I was in chat a minutes ago (check the time this was posted) and Raptor showed me a Beaninie(SP?) baby of Raptor and then he showed me a CP Shotglass. Well, my dad collects shot galasses and my mom collects spoons and bells from all the Cali missions we have been to. Raptor didn't know about them so I was wondering, how many of you non-cali residents know about California's Missions? All of you cali res' that went to an elementry school in Cali know that it is a big deal to our state. Well, in case you didn't know anything about this [url]http://www.californiamissions.com[/url] is a great place to get started.

I pose another question, does you State have any interesting History that isn't well known outside of your State or your State's School system?

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Way back in the day, Georgia stretched all the way to the west coast :p It is the largest state East of the Mississippi River.

The lucky 13th of the colonies

Coca-Cola was invented here in 1868.

Atlanta hasn't always had the same name throughout its history. Its firt name was Terminus, because the rail lines didn't go further south. Then the name was changed to Marthasville, after the governor's daughter, in the 1800s. Later it was changed to Atlanta. Note that at SFOG, one of the train stations is Marthasville!

The Girls Scouts were founded by Juliette Gordon Lowe in Savannah.

Stone Mountain is the largest outcropping of exposed granite in the world. The sculpture of Confederate generals on its side is larger than the Presidents on Mount Rushmore!

Ty Cobb, James Brown, Julia Roberts, Hulk Hogan, Bobby Jones, and John Henry "Doc" Holliday were all born in Georgia.

Georgia produces more preaches, pecans, and peanuts than any other state.

During the Civil War, the infamous Great Locomotive Chase took place from Kennesaw (near Atlanta) to Ringgold, Georgia in 1862. Northen spies captured a steam engine and tried to take it north, while southern forces chased them from the south. Eventually the northern spies were caught and hung. The steam engines at SFOG bear the names of the two locomotives in the chase, the Texas and the General.

The first gold rush in the country happened in the north Georgia mountains. Hence, the Dahlonega Mine Train at SFOG. As a sidenote, the expression "There's gold in them thar hills" alse orginated there.

Then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited Warm Springs often to recuperate from his polio. The Little White House was built there for him during this time. Inside is a painting of him, unfinished. FDR passed away before the artist was done, and the work was not completed.

What is believed to be the bloodiest battle in the Civil War was fought at Chickamauga Battlefield.

The University of Georgia was the first university started with state funds.

Over 95% of the world's carpet is produced in Dalton, Georgia. ;)

The second in a long line of Six Flags parks is located near Atlanta. Six Flags Over Georgia opened its doors for the first time in 1967.:cool: :cool: :)

The Search for a Site
Australia became a federated nation in 1901. The Government determined to find a site for a new National Capital. This wasn't easy...

Design Competition for Canberra
Canberra is the only city in Australia whose design was the subject of an international competition.

Walter Burley Griffin
Walter Burley Griffin, a Chicago architect, was 35 years old when he won the international design competition for the Australian Federal Capital in 1911. His wife, Marion Mahony Griffin ...

Marion Mahony Griffin
Marion Mahony Griffin was only the second woman to graduate in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1894. Marion subsequently worked in the office of renowned architect ...

Griffin's Federal Capital Design
Griffin's design placed Capital Hill at the centre of Canberra and at the physical and symbolic centre of the nation. Wide tree lined avenues radiated from Capital Hill, each named after a State capital and...

Naming of the Capital
By 1913, the Government had a site and a plan for the National Capital but the capital had yet to be officially named. The Government had called for suggestions and received...

Canberra's Construction Accelerates
Even after the end of World War I little progress was made on development of the National Capital. Parliament continued to sit in Melbourne where the Federal...

The 1930's Depression
The onset of the Great Depression following the Wall Street (stockmarket) Crash of 1929 brought construction of the National Capital to a halt. Fortunately, in 1931 construction of the Federal Highway linking Canberra...

War Years in Canberra
The outbreak of World War II in September 1939 highlighted the development deficiencies of Canberra as a centre of government and administration. The Capital only had a population of...

National Capital Expands
The immediate post World War II years in Canberra were marked by housing shortages and a lack of office accommodation. In 1954, the government, dismayed by delays to its plans to transfer public servants from Melbourne and the general lack of progress, established a Senate Select Committee to inquire into the development of the Capital. This inquiry marked the turning point in the development of Canberra.

The Committee recommended the replacement of divided departmental responsibility for the city by a single National Capital Development Commission (NCDC) whose function would be to plan, develop and construct the national capital with adequate funds to carry out a co-ordinated plan.

The major task of the new NCDC was to supply residential land, houses, schools and community facilities for the city whose population at that time was 39,000.

The Griffin plan for Canberra was reviewed and creation of the Lake began. The Molonglo River was dammed to create Lake Burley Griffin and to provide a setting for national buildings and a recreational resource for the city. The Lake was inaugurated in 1964.

The concept of Griffin's Parliamentary Triangle was fully realised by construction of bridges and avenues radiating from Capital Hill.

A series of new town centres to the north and southwest of Griffin's Canberra were commenced with residents moving into the first new town called Woden in 1964. The establishmment of the town centres of Belconnen (1967) and Tuggeranong (1973) followed.

The population of Canberra increased rapidly as public servants were transferred from Melbourne and Sydney.

A very large Defence office complex was constructed at one of the corners of the National Triangle called Russell Hill. The Royal Australian Mint was completed and other government offices were built in town centres to generate retail and services development around them.

New embassies were established reflecting Australia's growth and international links with the region and the world. Many were constructed to reflect the architectural style of their homeland. The NCDC also sought to enhance the national and symbolic importance of Canberra. A new National Library was constructed within the Parliamentary Triangle to be followed by the High Court of Australia, the Australian National Gallery and the National Science and Technology Centre.

Planning began for a new and permanent Parliament House to be completed by 1988 to mark the Bicentenary of European settlement in Australia. An international competition for the design of the building was won by the American firm of Mitchell, Giurgola and Thorp. Following 10 years of construction, the new Parliament House was opened on 9 May 1988 by Queen Elizabeth II.

In January 1989 the NCDC was abolished and replaced by the National Capital Planning Authority. Self-government
was introduced for the residents of Canberra with the establishment of an ACT Legislative Assembly, the Territory Government.

c conprihencive history of australias capital, Canberra

this is a view of lake bearly griffin and parliment triangle.
canberra would have to be the most beautiful cities ive lived in or visited

Attached Images

expands_90.jpg (36.8 KB, 112 views)

I came from the state of Melaka (sometimes known as Malacca in English) in Malaysia. That's how the name Straits of Malacca comes from (since the city is at the narrowest part of the straits).

It's the 3rd smallest state in terms of land area (in the shape of triangle about 60 km wide and 40 km tall), and 2nd from last in terms of polulation (500,000 only).

The state capitol is city of Melaka. Almost half of the population lives in the city. It's not a big city in Malaysia (not even within the top 10), but has more high rise buildings and bigger downtown area than all but 3 of the cities in Malaysia. It is also the oldest city in Malaysia, 600 years old exactly this year.

600 years ago, a refuge prince from Palembang (on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia) was hunting in the forest in what's today Melaka city. While he was resting below a train next to a river. His hunting dog saw a mousedeer (a deer slightly bigger than a domestic cat) and went after it. The mousedeer was chased to the river bank, and then turned against the dog, then kicked the dog into the river. The prince was surprised and thought that that place was special. He asked what kind of tree was he below and the tree was called Melaka, that's how the name came from.

It became the center of Melaka Kingdom after it's establishment. It became a bustling commerce port in South East Asia. During it's height, it's land includes what's today West Malaysia, southern Thailand and more than half of Sumatra island.

Good things never last forever. After a little more than 100 years, the Portuguese arrived and conquered the city and surrounding area (which is today's Melaka state). After more than a century, the Dutch came and conquered the state. After the Napolean war in Europe, the Netherlands can no longer maintain it's presence in Melaka (due to great economic loss from teh war), so it was exchanged for another piece of land with British. By that time, Britain already had 2 major ports in South East Asia (Georgetown in the state of Penang and Singapore), so Melaka was ignored and poorly developed.

That spelled the doom of Melaka. Even after Malaysia's independence from Britain, Melaka was still a 'sleeping city'. IN 80's a huge effort was launched to change the state's fate by vigorously promoting tourism. The city of Melaka has several old buildings left by Portuguese, Dutch and British, which you can't find anywhere else in South East Asia.

Today's Melaka city is a favorite vacation spot for Singaporeans (only 2.5 hours drive away) due to the relatively cheap prices of almost everything compared to other Malaysia cities. In fact, Melaka has more tourists per capita than other places in Malaysia.

Several years ago, Melaka was offically pronounced as Melaka, the Historical City.

Melaka can be reached through expressway from the nation's capitol (1.5 hour) and Singapore. By the time the West Coast Expressway is completed, it's only 1 hour from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (which takes 1.5 hour now).

Like most of Malaysia, the population consists of Malay (50%), Chinese (40%) and Indian(10%). Most of the Chinese live in city and suburbs, while Malays are mostly in rural area and some suburbs. Indians can be found in certain part of the city and some rubber plantations outside the city. Since it's an old city, it's not surprised to find that the oldest Budhist temple, Hindu temple and mosque are in Melaka. The downtown area around the river has many old pre-WWII buildings. The streets there are narrow (2 cars through at the same time), and the shophouses are narrow and deep. The coastal strip is full of condominiums along. Everywhere is flat except inland, which is a bit hilly, but there is no high ground in the state.

Polictically, the state assembly has been in the hand firmly of the ruling coalition (National Front) since independence. But the city of Melaka is always a fortress of one of the major opposition party in Malaysia. During the last election, the parliament constituent of Melaka city is the place where opposition is having the highest majority vote against the ruling coalition.

Melaka is the cleanest city in Malaysia, and it's one of the safest too. The state animal is mousedeer. The state of Melaka is one of the 4 states in Malaysia without a monarchy (the other 9 states have a monarchy each). The head of state was appointed by the King of Malaysia and has no real power. The person who has the real power is the Chief Minister, which is appointed by the majority party in state assembly.

Because of the complexity of history background, Melaka foods are unique in it's own way. It's one of the 2 cities in Malaysia which can be called 'food paradise' (the other is Georgetown, the dirtiest city in Malaysia).

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Planes, cars, coasters......... anything fast.........

well, penna. was one of the original 13.

it held very important battles in the civil war.

the three mile island accident happened.

keystone state
thats about all i know.

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I am #1!

everything falls apart even the people who never frown eventually break down

-Linkin Park

The History of Michigan

MAY 17, 1673. Jesuit missionary Jacques Marquette, fur trader Louis Jolliet and five voyageurs leave the recently established Indian mission at St. Ignace to explore a great river known by the Indians as the "Messissipi." The French have been exploring the Great Lakes since Etienne Brulé reached the St. Marys River around 1620. In two canoes, Marquette's party travels along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, enters Green Bay and crosses present-day Wisconsin. The explorers paddle down the Mississippi, but by mid-July they realize that the river is not the long-sought passageway across North America to China. Though Marquette will die in 1675, the French will continue to explore the Great Lakes, ship furs to Europe and Christianize the Indians. In 1679, Robert Cavelier Sieur de la Salle will direct the construction of the Griffin--the first sailing vessel on the upper Great Lakes. That same year, La Salle will build Fort Miami at present-day St. Joseph--the first non-Indian community in the Lower Peninsula.
JULY 24, 1701. Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, a forty-three-year-old French army officer, selects a site at le détroit (the straits)--the waterway between Lakes St. Clair and Erie--and establishes a French settlement. Cadillac has convinced King Louis XIV's chief minister, Count Pontchartrain, that a permanent community at present-day Detroit will strengthen French control over the upper Great Lakes and repel British advances. The one hundred soldiers and workers that accompany Cadillac build a 200-square-foot palisade and name it Fort Pontchartrain. Cadillac's wife, Marie Thérèse, soon moves to Detroit, becoming one of the first white women to settle in the Michigan wilderness. At the same time, the French strengthen Fort Michilimackinac at the Straits of Mackinac in order to better control their lucrative fur-trading empire. By the mid-eighteenth century, the French will also occupy forts at present-day Niles and Sault Ste. Marie. However, they will lose their North American empire when the British defeat them in the French and Indian War (1754-1763). By 1760 the Union Jack will fly over the Great Lakes.

MAY 7, 1763. Three hundred Ottawa Indians, led by Pontiac, enter Fort Detroit intent upon launching a surprise attack upon the British garrison commanded by Major Henry Gladwin. Alerted to the plan, the British are ready, and Pontiac withdraws and places Detroit under siege. Since taking control of France's North American empire, the British have alienated the Indians by ending the longstanding practice of gift-giving. Moreover, the Indians feel threatened by the influx of white settlers into the Ohio River Valley. Indian uprisings occur throughout the Ohio River Valley. The Potawatomi capture Fort St. Joseph at present-day Niles on 25 May; the Chippewa take Fort Michilimackinac on 2 June. By mid-1763, Detroit is the only British post west of Niagara, New York, that has not fallen to Indian attack. Despite being vastly outnumbered, the British at Detroit hold on. Finally they receive supplies, and Pontiac ends his siege in late October. To maintain peace with the Indians, the British close the west to white settlement. Later they will tax the American colonists to pay for their military garrisons in the west. Both acts will be among the grievances cited by rebellious colonists in 1776.

JULY 11, 1796. U.S. regulars under the command of Lt. Colonel John F. Hamtramck enter Detroit and replace the British Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes. The ceremony comes thirteen years after the signing of the Treaty of Paris at the end of the American Revolution. The delay has been caused by British reluctance to abandon their center of trade and power in the Ohio River Valley. As recently as 1791 the British included Michigan in their governmental reorganization of Canada. The following year, Michigan residents voted in their first election and elected three Detroiters to Ontario's provincial assembly. To thwart United States development of the Great Lakes area, the British have been supplying the Indians with arms. Two U.S. military efforts to subdue the Indians ended in disaster before General "Mad" Anthony Wayne defeated the Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20, 1794, near present-day Toledo, Ohio. Wayne's success prompted the British to evacuate the northwestern forts, opening the way for Hamtramck's troops. In 1805 the Michigan Territory will be organized.

JANUARY 22, 1813. A British force of 1,300 soldiers and Indians falls upon an American army at the River Raisin near present-day Monroe. Against direct orders, U.S. Brigadier General James Winchester has moved his force of 700 Kentuckians and 200 regulars to the River Raisin. There they are encamped in a poor defensive position. Their leaders have not investigated reports of an imminent British attack. The Americans repulse several British assaults, but finally they surrender because Winchester fears a possible Indian massacre. The British withdraw after the battle leaving behind eighty wounded Americans. The following day, the Indians murder many of these soldiers. The Battle of the River Raisin--the largest battle ever fought on Michigan soil--concludes a series of U.S. setbacks in Michigan during the early months of the War of 1812. Earlier, in mid-1812, Michigan Territorial About the same time, the U.S. garrison at Fort Mackinac was taken by surprise and surrendered without firing a shot. In September 1813, U.S. forces will return to Michigan and, amidst cries of "Remember the River Raisin," they will drive the British from Michigan soil. Michigan will grow slowly after the war, but the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 will precipitate a flood of immigrants, especially from New York and New England.

JANUARY 26, 1837. In Washington, DC, President Andrew Jackson signs the bill making Michigan the nation's twenty-sixth state. The enactment ends a struggle that began over two years earlier when twenty-three-year-old acting Territorial Governor Stevens T. Mason declared that Michigan had a "right" to be a state, despite Congress's refusal to endorse a state constitutional convention. The struggle has focused on the ownership of a 500-square-mile stretch of land called the Toledo Strip. Ohioans and Michiganians have traded hostile words and then mobilized their militias to assert their claims. While Congress was debating the matter, Michiganians wrote a state constitution with several farsighted features, including a comprehensive public education system under a state superintendent. President Jackson's signature also finalizes Michigan's acceptance of a congressional proposal giving Toledo to Ohio and the wilderness of the western Upper Peninsula to Michigan.

JULY 1, 1863. The Twenty-fourth Michigan Infantry, a member of the famed Iron Brigade, engages advancing Confederate forces at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In savage fighting, the Twenty-fourth suffers 80 percent casualties--the greatest loss of any northern regiment in the war's most dynamic battle. Other Michiganians have and will distinguish themselves throughout the war. When the First Michigan Infantry arrived in Washington, DC, in May 1861--the first western regiment to reach the northern capital--President Abraham Lincoln reportedly exclaimed, "Thank God for Michigan." On May 10, 1865, defeated Confederate President Jefferson Davis will be captured by Colonel Benjamin Pritchard and the Fourth Michigan Cavalry. By then over 90,000 Michigan men, and at least one woman disguised as a man, will have served in the Union armies; approximately 15,000 will have died.



DECEMBER 30, 1936. Spurred by an unfounded rumor that work is going to be transferred to plants with weak union support, autoworkers begin a spontaneous sit-down strike at General Motors Corporation (GMC) plants in Flint. When the workers reject a court injunction demanding that they leave the factories, the National Guard is mobilized to keep the peace. As the strike drags on, the workers' wives organize to show support for their husbands' cause and keep them supplied with provisions. The strike is a reaction to worsening unemployment and working conditions in the early 1930s, as well as a result of autoworkers' increased interest in union representation. In the past, semi- or unskilled autoworkers had been unwelcome in craft unions. Since 1935 the newly formed United Automobile Workers of America (UAW), armed with the Wagner Act that guarantees workers the right to organize and bargain collectively, has been confronting GMC--the nation's largest auto manufacturer. Despite charges of low wages and degrading working conditions, GMC has refused to recognize a single union as the worker's sole representative. The Flint sit-down strike ends in early February when GMC agrees to recognition and other demands. Other auto manufacturers soon recognize the UAW, but the Ford Motor Company will hold out until May 1941. Nevertheless, the Flint sit-down strike makes Michigan one of the nation's most powerful union states.


NOVEMBER 1, 1957. The Mackinac Bridge, connecting Michigan's two peninsulas, opens. After numerous proposals to bridge the Straits of Mackinac--the earliest in 1884--Governor G. Mennen Williams appointed the Mackinac Bridge Authority in 1950. Former U.S. Senator Prentiss M. Brown of St. Ignace served as chairman. After much effort, the authority received legislative permission to build the bridge. The project began in May 1954. The bridge's central span--3,800 feet between the towers--is the third largest such span in the world. The length between anchorages is 8,614 feet, making it the world's longest suspension bridge at this time. By 1989, two million vehicles annually will cross the bridge, and every Labor Day thousands of people will walk across the 26,444-foot-long structure.

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'08, '07 Area Supervisor Merchandise, Cedar Point, "18/20 Go"
'08 Area Supervisor Merchandise, Six Flags Over Texas, "366 Go",
'06 Batman:TR Ride Op, SFGAm '05 Front Desk, Disney's BoardWalk Hotel,
'06,'05 TL, '04 Merchandise, CP, Coaster Count: 258

Ok for PA

William Penn founded it

This is a commonwealth and not a state

A railway that let the brakes go at the top of a hill reaching a 100 m/p/h started the basic idea of a coaster

Philadelphia was the national capitol for awhile

The raido was invented in Pittsburgh

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13 Bravo Company Field Artillery Unit. An Army of One.