments in the money market or a capital market. The bank then lends out most of these funds to borrowers. However, it would not be prudent for a bank to lend out all of its balance sheet. It must keep a certain proportion of its funds in reserve so that it can repay depositors who withdraw their deposits. Bank reserves are typically kept in the form of a deposit with a central bank. This behaviour is called fractional-reserve banking and it is a central issue of monetary policy. Some governments (or their central banks) restrict the proportion of a bank's balance sheet that can be lent out, and use this as a tool for controlling the money supply. Even where the reserve ratio is not controlled by the government, a minimum figure will still be set by regulatory authorities as part of bank regulation.

Bank crises

Banks are susceptible to many forms of risk which have triggered occasional systemic crises. Risks include liquidity risk (the risk that many depositors will request withdrawls beyond available funds), credit risk (the risk that those that owe money to the bank will not repay), and interest rate risk (the risk that the bank will become unprofitable if rising interest rates force it to pay relatively more on its deposits than it receives on its loans), among others. Banking crises have developed many times throughout history when one or more risks materialize for a banking sector as a whole. Prominent examples include the U.S. Savings and Loan crisis in 1980s and early 1990s, the Japanese banking crisis during the 1990s, and the bank run that occurred during the Great Depression.

Regulation

The combination of the instability of banks as well as their important facilitating role in the economy led to banking being thoroughly regulated. The amount of capital a bank is required to hold is a function of the amount and quality of its assets. Major banks are subject to the Basel Capital Accord promulgated by the Bank for International Settlements. In addition, banks are usually required to purchase deposit insurance to make sure smaller investors are not wiped out in the event of a bank failure. Another reason banks are thoroughly regulated is that ultimately, no government can allow the banking system to fail. There is almost always a lender of last resort—in the event of a liquidity crisis (where short term obligations exceed short term assets) some element of government will step in to lend banks enough money to avoid bankruptcy.

Public perceptions of banks

In United States history, the National Bank was a major political issue during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Jackson fought against the bank as a symbol of greed and profit-mongering, antithetical to the democratic ideals of the United States.

Profitability

Large banks in the United States are some of the most profitable corporations, especially relative to the small market shares they have. This amount is even higher if one counts the credit divisions of companies like Ford, which are responsible for a large proportion of those company's profits. For example, the largest bank, Citigroup, which for the past 3 years has made more profit than any other company in the world, has only a 5 percent market share. Now if Citigroup were to be as dominant in its industry as a Home Depot, Starbucks, or Wal Mart in their respective industries, with a 30 percent market share , it would make more money than the top ten non-banking U.S. industries combined. In the past 10 years in the United States, banks have taken many measures to ensure that they remain profitable while responding to ever-changing market conditions. First, this includes the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which allows banks again to merge with investment and insurance houses. Merging banking, investment, and insurance functions allows traditional banks to respond to increasing consumer demands for "one stop shopping" by enabling the crossing selling of products (which, the banks hope, will also increase profitability). Second, they have moved toward risk based pricing on loans, which means charging higher interest rates for those people who they deem more risky to default on loans. This dramatically helps to offset the losses from bad loans, lowers the price of loans to those who have better credit histories, and extends credit products to high risk customers who would have been denied credit under the previous system. Third, they have sought to increase the methods of payment processing available to the general public and business clients. These products include debit cards, pre-paid cards, smart-cards, and credit cards. These products make it easier for consumers to conveniently make transactions and smooth their consumption over time (in some countries with under-developed financial systems, it is still common to deal strictly in cash, including carrying suitcases filled with cash to purchase a home). However, with convenience there is also increased risk that consumers will mis-manage their financial resources and accumulate excessive debt. Banks make money from card products through interest payments and fees charged to consumers and companies that accept the cards. The banks' main obstacles to increasing profits are existing regulatory burdens, new government regulation, and increasing competition from non-traditional financial institutions.

Bank Size Information

Top ten banking groups in the world ranked by tier-one capital in 2004 (In U.S. Dollars)

#Citigroup — 73 billion #JP Morgan Chase — 69 billion #HSBC — 67 billion #Bank of America — 64 billion #Credit Agricole Group — 63 billion #Royal Bank of Scotland — 43 billion #Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group — 40 billion #Mizuho Financial Group — 39 billion #HBOS — 36 billion #BNP Paribas — 35 billion

Top ten banking groups in the world ranked by assets in 2003 (In U.S. Dollars)

#Mizuho Financial Group — 1,265 billion #Citigroup — 1,097 billion #Allianz — 1,002 billion #UBS — 907 billion #Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group — 903 billion #Deutsche Bank — 892 billion #Fannie Mae — 888 billion #ING Group — 843 billion #BNP Paribas — 835 billion #Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group — 832 billion

Top ten bank holding companies in the world ranked by profit in 2003 (In U.S. Dollars)

#Citigroup — 20 billion #Bank of America — 15 billion #HSBC — 10 billion #Royal Bank of Scotland — 8 billion #Wells Fargo — 7 billion #JP Morgan Chase — 7 billion #UBS AG — 6 billion #Wachovia — 5 billion #Morgan Stanley — 5 billion #Merrill Lynch — 4 billion

Top ten bank holding companies in the U.S. ranked by deposits (In U.S. Dollars)

As of June 30, 2004. These are U.S. deposits only. This is not a ranking of the largest U.S. based global banks. #Bank of America Corp. — 526 billion #Wells Fargo & Co. — 256 billion #Wachovia Corp. — 238 billion #J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. — 227 billion (1) #Citigroup Inc. — 193 billion #Bank One Corp. — 150 billion (1) #U.S. Bancorp — 112 billion #SunTrust Banks, Inc. — 78 billion #BB&T Corporation — 67 billion #National City Corp. — 64 billion (1) Since this report, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has acquired Bank One Corp., making the combined 6/30/04 deposit total for the merged company $377 billion, vaulting it to second place on the list.

History of banking

Main article: History of banking
- Florentine banking — The Medicis and Pittis among others
- Banknotes — Introduction of paper money
- Bank of Amsterdam
- Bank of Sweden — The rise of the national banks
- Bank of England — The evolution of modern central banking policies
- Bank of America — The invention of centralized check and payment processing technology
- Swiss bank
- United States Banking
- Imperial Bank of Persia — History of banking in the Middle-East

See also


- History of banking
- List of bank mergers
- Bank regulation
- Credit union
- Finance
- Industrial Loan Company
- Islamic Banking
- Money
- Piggy Bank
- SWIFT
- IBAN
- Venture capital
- World Bank
- Bankers' bank

Related topics


- list of banks
- list of finance topics
- list of accounting topics
- list of economics topics
- List of stock exchanges
- Investment Bank

External links


- [http://www.economist.com/markets/displayStory.cfm?story_id=4174345] List of the world's ten largest banks at the end of 2004 by tier 1 capital from The Economist.
- [http://www2.fdic.gov/sod/ FDIC bank market share data]
- [http://www.eh.net/encyclopedia/index.php#B EH.Net Encyclopedia]
- [http://www.ibtalk.com IBtalk] Banking forum for practitioners and those interested in banking. Mainly centered on the wholesale (investment) functions of banking.
- [http://www.seek2know.net/money.html Presidential and other quotes on banking]
- [http://bwnt.businessweek.com/global_1000/2003/index.asp?sortCol=assets&sortOrder=DESC&pageNum=1&resultNum=10 List of largest banks by assets]
- [http://www.gbanking.com gbanking.com - Global banking directory] Category:Banking terms and equipment Category:Legal entities Banker ko:은행 ms:Bank ja:銀行 simple:Bank th:ธนาคาร

1945

1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar).

Events

January


- January 5 - The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet government of Poland.
- January 7 - British General Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference at Zonhoven describing his contribution to the Battle of the Bulge.
- January 12 - World War II: The Soviet Union begin a very large offensive in Eastern Europe against the Nazis.
- January 13 - A Soviet patrol arrests Raoul Wallenberg in Hungary.
- January 16 - Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker
- January 17 - World War II: Soviets occupy Warsaw
- January 17 - Holocaust: Nazis begin to evacuate from Auschwitz concentration camp
- January 20 - Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated to an unprecedented fourth term as President of the United States.
- January 20 - Hungary drops out of the Second World War, agreeing to an armistice with the Allies.
- January 24 - First successful launch of the German A4b-Rocket
- January 27 - The Red Army arrives at Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland and find the Nazi concentration camp where 1.3 million people were murdered.
- January 28 - World War II: Supplies begin to reach China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
- January 30 - The Wilhelm Gustloff with about 10,000 Nazi troops and refugees from Gotenhafen in the Gdansk Bay sunk with three torpedoes from the Soviet submarine S-13. More 9,300 drowned in the Baltic Sea.
- January 31 - Eddie Slovik is executed by firing squad for desertion, the first American soldier since the American Civil War and last to date to be executed for this offence.

February


- February 2 - World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill leave to meet with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin at the Yalta Conference.
- February 3 - World War II: Russia agrees to enter the Pacific Theatre conflict against Japan.
- February 4 - World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin begin the Yalta Conference (ends February 11)
- February 6 - Reggae musician Bob Marley (Robert Nesta) is born at Nine Miles, St. Ann, Jamaica.
- February 6 - French writer Robert Brasillach executed for collaboration with the Germans
- February 7 - World War II: General Douglas MacArthur returns to Manila
- February 9 - Walter Ulbricht becomes the leader of German communists in Moscow
- February 10 - World War II: The SS General von Steuben sunk by the Soviet submarine S-13.
- February 13 - World War II: Soviet Union forces capture Budapest, Hungary from the Nazis.
- February 13 - World War II: The British Air Force bombs Dresden, Germany.
- February 14 - Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru join the United Nations.
- February 16 - World War II: American forces land on Corregidor island in the Philippines.
- February 16 - American forces recapture the Bataan Peninsula
- February 19 - World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima - about 30,000 United States Marines landed on Iwo Jima starting the battle.
- February 21 - Last launch of an A4-rocket at Peenemünde
- February 23 - World War II: Following the American victory at the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines reach the top of Mount Surabachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag. The photo will later win a Pulitzer Prize.
- February 23 - World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by American forces.
- February 23 - World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in Poznań, city is liberated by Red Army and Polish forces.
- February 24 - Egyptian Premier Ahmed Maher Pasha is killed in Parliament after reading a decree.

March


- March 1 - Jesse Holman Jones starts his term of office as U.S. Secretary of Commerce, serving under President Franklin D. Roosevelt
- March 2 - Launch of the Natter from Stetten am kalten Markt. The Natter was the first manned rocket and developed as anti-aircraft weapon. The launch failed and the pilot died.
- March 3 - World War II: Previously neutral Finland declares war on the Axis powers.
- March 3 - A possible experimental atomic test blast occurs at the Nazis' Ohrdruf military testing area [http://www.recorder.ca/cp/World/050314/w031435A.html].
- March 6 - Communist-led government formed in Romania
- March 7 - World War II: American troops seize the bridge over the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany and begin to cross.
- March 8 - Josip Broz Tito forms a government in Yugoslavia
- March 9-March 10 - World War II: American B-29 bombers attack Japan with incendiary bombs. Tokyo is fire-bombed killing 100,000 citizens.
- March 16 - World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ends but small pockets of Japanese resistance persist.
- March 17 - World War II: Japanese city of Kobe is fire-bombed by 331 B-29 bombers, killing over 8,000.
- March 18 - World War II: 1,250 American bombers attack Berlin.
- March 19 - World War II: Adolf Hitler orders that all industries, military installations, shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germany be destroyed.
- March 19 - Off the coast of Japan, bombers hit the aircraft carrier USS Franklin, killing 800 of her crew and crippling the ship.
- March 21 - World War II: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma
- March 22 - The Arab League was formed with the adoption of a charter in Cairo, Egypt.
- March 30 - World War II: Soviet Union forces invade Austria and take Vienna. Alger Hiss congratulated in Moscow for his part in bringing about the Western betrayal at the Yalta Conference.
- From February 14, 1936, to March 1, 1945, AG Weser launched a total of 162 U-boats.

April


- April 1 - World War II: United States troops land on Okinawa in the last campaign of the war. The Battle of Okinawa starts.
- April 4 - World War II: American troops liberate Ohrdruf death camp in Germany.
- April 7 - World War II: The Japanese battleship Yamato is sunk 200 miles north of Okinawa while in-route to a suicide mission.
- April 9 - Abwehr conspirators Wilhelm Canaris, Hans Oster, and Hans Dohanyi are hanged at Flossenberg concentration camp along with pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
- April 10 - The Allied Forces liberated their first Nazi concentration camp, Buchenwald.
- April 12 - United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-1945) dies in office; Vice President Harry S. Truman (1945-1953) takes the Oath of Office.
- April 15 - Bergen-Belsen concentration camp liberated.
- April 16 - World War II: The Goya sunk by the Soviet submarine L-3.
- April 25 - Founding negotiations of United Nations in San Francisco
- April 25 - World War II: Elbe Day, United States and Russian troops link up at the Elbe River, cutting Germany in two
- April 27 - U.S. Ordinance troops find the coffins of Frederick Wilhelm I, Frederick the Great, Paul Von Hindenburg,and his wife
- April 28 - Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, are hanged upside down by Italian partisans as they attempt to flee the country.
- April 29 - Start of Operation Manna.
- April 30 - Adolf Hitler and his wife of one day, Eva Braun, commit suicide as Red Army approaches Führerbunker in Berlin. Karl Dönitz succeeds Hitler as President of Germany. Joseph Goebbels succeeds Hitler as Chancellor of Germany.

May


- May 1 - Joseph Goebbels and his wife commit suicide after killing their 6 children. Karl Dönitz appoints Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk as the new Chancellor of Germany.
- May 1 - World War II: Troops of Yugoslav 4th Army together with Slovene 9th Corpus NOV enter Trieste.
- May 2 - World War II: The Soviet Union announces the fall of Berlin. Soviet soldiers hoist the red flag over the Reichstag building.
- May 2 - World War II: Troops of New Zealand Army 2nd Division enter Trieste a day after the Yugoslavs. German Army in Trieste surrenders to the New Zealand Army.
- May 2 - The last postage stamp utilized by Manzhouguo is issued.
- May 3 - World War II: Sinkings of the floating-jails Cap Arcona, Thielbek and Deutschland by the RAF in the Lübeck Bay.
- May 3 - Rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and 120 members of his team surrender to US forces. They later help start the US space program.
- May 4 - World War II: Liberation of the concentration camp Neuengamme near Hamburg by the British army.
- May 4 - World War II: Reddition of the North Germany army by Marshal Bernard Montgomery.
- May 4 - World War II: Holland liberated by Canadians troops. [http://www-lib.usc.edu/~anthonya/war/lib.htm]
- May 5 - World War II: Prague uprising against the Nazis.
- May 5 - Ezra Pound, poet and author, is arrested by American soldiers in Italy for treason.
- May 5 - World War II: US armored unit liberates prisoners of Mauthausen concentration camp - including Simon Wiesenthal
- May 5 - World War II: Canadian soldiers liberate the city of Amsterdam from Nazi occupation.
- May 5 - World War II: Admiral Karl Dönitz orders all U-boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases.
- May 5 - World War II: A Japanese balloon bomb killed five children and a woman, Elsie Mitchell near Lakeview, Oregon, when it exploded as they dragged it from the woods. They were the only people killed by enemy attack on the United States mainland during World War II.
- May 6 - World War II: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops (first was on December 11, 1941).
- May 7 - World War II: General Alfred Jodl signs unconditional surrender terms at Reims, France, ending Germany's participation in the war. The document will take effect the next day.
- May 8 - World War II: V-E Day (Victory in Europe, as Nazi Germany surrenders) commemorates the end of World War II in Europe.
- May 8 - World War II: British 8th Army together with Slovene partisan troops and motorized detachment of Yugoslav 4th Army arrives to Carinthia and Klagenfurt.
- May 8-May 29 - In Algeria, French troops and released Italian POWs defeat rebellion of Algerians
- May 9 - World War II: Hermann Göring is captured by the United States Army; Norway arrests Vidkun Quisling; Soviet Union marks V-E Day.
- May 9 - World War II: Red Army enters Prague (capitulation of German occupation troops)
- May 9 - World War II: General Alexander Löhr Commander of German Army Group E near Topolšica, Slovenia, signs capitulation of German occupation troops.
- May 9 - World War II: Alderney, annex of the concentration camp Neuengamme liberated.
- May 12 - World War II: Yugoslav Army capitulates to the New Zealand Army, in Trieste and hands over the city.
- May 15 - World War II: the last WWII battle in Europe is fought at Poljana near Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia
- May 23 - President of Germany Karl Dönitz and Chancellor of Germany Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk are arrested by British forces at Flensburg. They would respectively be the last German Head of state and Head of government until 1949.
- May 23 - Heinrich Himmler, the head of the Nazi Gestapo, commits suicide in British custody.
- May 25 - In Atlantic, ships can finally keep their lights lit. Leo Szilard begs Harry S. Truman not to use the bomb. [http://www.nuclearfiles.org/hitimeline/1945.html]
- May 28 - William Joyce, known as "Lord Haw-Haw" is captured. He is later charged with high treason in London for his English-language wartime broadcasts on German radio. He is hanged in January of 1946.
- May 29 - Group of German communists, Ulbricht in the lead, arrive in Berlin
- May 30 - Iranian government demands that Soviet and British troops leave the country

June


- June 1 - British take over Lebanon and Syria
- June 5 - Allied Control Council, military occupation governing body of Germany, formally takes power.
- June 6 - King Haakon VII of Norway returns to Norway
- June 11 - William Lyon Mackenzie King is reelected as Canadian prime minister. Franck Committee recommends against a surprise nuclear bombing of Japan. [http://www.nuclearfiles.org/hitimeline/1945.html]
- June 12 - Yugoslav Army leaves Trieste, leaving the New Zealand Army in control.
- June 21 - World War II: The Battle of Okinawa ends.
- June 24 - World War II: Victory parade in Red Square
- June 25 - Seán T. O'Kelly is elected the second President of Ireland.
- June 26 - United Nations charter signed.
- June 29 - Czechoslovakia cedes Ruthenia to Soviet Union

July


- July 1 - World War II: Germany is divided between Allied occupation forces
- July 5 - World War II: Liberation of the Philippines declared.
- July 8 - World War II: Harry S. Truman informed that Japan will talk peace if she can keep the Emperor. [http://www.nuclearfiles.org/hitimeline/1945.html]
- July 9 - A forest fire breaks out in the Tillamook Burn, the third fire in that area since 1933.
- July 16 - Nuclear testing: The Trinity Test, the first test of an atomic bomb, using 6 kilograms of plutonium, succeeds in detonating, unleashing an explosion equivalent to that of 19 kilotons of TNT.
- July 17 - World War II: Potsdam Conference - At Potsdam, the three main Allied leaders begin their final summit of the war. The meeting will end on August 2.
- July 21 - World War II: Harry S. Truman approves order for atomic bombs to be used. [http://www.nuclearfiles.org/hitimeline/1945.html]
- July 23 - World War II: French marshall Philippe Pétain, who headed the Vichy government during World War II goes on trial, charged with treason.
- July 26 - Winston Churchill resigns as Britain's prime minister after his Conservative Party is soundly defeated by the Labour Party in the 1945 general election. Clement Attlee becomes the new prime minister.
- July 26 - Potsdam Declaration demands Japan's unconditional surrender; Article 12 permitting Japan to retain the Emperor had been deleted by Truman. [http://www.nuclearfiles.org/hitimeline/1945.html]
- July 28 - An Army Air Forces B-25 bomber accidentally crashes into the Empire State Building, killing 14 people.
- July 28 - World War II: Japan rejects Potsdam Declaration [http://www.nuclearfiles.org/hitimeline/1945.html].
- July 29 - The BBC Light Programme radio station was launched, aimed at mainstream light entertainment and music.
- July 30 - World War II: The USS Indianapolis is hit and sunk by the Japanese submarine I 58. Some 900 survivors jump into the sea and are adrift for 4 days. Nearly 600 die before help arrives. Captain Charles Butler MacVey III is later court-martialed.
- July 31 - World War II: Pierre Laval, fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria.

August


- August 6 - World War II: the Atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The United States detonates an atomic bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" on Hiroshima, Japan at 8:16 AM (local time).
- August 7 - President Harry Truman announces the successful bombing of Hiroshima with an atomic bomb while returning from the Potsdam Conference aboard the heavy cruiser USS Augusta (CA-31) in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
- August 8 - The United Nations Charter is ratified by the United States, and that nation becomes the third to join the new international organization. Soviets declare war on Japan.
- August 9 - World War II: The United States detonates an atomic bomb nicknamed "Fat Man" over the city of Nagasaki, Japan at 11:02 AM (local time). World War II: The Soviet Union begins its offensive against Japan in the then Japanese controlled Chinese region of Manchuria. [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/RMF.htm]
- August 10 - World War II: US drops warning leaflets on Nagasaki. [http://www.nuclearfiles.org/hitimeline/1945.html]
- August 13 - Zionist World Congress approaches British government to talk about founding of Israel.
- August 14 - World War II: Emperor Hirohito accepts the terms of the Potsdam Declaration.
- August 15 - World War II: Emperor Hirohito announces Japan's surrender on the radio. The United States called this day V-J Day (Victory in Japan). This ends the period of Japanese expansionism and begins the period of Occupied Japan.
- August 15 - Korea gains independence following Japan's surrender
- August 17 - Indonesian nationalists Sukarno and Mohammed Hatta declare the independence of Republic of Indonesia, Sukarno as a president. Dutch colonial authorities do not approve
- August 19 - Vietnam War: Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh take power in Hanoi, Vietnam.
- End of August - Chinese Civil War: Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek meet in Chongqing to discuss an end to hostilities between the Communists and the Nationalists.

September


- September 2 - World War II ends: The final official surrender of Japan was accepted by General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz from a delegation led by Mamoru Shigemitsu, aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. But in Japan August 14 is well recognized as the day the Pacific War ended.
- September 2 - Ho Chi Minh promulgates the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence, and unity from the north to the south.
- September 4 - World War II: Japanese forces surrender on Wake Island after hearing word of their nation's surrender.
- September 5 - Iva Toguri D'Aquino, a Japanese-American suspected of being wartime radio propagandist "Tokyo Rose," is arrested in Yokohama.
- September 8 - US troops occupy southern Korea, Russians occupy the north. This arrangement proves to be the beginning of a divided Korea.
- September 8 - Hideki Tojo, Japanese prime minister during most of World War II, attempts suicide to avoid facing a war crimes tribunal.
- September 9 - "First actual case of bug being found" Moth found in Relay 70, Panel F Mark II Aiken Relay Computer
- September 11 - [http://www.rri-online.com/ Radio Republik Indonesia] starts broadcasting.
- September 12 - Japanese army formally surrendered in Singapore.
- September 20 - Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru demand that British troops leave India

October

India]
- October 1 - to October 15 - Launch of three A4 rockets near Cuxhaven in order to show Allied forces the rocket with liquid fuel (Operation Backfire)
- October 10 - Russian code clerk Igor Gouzenko defects to Canada. He helps the West gain an understanding of Soviet spy rings in North America.
- October 15 - World War II: Former premier of Vichy France, Pierre Laval, is executed by firing squad for treason.
- October 17 - Colonel Juan Peron stages a coup d'état, becoming ruler of Argentina.
- October 18 - The first German war crimes trial begins in Nuremberg.
- October 18 - Isaías Medina Angarita, president of Venezuela, is overthrown by a military coup.
- October 21 - Women's suffrage: Women are allowed to vote in France for the first time.
- October 23 - Jackie Robinson signs a contract with the Montreal Royals.
- October 24 - United Nations founded.
- October 24 - Norwegian Nazi leader, Vidkun Quisling, is shot by firing squad for treason.
- October 27 - Indonesian separatists riot and fight Dutch and British security forces.
- October 29 - Getulio Vargas, president of Brazil, resigns.
- October 29 - At Gimbels Department Store in New York City, the first ballpoint pens go on sale at $12.50 each.

November


- November 1 - John H. Johnson publishes the first issue of the magazine Ebony.
- November 13 - Charles De Gaulle elected head of a French provisional government
- November 15 - Harry S. Truman, Clement Attlee, and Mackenzie King call for a UN Atomic Energy Commission.[http://www.nuclearfiles.org/hitimeline/1945.html]
- November 16 - Cold War: The United States controversially imports 88 German scientists to help in the production of rocket technology.
- November 16 - Yeshiva College founded
- November 20 - Nuremberg Trials begin: Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals of World War II start at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice.
- November 29 - The Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia is declared (this day was celebrated as Republic Day until 1990s). Marshal Tito is named president.
- November 29 - Assembly of the world's first general purpose electronic computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), is completed. It covers 1800 feet of floor space. The first set of calculations is run on the computer.

December


- December 2 - General Eurico Gaspar Dutra elected president of Brazil
- December 3 - Communist demonstrations in Athens - preliminary of the Greek Civil War
- December 4 - By a vote of 65 to 7, the United States Senate approves the entry of the United States into the United Nations.
- December 21 - General George S. Patton dies from injuries sustained in a car accident on December 9.
- December 27 - Twenty-eight nations sign an agreement creating the World Bank.
- December 27 - Terror strikes against British military bases in Palestine.

Unknown date


- Foundation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- Poland has two rival governments
- Discovery of Nag Hammadi scriptures
- Dutch painter Han van Meegeren is arrested for collaboration with Nazis but the paintings he had sold to Hermann Göring are found to be his fakes.
- Female suffrage in Guatemala and Japan
- Saskatchewan Government Insurance, the first state-owned automobile insurance company in North America, is created.
- Denmark recognizes independent Iceland
- US house of representatives calls for unrestricted Jewish immigration to Palestine in order to establish a Jewish commonwealth there
- Roben Hollis Fleet pays $11.550.000 alimony to his second wife Dorothy

Ongoing events


- Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945)

Science and Technology


- Arthur C. Clarke puts forward the idea of a communications satellite in a Wireless World magazine article.
- At the Mayo Clinic, streptomycin is first used to treat tuberculosis.
- Percy Spencer accidentally discovers that microwaves can heat food. Invention of the microwave oven follows.
- Grand Rapids, Michigan and Newburgh, New York become the first cities to add fluoride to drinking water.
- The first nuclear reactor outside of the U.S. is built in Chalk River, Ontario, Canada.
- High-altitude, west-to-east winds across the Pacific Ocean — discovered by the Japanese in 1942 and by Americans in 1944 — are dubbed the jet stream.
- Salvador Edward Luria and Alfred Day Hershey independently recognize that viruses undergo mutations.
- The herbicide 2,4-D is introduced; it is later used as a component of Agent Orange.
- A team led by Charles DuBois Coryell discovers chemical element 61, the only one still missing between 1 and 96 on the periodic table. The new element is called promethium.
- Raymond Libby develops oral penicillin.
- American Canamid discovers folic acid, a vitamin abundent in green leafy vegetables, liver, kidney, and yeast.

Births

January-February


- January 3 - Victoria Principal, American actress
- January 3 - Stephen Stills, American singer and songwriter (Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young)
- January 4 - Richard R. Schrock, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- January 10 - Rod Stewart, English singer
- January 26 - Jacqueline du Pré, English cellist (d. 1987)
- January 29 - Tom Selleck, American actor
- January 30 - Michael Dorris, American author (d. 1997)
- February 3 - Bob Griese, American football player
- February 5 - Charlotte Rampling, English actress
- February 6 - Bob Marley, Jamaican singer and musician (d. 1981)
- February 7 - Gerald Davies, Welsh rugby player
- February 7 - Pete Postlethwaite, English actor
- February 9 - Mia Farrow, American actress
- February 14 - Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein
- February 17 - Brenda Fricker, Irish actress
- February 24 - Barry Bostwick, American actor
- February 27 - Carl Anderson, American singer and actor (d. 2004)
- February 28 - Bubba Smith, American football player and actor

March-April


- March 1 - Dirk Benedict, American actor
- March 7 - John Heard, American actor
- March 8 - Jim Chapman, American politician
- March 8 - Micky Dolenz, American actor, director, and musician (The Monkees)
- March 8 - Anselm Kiefer, German painter
- March 9 - Dennis Rader, American serial killer
- March 19 - Cem Karaca, Turkish musician
- March 26 - Mikhail Voronin, Russian gymnast (d.

United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there. During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655. This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule. British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]] In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed. From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded1 from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments. Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]] During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946. During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics. In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Government

Iraq of the United States.]]

Republic and suffrage

The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.

Federal government

The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.

The Congress

necessary and proper The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."

The President

necessary-and-proper clause At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.

The Courts

George W. Bush The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law. Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.

State and local governments

supreme court of each state. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]] The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system. The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.

Political divisions

With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Since the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole. In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including countie