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Gary Graham

Gary Graham

Gary Graham (b. June 6, 1960 in Long Beach, California, USA) is an American actor. He is probably best known for his starring role as Detective Matt Sikes in the television series Alien Nation (1989-1990), which was followed by the TV movies Alien Nation: Dark Horizon (1994), Alien Nation: Body and Soul (1995), Alien Nation: Millennium (1996), Alien Nation: The Enemy Within (1996), and Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy (1997). Star Trek fans probably know him best from his more recent guest-starring roles on Star Trek: Enterprise as the recurring character Ambassador Soval, a Vulcan ambassador to Earth. He also guest-starred on Star Trek: Voyager (1995) once, playing Ocampan community leader Tanis in the season 2 episode "Cold Fire". He's played more than 30 TV roles, and has also been in more than 30 movies. Some of his films include All the Right Moves, The Last Warrior, Robot Jox, Running Woman and the upcoming Siren.

External links


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- Graham, Gary Graham, Gary Graham, Gary Graham, Gary Graham, Gary Graham, Gary

June 6

June 6 is the 157th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (158th in leap years), with 208 days remaining.

Events


- 1508 - Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, is defeated in Friulia by Venetian forces; he is forced to sign a three-year truce and cede several territories to Venice
- 1513 - Italian Wars: Battle of Novara. Swiss troops defeat the French under Louis de la Tremoille, forcing the French to abandon Milan. Duke Massimiliano Sforza is restored.
- 1523 - Gustav Vasa is elected King of Sweden, marking the end of the Kalmar Union.
- 1654 - Christina, reigning queen of the Protestant nation Sweden, abdicates the throne and secretly converts to Catholicism. Charles X succeedes his abdicated cousin Queen Christina to the Swedish throne.
- 1683 - The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, opens as the world's first university museum.
- 1752 - A devastating fire destroys one-third of Moscow, including 18,000 homes.
- 1809 - Sweden promulgates a new Constitution, which restores political power to the Riksdag of the Estates after 20 years of Enlightened absolutism.
- 1813 - War of 1812: Battle of Stoney Creek - A British force of 700 under John Vincent defeat an American force three times its size under William Winder and John Chandler.
- 1832 - The Barricades fall and the Student Uprisings of 1832 end.
- 1833 - U.S. President Andrew Jackson becomes the first President to ride a train.
- 1844 - The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London.
- 1857 - Sophia of Nassau marries the future King Oscar II of Sweden-Norway.
- 1859 - Australia: Queensland is established as a separate colony from New South Wales (Queensland Day).
- 1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Memphis - Union forces capture Memphis, Tennessee, from the Confederates.
- 1882 - More than 100,000 inhabitants of Bombay are killed as a cyclone in the Arabian Sea pushes huge waves into the harbour.
- 1912 - Eruption of Novarupta in Alaska begins. Second largest volcanic eruption in historic time.
- 1925 - The Chrysler Corporation is founded by Walter Percy Chrysler.
- 1932 - The Revenue Act of 1932 is enacted, creating the first gas tax in the United States, at a rate of 1 cent per US gallon (26 ¢/L) sold.
- 1933 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey, United States.
- 1934 - New Deal: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Securities Act of 1933 into law, establishing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
- 1944 - World War II: Battle of Normandy begins. Operation Overlord, code named D-Day, commences with the landing of 155,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy in France. The allied soldiers quickly break through the Atlantic Wall and push inland in the largest amphibious military operation in history.
- 1946 - The Basketball Association of America is formed in New York City.
- 1950 - Turkey: The Adhan in Arabic is legalized.
- 1956 - David Marshall, Singapore's first Chief Minister, resigns.
- 1962 - The Beatles audition for EMI Records.
- 1964 - Under a temporary order, the rocket launches at Cuxhaven, Germany, are terminated, though they never resume.
- 1966 - James Meredith, civil rights activist, is shot while trying to march across Mississippi.
- 1968 - Robert F. Kennedy dies.
- 1971 - Soyuz program: Soyuz 11 launches.
  - A midair collision between a Hughes Airwest Douglas DC-9 jetliner and a U.S. Marine Corps McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom jet fighter near Duarte, California claims 50 lives.
  - The Ed Sullivan Show goes off the air.
- 1972 - David Bowie releases the classic album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
- 1974 - A new Instrument of Government is promulgated making Sweden a parliamentary monarchy.
- 1981 - A passenger train travelling between Mansi and Saharsa, India, jumps the tracks at a bridge crossing the Bagmati river. The government places the official death toll at 268 plus another 300 missing; however, it is generally believed that the actual figure is closer to 1,000 killed.
- 1982 - 1982 Lebanon War begins: Forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon in their "Operation Peace for the Galilee," eventually reaching as far north as the capital Beirut.
- 1984 - The Indian Army attacks the Golden Temple in Amritsar in an effort to flush out terrorists, following an order from Indira Gandhi. Official casualities are 576 combatants killed and 335 wounded; independent observers estimate that thousands of unarmed Sikh civilians are also killed in the crossfire.
- 1985 - The grave of "Wolfgang Gerhard" is exhumed in Embu, Brazil; the remains found are later proven to be those of Josef Mengele, Auschwitz's "Angel of Death". Mengele is thought to have drowned while swimming in February 1979.
- 1990 - U.S. District court judge Jose Gonzales rules that the rap album As Nasty As They Wanna Be by the 2 Live Crew violates Florida's obscenity law; he declares that the predominant subject matter of the record is "directed to the 'dirty' thoughts and the loins, not to the intellect and the mind."
- 1991 - George and Barbara Loeb, members of the Church of the Creator, are arrested and charged with murder.
  - Former Diff'rent Strokes child star Dana Plato is given a six-year suspended sentence for robbing a Las Vegas video store five weeks earlier.
- 1993 - Mongolia holds its first direct presidential elections.
- 1999 - At the Putim maximum security prison in Brazil, 345 prisoners run from the main gate in the largest jailbreak in Brazilian history, marking the 10th escape for the three-year-old facility. In the ensuing manhunt, two fugitives are killed and five innocent bystanders are accidentally jailed.
- 2002 - The United States House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee announces it is probing Martha Stewart's ImClone stock sales.
  - A near-Earth asteroid estimated at 10 metres diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea. The resulting explosion is estimated to have a force of 26 kilotons, slightly more powerful than the Nagasaki atomic bomb.
- 2005 - United States Supreme Court says no to medical marijuana.

Births

1236 to 1899


- 1236 - Wen Tianxiang, Chinese prime minister (d. 1283)
- 1436 - Regiomontanus, German mathematician (d. 1476)
- 1502 - King John III of Portugal (d. 1557)
- 1519 - Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher, physician, and botanist (d. 1603)
- 1542 - Richard Grenville, English soldier and explorer (d. 1591)
- 1553 - Bernardino Baldi, Italian mathematician (d. 1617)
- 1576 - Giovanni Diodati, Swiss protestant clergyman (d. 1649)
- 1580 - Godefroy Wendelin, Flemish astronomer (d. 1667)
- 1599 - Diego Velázquez, Spanish painter (d. 1660)
- 1606 - Pierre Corneille, French dramatist (d. 1684)
- 1622 - Claude-Jean Allouez, French Jesuit missionary and explorer (d.1857)
- 1714 - King Joseph I of Portugal (d. 1777)
- 1755 - Nathan Hale, American writer and patriot (d. 1776)
- 1756 - John Trumbull, American painter (d. 1843)
- 1799 - Alexander Pushkin Russian poet (d. 1837)
- 1810 - Friedrich Wilhelm Schneidewin, German classical scholar (d. 1856)
- 1829 - Shusaku Honinbo, Japanese Go player (d. 1862)
- 1850 - Karl Ferdinand Braun, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1918)
- 1857 - Aleksandr Lyapunov, Russian mathematician (d. 1918)
- 1862 - Henry John Newbolt, English author (d. 1938)
- 1868 - Robert Falcon Scott, English explorer (d. 1912)
- 1872 - Tsarina Alexandra of Russia (d. 1918)
- 1875 - Thomas Mann, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
- 1890 - Ted Lewis, American bandleader (d. 1971)
- 1898 - Ninette de Valois, Irish dancer (d. 2001)
- 1900 - Manfred Sakel, Polish psychiatrist (d. 1957)

1900 to 1999


- 1901 - Sukarno, first President of Indonesia (d. 1970)
- 1903 - Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer (d. 1978)
- 1906 - Max August Zorn, German-born mathematician (d. 1993)
- 1907 - Bill Dickey, baseball player, coach, manager, and scout (d. 1993)
- 1916 - Henriette Roosenburg, Dutch journalist (d. 1972)
- 1918 - Edwin G. Krebs, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1924 - Jinyong, Chinese novelist
- 1926 - Klaus Tennstedt, German conductor (d. 1998)
- 1929 - Sunil Dutt, Indian actor and politician
- 1933 - Heinrich Rohrer, Swiss physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1934 - King Albert II of Belgium
- 1936 - Levi Stubbs, American musician (The Four Tops)
- 1939 - Louis Andriessen, Dutch composer
- 1939 - Gary U.S. Bonds, American musician
- 1940 - Larry Lujack, American disc jockey
- 1943 - Richard Smalley, Americah chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1944 - Phillip Allen Sharp, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1945 - David Dukes, American actor (d. 2000)
- 1947 - David Blunkett, English politician
- 1947 - Ada Kok, Dutch swimmer
- 1949 - Robert Englund, American actor
- 1954 - Harvey Fierstein, American actor
- 1954 - Cynthia Rylant, American author
- 1955 - Sandra Bernhard, American actress and comedian
- 1956 - Björn Borg, Swedish tennis player
- 1959 - Colin Quinn, American comedian
- 1960 - Gary Graham, American actor
- 1960 - Steve Vai, American musician
- 1961 - Tom Araya, Chilean musician (Slayer)
- 1963 - Wolfgang Drechsler, German social scientist
- 1966 - Murdoc Niccals, Bassist for the Gorillaz
- 1970 - Anthony Norris, American professional wrestler
- 1972 - Cristina Scabbia, Italian singer
- 1975 - Staci Keanan, American actress
- 1978 - Carl Barat, English singer and guitarist (The Libertines)
- 1978 - Judith Barsi, American actress (d. 1988)

Deaths

1393 to 1899


- 1393 - Emperor Go-En'yu of Japan (b. 1359)
- 1480 - Vecchietta, Italian artist and architect
- 1548 - Juan de Castro, Portuguese explorer (b. 1500)
- 1563 - Ikeda Nagamasa, Japanese samurai commander (b. 1519)
- 1583 - Nakagawa Kiyohide, Japanese warlord (b. 1556)
- 1740 - Alexander Spotswood, British governor of Virginia Colony
- 1784 - Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, Dutch politician (b. 1741)
- 1799 - Patrick Henry, American revolutionary (b. 1736)
- 1813 - Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, French architect
- 1832 - Jeremy Bentham, English philosopher (b. 1748)
- 1840 - Marcellin Champagnat, French priest, Saint (b. 1789)
- 1843 - Friedrich Hölderlin, German poet, novelist, and dramatist (b. 1770)
- 1861 - Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1810)
- 1865 - William Quantrill, American Confederate raider (b. 1837)
- 1878 - Robert Stirling, Scottish inventor (b. 1790)
- 1881 - Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian composer (b. 1820)
- 1891 - Sir John A. Macdonald, first Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1815)

1900 to 1999


- 1916 - Yuan Shikai, Chinese military official and politician (b. 1859)
- 1922 - Lillian Russell, American actress (b. 1861)
- 1941 - Louis Chevrolet, American automotive pioneer and race car driver (b. 1878)
- 1946 - Gerhart Hauptmann, German dramatist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
- 1961 - Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist (b. 1875)
- 1968 - Robert F. Kennedy, United States Attorney General and Senator from New York (b. 1925)
- 1976 - J. Paul Getty, American industrialist (b. 1892)
- 1976 - Victor Varconi, Hungarian actor (b. 1891)
- 1979 - Jack Haley, American actor (b. 1898)
- 1981 - Carleton S. Coon, American anthropologist (b. 1904)
- 1984 - A. Bertram Chandler, Australian author (b. 1912)
- 1991 - Stan Getz, American musician and composer (b. 1927)
- 1996 - George Davis Snell, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1903)
- 1999 - Anne Haddy, Australian actress (b. 1930)

2000 onwards


- 2004 - Iona Brown, British violinist and conductor (b. 1941)
- 2005 - Anne Bancroft, American actress (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances


- Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) - Israel
- National holiday of Sweden
- Queensland Day
- South Korean Memorial Day
- Samantha Smith Day - Maine (first Monday of June)
- Teacher's Day - America
- National Yo-yo Day - America

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/6 BBC: On This Day] ---- June 5 - June 7 - May 6 - July 6 -- listing of all days ko:6월 6일 ms:6 Jun ja:6月6日 simple:June 6 th:6 มิถุนายน

Long Beach, California

Long Beach is a city located in southern Los Angeles County, California, on the Pacific coast. The Port of Long Beach is one of the busiest sea ports in the world, as well as one of the largest. Its location is 33°47' North, 118°10' West, about 20 miles (30 km) south of downtown Los Angeles. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 170.6 km² (65.9 mi²). 130.6 km² (50.4 mi²) of it is land and 40.0 km² (15.4 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 23.42% water. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 461,522. It is the fifth largest city in California and the second largest in Los Angeles County. Long Beach is also the largest U.S. city that is not a county seat. While some consider Long Beach the largest suburb in the United States, it has very few characteristics of a suburb, apart from its location, and most consider it a central city. The R.M.S. Queen Mary has been located in Long Beach since her retirement and now serves as a hotel and tourist attraction. The Aquarium of the Pacific, a world-class research facility, is a popular tourist destination. The Long Beach Grand Prix, an annual Champ Car race, takes place on city streets near the Convention Center and is one of the largest Grand Prix events in the world. Long Beach is the site of a large community college; California State University, Long Beach; the headquarters of the California State University system; and a Veterans Affairs hospital. Signal Hill is an incorporated city surrounded entirely by Long Beach.

History

The area was originally occupied by the Tongva people who lived in a rancheria named Tibahangna. Along with other Tongva villages, it disappeared in the mid-1800s. The Rancho los Cerritos was divided from the larger Rancho Los Nietos, which had been granted by the King of Spain to a mulatto soldier, Manuel Nieto. Rancho Los Cerritos was bought in 1843 by John Temple, a Yankee who had come to California in 1827. Soon after he built what is now known as the "Los Cerritos Ranch House," an adobe which still stands and is a National Historic Landmark. Temple created a thriving cattle ranch and prospered, becoming the wealthiest man in Los Angeles County. Both Temple and his ranch house played important local roles in the Mexican American War. Meanwhile, on an island in the San Pedro Bay, Mormon pioneers made an abortive attempt to establish a colony (as part of Brigham Young's plan to establish a continuous chain of settlements from the Pacific to Salt Lake). In 1866 Temple sold Rancho Los Cerritos to the firm of Flint, Bixby & Co, which consisted of brothers Thomas and Benjamin Flint and their cousin Lewellyn Bixby, for $20,000. Later that year the company selected Lewellyn's brother Jotham Bixby, the "Father of Long Beach", to manage their southern ranch, and three years later Jotham bought into the property and would later form the Bixby Land Company. It was during this period that the Rancho Los Cerritos was converted to sheep ranching. In the 1870s as many as 30,000 sheep were kept at the ranch and sheared twice yearly to provide wool for trade. In 1880, Bixby sold 4,000 acres (16 km²) of the Rancho Los Cerritos to William E. Willmore, who subdivided it in hopes of creating a farm community, Willmore City. He failed and was bought out by the "Long Beach Land and Water Company." They changed the name of the community to "Long Beach", which was incorporated as a city in 1888. When Bixby died in 1916 the remaining 3,500 acres (14 km²) of Rancho Los Cerritos was subdivided into the neighborhoods of Bixby Knolls, California Heights, North Long Beach and part of the city of Signal Hill. The town grew as a seaside resort (The Pike was one of the most famous beachside amusement parks on the West coast from 1910 until the 1960's) and then as an oil, Navy, and port town. The town was once referred to as "Iowa by the sea," due to a large influx of people from that state and other states in the Midwest. Huge picnics for each state were a popular annual event in Long Beach until the 1960s. The Long Beach earthquake of 1933 was a magnitude 6.3 earthquake that caused significant damage to the city and surrounding areas. Most of the damage occurred in unreinforced masonry buildings, especially schools. One hundred twenty people died in this earthquake. Long Beach used to have a sizable Japanese-American population mostly working in the fish canneries on Terminal Island and small truck farms in the area, but with intermarriage and other factors, it is now less than 1% of the population of Long Beach. There is still a Japanese Community Center and a Japanese Buddhist Church in Long Beach.

The early silent film industry in Long Beach

One of the places where the film industry started in Southern California was in Long Beach. Balboa Amusement Producing Company, also known as Balboa Studios, was located at Sixth Street and Alamitos Avenue, and they used 11 acres (45,000 m²) on Signal Hill for outdoor locations. Silent movie stars who lived in Long Beach included Fatty Arbuckle and Theda Bara. The 1917 film Cleopatra, starring Theda Bara, was filmed at the Dominguez Slough just west of Long Beach, and Moses parted the Red Sea for Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 black-and-white version of "The Ten Commandments" on the flat seashore of Seal Beach, southeast of Long Beach.

Shipping and transportation

Seal Beach The Port of Long Beach is the second busiest seaport in the United States . The port serves shipping between the United States and the Pacific Rim. The combined operations of the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles are the busiest in the USA. Rail shipping is provided by the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads, which carry about half of the trans-shipments from the port. Long Beach has contributed to the Alameda Corridor project to increase the capacity of the rail lines, roads, and highways connecting the port to the Los Angeles rail hub. The project, completed in 2002, created a 20 mile (32 km) long, 33 ft (10 m) deep trench in order to eliminate 200 grade crossings and cost about US$2.4 billion. Long Beach is also the southern terminus for the Los Angeles Metro Blue Line light rail corridor. Blue Line trains run from Long Beach City Hall to Downtown Los Angeles. The Metro Rail Blue Line Maintenance Shops, are also located in Long Beach just south of the Del Amo Blue Line station. There is an Amtrak Thruway bus shuttle starting in San Pedro, with stops at the Queen Mary and downtown Long Beach, that then goes to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, and ends in Bakersfield. There is also a Greyhound Lines terminal downtown. Public transportation in Long Beach is provided by Long Beach Transit. Besides the normal bus service, which charges a fare, Long Beach has free routes, the "Pine Avenue Link" and Passport routes, which use mini-buses to shuttle passengers within the downtown area. The Passport "C" route between the downtown and the Queen Mary, and Passport "A" and "D" buses go East-West along Ocean Boulevard, linking the Catalina Landing in the west with Belmont Shore in the east. (The Passport "B" has been renamed the Pine Avenue Link.) A 90-cent fare is required when traveling east of Atlantic Avenue. Another free route, "Village Tour D'art" in the East Village, visits museums and other points of interest. Long Beach Transit also operates the 49-passenger AquaBus water taxi, which stops at the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Queen Mary, and four other stops; and the 75-passenger AquaLink water taxi, which travles between the Aquarium, the Queen Mary, and Alamitos Bay Landing next to the Long Beach Marina. There is also limited bus service to Orange County through the Orange County Transportation Authority. Torrance Transit goes from downtown to the South Bay. The LADOT has bus service from downtown Long Beach to San Pedro, and LACMTA has two regional bus lines that serve downtown Long Beach. Long Beach Municipal Airport serves the Long Beach, Los Angeles, California and Orange County areas and is relatively small, considering the area's population. It is the West Coast hub for JetBlue Airways. It is also the site of a major Boeing (formerly Douglas, then McDonnell Douglas) aircraft production facility, which is the city's largest employer. Several freeways run through Long Beach, connecting it with the greater Los Angeles and Orange areas. The San Diego (405) freeway roughly bisects the city and takes commuters north or south to the Golden State (5) freeway. The Long Beach (710) freeway also runs north-south, starting at the southern end near the Port of Long Beach and terminating at the Santa Monica (10) freeway in Los Angeles. The eastern border of the city is traversed by the San Gabriel River (605) freeway, which joins the 405 at the Long Beach/Los Alamitos border. The Artesia Freeway California State Route 91 runs east-west near the northern border of Long Beach. California State Route 1 (more commonly known as Pacific Coast Highway or PCH) runs through Long Beach.

Culture

Art

The Long Beach Museum of Art is owned by the City of Long Beach, and operated by the Long Beach Museum of Art Foundation. Long Beach also features the Museum of Latin American Art, founded in 1996 by Dr. Robert Gumbiner. It is the only museum in the western United States that exclusively features Latin American art. The University Art Museum on the Long Beach State campus (founded in 1973) has a national reputation for its high-quality and innovative programs. [http://www.csulb.edu/org/uam/] In 1965, Long Beach State hosted the first International Sculpture Symposium to be held in the United States and the first at a college or university. Six sculptors from around the world and two from the United States created many of the monumental sculptures seen today on the campus. There are now over 20 scuptures on the campus. The Southern California is known for its street art, and the Long Beach area has many fine examples. Some of the murals were created in conjuction with the city's Mural and Cultural Arts Program, but many others were not. [http://www.longbeach.gov/park/facilities/neighorhood_mural_program.asp] [http://www.lamurals.org/MuralAreaIndexes/LongBeachIndex/MuralsLB.html] On the exterior of the Long Beach Sports Arena is one of environmental artist Wyland's Whaling Walls. At 116,000 square feet (11,000 m²), it is the world's largest mural (according to the Guinness Book of Records). The second Saturday of every month local artists and artisans in the city congregate in the East Village Arts District downtown Long Beach to sell their wares and perform.

Music

The Long Beach Symphony Orchestra plays numerous classical and pop music concerts throughout the year. The symphony plays at the Terrace Theater in the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center. [http://www.lbso.org/] KJAZZ 88.1 FM (KKJZ) broadcasts from California State University, Long Beach. The station features jazz and blues music exclusively and can also be listened to over the Internet. [http://jazzandblues.org] Long Beach is the host to a number of long-running music festivals. They include the Bob Marley Reggae Festival (February), the Cajun & Zydeco Festival (May), the Aloha Concert Jam (Hawaiian music, June), the Long Beach Jazz Festival (August), and the Long Beach Blues Festival (September, since 1980). Both Sublime and the Long Beach Dub Allstars (formed by the members of Sublime after their lead singer Brad Nowell died of a heroin overdose) are from Long Beach. New-wave punk band Le Shok hailed from Long Beach. Rappers Snoop Dogg, Warren G and Zack de la Rocha were born and raised in Long Beach. The city is also home to the VIP Records store which has been featured in music videos by Snoop Dogg and other rap music artists. (The corner of "21 and Lewis" that Warren G mentions in "Regulate" is very close to VIP Records.) Melissa Etheridge got her start performing at Que Sera Sera, a lesbian bar in Long Beach. The Long Beach Municipal Band, founded in 1909 is the longest running, municipally supported band in the country. In 2005, the band played 24 concerts in various parks around Long Beach. [http://www.longbeach.gov/park/facilities/lb_municipal_band.asp] The Long Beach Community Band, including the Shoreline Concert Band and the Blue Pacific Swing Band, is an all volunteer group of musicians that's been performing concerts in the Long Beach area since 1947. [http://www.longbeachband.com/] The Vault 350, a music performance nightclub, is one of several bars and nightclubs located on Pine Avenue in Downtown Long Beach. The popular Blues Cafe is located nearby.

Sports

The Long Beach Grand Prix in April is the single largest event in Long Beach. It started in 1975 as a Formula 5000 race on the streets of downtown, and became a Formula One the following year. Since 1984 it has been a Champ Car event. During the same week as the Grand Prix, there are also Trans-Am, and Toyota Atlantic races, plus an Historic Grand Prix features pre-1990 cars, and the Toyota Pro/Celebrity race. Long Beach is home to the Long Beach Ice Dogs minor-league (ECHL) hockey team. The Ice Dogs play their home games at the Long Beach Sports Arena. The city is also home to a minor league baseball team called the Long Beach Armada who play in the independent Golden Baseball League. The minor league basketball team nicknamed the Long Beach Jam play in the American Basketball Association (ABA). The Southern California Summer Pro League is a showcase for current and prospective NBA basketball players, including recent draft picks, current NBA players working on their skills and conditioning, and international professionals hoping to become NBA players. The league plays at the Pyramid (a pyramid-shaped gym) on the Long Beach State campus during July. Since its inception in August 1964, the Congressional Cup has grown into one of the major international sailing events. Now held in April, it is the only grade 1 match race regatta held in the United States. The one-on-one race format is the same as the America's Cup, and many of the winners of the Congressional Cup have gone on to win the America's Cup as well. In July, there is the annual Catalina Ski Race, which starts from Long Beach Harbor and goes to Catalina Island and back to complete a 100 km (62 mile) circuit. This race has been held annually since 1948 and features skiers from around the world. [http://www.catalinaskirace.com/] During the two Olympics held in Los Angeles, Long Beach has hosted a number of the competitions, including rowing events in the Marine Stadium, sailing events off the coast of Long Beach, volleyball in the Long Beach Sports Arena, and archery at El Dorado Regional Park. For the 1984 Summer Olympics, Long Beach hosted yachting, volleyball, fencing and archery competitions. For the 1932 Summer Olympics, Long Beach hosted the rowing competition. The Belmont Plaza Pool hosted U.S. Olympic swimming trials in 1968, 1976, and 2004. Blair Field (built in 1958) has hosting numerous American Legion baseball, Connie Mack baseball, high school, junior college, college, minor league baseball and major league spring training exhibition baseball games. It has also been host of six MTV Rock & Jock softball games, and has been the filming location for numerous film, TV and commercial productions. [http://www.longbeach.gov/park/facilities/sports.asp] The Leeway Sailing and Aquatics Center on Alamitos Bay in Belmont Shore is a youth sailing program founded in 1929. It is recognized as one of the premier municipal instructional sailing programs in the country. [http://www.longbeach.gov/park/facilities/parks/leeway_sailing_n_aquatics_center.asp] Long Beach has five municipal golf courses, as well as the private Virgina Country Club in the Bixby Knolls area. Recreation Park, built in 1917, is one of the busiest golf courses in the United States. [http://www.longbeach.gov/park/facilities/golf.asp] [http://www.lbcgolf.com/] Long Beach is the childhood home of tennis legend Billie Jean King and eight-time National League batting champion and longtime San Diego Padres outfielder Tony Gwynn. 2004 Summer Olympics gold medal winning beach volleyball player Misty May-Treanor graduated from California State University, Long Beach (where she won a national championship and several other awards), and currently resides in Long Beach.

Parks and recreation

The Long Beach Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine received a Gold Medal award from the National Parks and Recreation Society in 2002, 2003, and 2004, recognizing the Department's "outstanding management practices and programs." The Department manages 92 parks covering over 3,100 acres (13 km²) throughout the city, including the 815 acre (3.3 km²) El Dorado Regional Park, which features fishing lakes, an archery range, youth campground, bike trails, and picnic areas. The Department also operates four public swimming pools, and four launch ramps for boaters to access the Pacific Ocean. The 102.5 acre El Dorado Nature Center is part of the larger El Dorado Regional Park. The center features lakes, a stream, and trails, with meadows and forested areas. [http://www.longbeach.gov/park/facilities/parks/el_dorado_nature_center.asp] Rancho Los Alamitos is a 7.5 acre historical site owned by the City of Long Beach that is near Long Beach State. The site includes five agricultural buildings, including a working blacksmith’s shop, four acres of gardens, and a adobe ranch house dating from around 1800. The Rancho is within a gated community, so you must pass through security gates to get to it. [http://www.longbeach.gov/park/facilities/rancho_los_alamitos_historic_site.asp] Rancho Los Cerritos is a 4.7 acre historical site owned by Long Beach in the Bixby Knolls area near the Virginia Country Club. The adobe buildings date from the 1880s. The site also includes a California history research library. [http://www.longbeach.gov/park/facilities/rancho_los_cerritos_historic_site.asp] The Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden is located on the campus of California State University, Long Beach.

Multicultural events

Brazilian Carnaval (Queen Mary, Feb.), Scottish Festival and Games (Queen Mary, Feb.) [http://www.queenmary.com/specialevents.php?page=scottishfestival], Annual Indian Pow Wow (CSULB, March), Cambodian New Year Celebration (El Dorado Park, March or April), Cinco de Mayo (at the Museum of Latin American Art, plus several celebrations in city parks, May), Long Beach Pride Festival (May) [http://www.longbeachpride.com/], Tafesilafa'i (Pacific Islander festival, Shoreline Village, July), E Hula Mau (Hula and Chant competition, Terrace Theater, Labor Day weekend) [http://namamo.org/ehm/ehm_faq.html], Annual Grecian Festival (Greek Orthodox Church of Long Beach, Labor Day weekend), and the Brazilian Street Festival (Sept.) [http://www.carnaval.org].

Parades

The Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Parade & Festival has been held in May or June since 1984. It is the second largest event in Long Beach, attracting over 125,000 participants over the two day celebration. It is the third largest Gay Pride Parade in the United States. [http://www.longbeachpride.com/] Boat "parades" are a Southern California Christmas tradition, with at least one held every weekend night from December 1st till Christmas. There is one in the nearby Port of Los Angeles/San Pedro area, the "Parade of A Thousand Lights" in the Shoreline Village area (near Downtown Long Beach and the HMS Queen Mary), and the "Naples Island Christmas Parade" held through the canals of Naples and around Alamitos Bay past Belmont Shore. Other parades in Long Beach include the Martin Luther King Parade (Jan.), Brazilian Street Festival (Sept.) [http://www.carnaval.org], Haute Dog Howl'oween Parade (Oct.) [http://www.hautedogs.org/], Long Beach Veterans Day Parade (Nov.) [http://www.veteransdayparade.com/], Belmont Shore Christmas Parade (Dec.) [http://www.belmontshore.org/], and Daisy Avenue Christmas Tree Lane & Parade (Dec.).

Other cultural events

In October, Long Beach State hosts the CSULB Wide Screen Film Festival, at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center. The festival started in 1995 as a showcase for movies filmed in the widescreen format, but has since been transformed into an tist-in-residence]] event. A major film artist (such as former CSULB student Steven Spielberg) screens and discusses their own work as well as the ten films that most influenced their cinematic vision.

Business

The top commercial businesses in Long Beach, based upon the number of employees, are: Boeing, Verizon, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, and The Bragg Companies (crane and heavy transport sales). Several local hospitals are major employers, including: Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, St. Mary Medical Center, and Pacific Hospital of Long Beach. Major government and educational employers include: Long Beach Unified School District, City of Long Beach, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach City College, United State Postal Service, and Long Beach Transit.
- Douglas Aircraft Company (later McDonnell Aircraft Corporation and now part of Boeing) had a plant at the Long Beach Airport where they built aircraft for World War II, and later built DC-8s, DC-9s, DC-10s, and MD-11s.
- Boeing now builds the Boeing 717 and the C-17 Globemaster III strategic airlifter in Long Beach and is the largest employer in the city.
- Polar Air Cargo, an international cargo airline, is based in Long Beach.
- TABC, INC., a part of Toyota, makes a variety of car parts, including truck beds, steering columns, and catalytic converters, in Long Beach.
- Epson America, the U.S. affiliate of Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, is headquartered in Long Beach.
- SCAN Health Plan, a non-profit "Medicare Advantage" HMO for seniors, is headquartered in Long Beach.
- Parker Law Firm, the legal firm of the personal injury attorney Larry H. Parker (most noted for his series of television commercials), is headquartered in Long Beach. (Because of the backlash to his commercials, a law was passed in California making it illegal for law firms to quote lawsuit award amounts in their commercials.)
- Molina Health Care, Inc., a Medicaid management healthcare program, is headquartered in Long Beach.
- Jesse James' West Coast Choppers custom motorcycle shop is located in Long Beach, and much of the Monster Garage cable TV show is filmed in Long Beach.

Media

The local newspaper is the Long Beach Press-Telegram, which is distributed throughout most of the Gateway Cities and South Bay areas of southwest Los Angeles County. The Press-Telegram is part of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, which has several local newspapers in the Southern California area. Long Beach also gets distribution of the daily Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register, and La Opinión newspapers, the weekly Los Angeles Sentinel and the free OC Weekly. Business news is covered by the bimonthly Long Beach Business Journal. Long Beach is part of the Los Angeles DMA radio and television markets.

Education

Long Beach Unified School District

The primary school district that serves Long Beach is Long Beach Unified School District. It is the third largest school district in California. The district is noted for starting a trend to the return to school uniforms for public schools in the 1990s. It has also won several awards in recent years, including the 2003 Broad Prize for Urban Education, as the best urban school district in the US. Other school districts, including ABC Unified School District, serve portions of Long Beach.

Private high schools


- Cambodian Christian School - K-12 - Baptist
- First Baptist Church School (Long Beach, California) - PK-12 - Baptist [http://www.fbclb.org/docs/school.asp]
- Gethsemane Baptist Church School - PK-12 - Baptist
- Pacific Christian School - K-12 - Baptist
- Parkridge Private School K-12 - Private
- Regency High School - 7-12 - Private
- St. Anthony High School - 9-12 - Roman Catholic [http://www.sahslb.org/]
- S W Longview Private School - K-12 - Private
- Zinsmeyer Academy - 6-12 - Private (ChildNet Youth and Family Services) [http://www.childnet.net/aboutChildnet.asp]

Private non-high schools


- Bethany Lutheran School - K-8 - Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
- Grace Christian Schools Long Beach - PK-6 - Brethren
- Holy Innocents Elementary School - K-8 - Roman Catholic
- Light and Life Christian School - K-6 Methodist
- Long Beach Adventist School - K-8 - Seventh-Day Adventist
- Los Altos Grace Brethren School - K-6 - Brethren
- Nazarene Christian School Of Long Beach - PK-8 - Christian
- Oakwood Academy - K-6 - Christian non-denominational
- Our Lady Of Refuge Elementary School - K-8 - Roman Catholic
- St. Anthony Elementary School PK-8 - Roman Catholic
- St. Athanasius Elementary School - K-8 - Roman Catholic
- St Barnabas Elementary School - K-8 - Roman Catholic
- St Cornelius Elementary School - K-8 - Roman Catholic
- St Cyprian Elementary School - K-8 - Roman Catholic
- St Joseph Elementary School - K-8 - Roman Catholic
- St Lucy's School - K-8 - Roman Catholic
- St Maria Goretti Elementary School - K-8 - Roman Catholic
- Westerly School of Long Beach - K-8 - Private [http://www.westerlyschool.com/] :[http://www.homesweethome.com/California/Long_Beach/private_school_list List of private schools in Long Beach]

Colleges and universities


- California State University, Long Beach (CSULB)
- Long Beach City College (LBCC) Pacific Coast and Liberal Arts campuses
- California State University, Dominguez Hills is in the nearby community of Carson, California
- Brooks College, a two-year private vocational school best know for its fashion design and fashion marketing programs.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 461,522 people, 163,088 households, and 99,646 families residing in the city. The population density is 3,532.8/km² (9,149.8/mi²). There are 171,632 housing units at an average density of 1,313.8/km² (3,402.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 45.16% White, 14.87% African American, 0.84% Native American, 12.05% Asian, 1.21% Pacific Islander, 20.61% from other races, and 5.27% from two or more races. 35.77% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. Among its Asian population, Long Beach is home to a large Cambodian community, second only to Cambodia itself. There are 163,088 households out of which 35.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.2% are married couples living together, 16.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 38.9% are non-families. 29.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.77 and the average family size is 3.55. In the city the population is spread out with 29.2% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 32.9% from 25 to 44, 18.0% from 45 to 64, and 9.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 31 years. For every 100 females there are 96.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 93.5 males. The median income for a household in the city is $37,270, and the median income for a family is $40,002. Males have a median income of $36,807 versus $31,975 for females. The per capita income for the city is $19,040. 22.8% of the population and 19.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 32.7% of those under the age of 18 and 11.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Famous people born in Long Beach


- James Blaylock: fantasy/science fiction author
- Jeff Burroughs: Baseball player, 1974 American League MVP and Little League World Series Championship coach
- Bobby Burgess: one the original Mouseketeers
- Nicolas Cage: actor
- Eva LaRue Callahan: soap opera actress
- Percy Daggs III: UPN's Veronica Mars
- William E. Dannemeyer: Orange County politician
- Zack de la Rocha rapper/Rocker
- Bo Derek: actress
- Daz Dillinger: rapper
- Nate Dogg: rapper
- Snoop Dogg: rapper
- John Dykstra: 1978 Visual Effects Oscar Winner (for Star Wars)
- Warren G.: rapper
- Spike Jones: bandleader and comedian
- Sally Kellerman: actress
- Billie Jean King: tennis player
- William Joseph Levada, current Pro-Prefect, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Roman Catholic Church
- Dan Lungren: Republican politician
- Willie McGinest: USC and New England Patriots linebacker - Long Beach Polytechnic High School
- Michelle Phillips: singer and actress
- Sheldon Rampton: editor of PR Watch
- Tiffani-Amber Thiessen: actress
- Anthony Zerbe: actor

Famous residents of Long Beach


- Greta Andersen: Olympic swimming gold medalist, and long distance swimmer, originally from Denmark
- Bad Azz: rapper
- Fatty Arbuckle: actor
- Richard Bach: author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull
- Theda Bara: actress
- Frank Black (aka Black Francis): leader of the Pixies rock group
- Milton Bradley: baseball player (Long Beach Polytechnic High School)
- Jan Burke: Mystery author, 2000 Edgar Award for Best Novel (for "Bones")
- George Chakiris: Academy Award-winning actor
- Dorothy Buffum Chandler: Los Angeles philanthropist (wife of Norman Chandler, publisher of the Los Angeles Times) and namesake for the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
- Nat King Cole: singer and jazz piano player
- Jonathan Davis: lead singer for KoЯn
- Tray Deee: rapper
- George Deukmejian: Governor of California
- Cameron Diaz: actress
- Melissa Etheridge: rock singer
- Bobby Grich: baseball player (Wilson High School)
- Chris Gwynn: baseball player, (Long Beach Polytechnic High School)
- Tony Gwynn: baseball player (Long Beach Poly High School)
- John Lee Hooker: Blues singer
- Marilyn Horne: opera singer
- Thelma Houston: R&B singer
- Jesse G. James: West Coast Choppers & Monster Garage, custom motorcycle and car builder
- Paula Jones
- DeForest Kelley: Star Trek actor
- Vicki Lawrence: comedian
- Bob Lemon: baseball player and baseball manager, Baseball Hall of Fame inductee
- Camryn Manheim: actress
- Misty May: professional beach volleyball player
- Mike McCready: Pearl Jam's guitarist
- Robert Mitchum: actor
- Bradley Nowell: singer songwriter of Sublime
- Elizabeth Short (aka "The Black Dahlia"): famous murder victim
- Upton Sinclair: author
- Alan Stock: conservative KXNT Las Vegas radio talk show host
- Chase Utley: baseball player (Long Beach Poly High School)
- Carl Weathers: football player & actor (Long Beach Poly High School)
- Wheely Willy: celebrity dog, featured in Children's Books, etc.

Neighborhoods of Long Beach

Long Beach is a mosaic of neighborhoods, with some of them well-defined, while others blend into nearby neighborhoods. The most desirable properties in Long Beach are in the Belmont Shore and Naples areas in southeast Long Beach near Alamitos Bay and the Pacific Ocean, the homes near the Virginia Country Club in Bixby Knolls in west-central Long Beach, and the areas near El Dorado Park and Long Beach State on the east side of Long Beach. The most dangerous area in Long Beach is the area on the east of 710, south of 405, north of 1st street. Both Pine Avenue and the Linden Avenue area of the East Village in downtown Long Beach, as well as Broadway in Belmont Shore are known for their restaurants and nightlife. The 4th Street Corridor is known for its funky shops, antique stores and vintage clothing stores. The Broadway Corridor between downtown and Belmont Shore has the greatest number of gay-owned and oriented establishments in Long Beach.
- Belmont Heights
- Belmont Shore
- Bixby Knolls
- Bixby Village
- Bluff Park
- Broadway Corridor
- California Heights
- College Park
- Downtown Long Beach
- East Village
- Eastside
- El Dorado Park
- 4th Street Corridor
- Lakewood Village
- Little Phnom Penh (aka Anaheim Corridor)
- Long Beach Marina
- Los Altos
- Naples
- North Long Beach
- Northside
- Rose Park
- Shoreline Village
- Silverado Park
- Stearns Park
- Terminal Island
- Traffic Circle
- Westside
- Wrigley Neighborhood

Trivia

Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan used to regularly fly out of Daugherty Field (which later became the Long Beach Airport). Before his infamous flight from Brooklyn, New York to Ireland in 1938, he had already flown a transcontinental flight from Long Beach to New York. He was supposed to be returning to Daugherty Field after authorities had refused his request to fly on to Ireland, but because of a claimed navigational error, he ended up in Ireland instead. He never publicly acknowledged having flown to Ireland intentionally. The first Miss Universe contest was held in Long Beach on 29 June 1952, as well as the 1953-1959 Miss Universe contests. After the Miss Universe contest moved to Miami in 1960, the first Miss International contest was held in Long Beach in 1960, and continued until 1968 when the contest moved to Japan. The Miss International contest were again held in Long Beach in 1971 before returning permanently to Japan. Long Beach's sister cities are [http://www.sistercitiesoflongbeach.org/index.htm]:
- Bacolod, Philippines
- Guadalajara, Mexico
- Izmir, Turkey
- Kolkata, India
- Manta, Ecuador
- Phnom Penh, Cambodia
- Qingdao, China
- Sochi, Russia
- Valparaiso, Chile
- Yokkaichi, Japan

See also


- Lakewood Boulevard (California State Route 19)
- Long Beach Iced Tea - a variation on the Long Island Iced Tea
- Long Beach - for other places named Long Beach
- Longo street gang

External links


- [http://www.ci.long-beach.ca.us/ City of Long Beach]
- [http://www.polb.com/ Port of Long Beach]
- [http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/ Aquarium of the Pacific]
- [http://www.longbeachgp.com/ Grand Prix of Long Beach]
- [http://www.icedogs.com/ L

USA

: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 Constitut