Portal:United States/Did you know/archive/2010/April

April 2010

... that Arizona SB1070, the state's new immigration enforcement law, has attracted national attention as the broadest and strictest anti-illegal immigration measure in decades within the United States?
... that Grant Park Symphony Orchestra began a tradition of Independence Day Eve concerts in Grant Park accompanied by fireworks when the Petrillo Music Shell was relocated in 1978?
... that Debra Lehrmann won the Republican nomination for the Texas Supreme Court in the only contested statewide race on the April 13, 2010, runoff ballot?
... that Lubbock accountant Charles Perry unseated Delwin Jones, the oldest member of the Texas House of Representatives, in the Republican runoff held on April 13, 2010?
... that after retiring from politics, Oregon U. S. Senate candidate Rick Bauman organized bicycle tours, including Cycle Vietnam, the first-ever American-led bicycle tour of Vietnam?

... that American politician Dean Alfange (pictured) held either appointments or nominations from four different political parties: the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, the American Labor Party, and the Liberal Party of New York?
... that in his short story "The Day the Dancers Came", Bienvenido N. Santos "memorialized the tenderness, nostalgia" and "bittersweet tale" of Filipino manongs living in the United States?
... that controversies related to the human experimentation in the United States led to the introduction of the institutional review boards?
... that Risley C. Triche, originally a segregationist member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, testified years later to past racism in his state's public assistance programs?
... that after the Avondale Mine Disaster, legislation was passed by the Pennsylvania General Assembly that made Pennsylvania the first U.S. state to have laws regarding mine safety?
... that the Texas Republican politician Kenn George was involved in the formulation of President Reagan's Caribbean Basin Initiative?
... that suitable age and discretion is a U.S. legal definition of maturity?
... that Phebe Sudlow was the first female superintendent of a public school in the United States and the first female professor at the University of Iowa, despite having no formal college degree?
... that Hilton Head White-Tailed deer are culled to prevent accidents despite being listed as a species of concern by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service?
... that after he was re-elected in Oregon's 1992 U.S. Senate election, Bob Packwood endorsed his defeated rival Les AuCoin for U.S. Secretary of the Interior?

... that the Ysleta Mission (pictured) is the oldest parish in the state of Texas, and is built on the oldest continuously cultivated plot of land in the United States?
... that Thomas Herbert of the Royal Navy was involved in over 20 engagements and wounded three times in the War of 1812 against the United States?
... that slave-built Federal style Wilkinson-Martin House, in Pulaski, Tennessee, stayed in one family for 130 years?

... that the Spanish URO VAMTAC (pictured) is similar to the American HMMWV, since both were developed to meet similar requirements?
... that the United States Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Ballin (1892) was based in part on the assumption that the Journal of the House of Representatives is always accurate?
... that American economist Adam Posen advises both the Bank of England and the United States Congressional Budget Office?
... that Wood's Monument at West Point was used as a navigational aide for ships passing down the Hudson River?
... that interest in several primaries for the 1980 United States Senate election in Oregon was diminished partly due to the eruption of Mount St. Helens?
... that despite criticism, some high schools in the United States still hold separate segregated proms for black and white students?
... that the United States has 58 National Parks in 29 states and territories, the first of which was Yellowstone National Park, created in 1872?
... that the Fox Island Electric Cooperative operates the largest community wind energy facility on the East Coast of the United States?
... that Major League Baseball pitcher Jocko Thompson served in the United States military during World War II, where his platoon captured a bridge that was named after him 60 years later?