Discovery
Our Featured Country
United States of America
I am fortunate to be an American. This is an amazing country. We are relatively young, but we have become the strongest and most influential country on earth. As Americans we collectively share cultural traditions... Halloween, the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving. But we celebrate and appreciate our cultural diversity with Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day and Columbus Day parades and Martin Luther King Day.
I have traveled throughout throughout our country quite a bit and am still amazed at the diversity and unity that we enjoy. I am also amazed at the geographic beauty and diversity that we enjoy! We have the rugged cliffs of Maine, the sandy beaches of Florida, the islands of Hawaii, the snowcapped mountains of Colorado, the deserts of Arizona, the sunflower fields of Kansas, the mighty Mississippi River and the amazing California coast...and it is all America!
A few interesting facts about the United States of America:
U.S. population is 307,212,123. The median age is 36.7 years.
Federic Auguste Bartholdi was the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty and Gustave Eiffel (designer of the Eiffel Tower) was its structural engineer. It was presented to the American people by the French people on July 4, 1884 in recognition of the friendship established during the American Revolution.
The National Park's Service has created a National Register of Travel Itineraries to discover our shared heritage in this country. You can travel along the legendary Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles, South and West Texas, the Places Where Women Made History and Aboard the Underground Railroad.
The American blue jean was invented n 1873 by Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss. Jacob Davis made the first "waist overalls" in response to a woman's request to make stronger pants for her large husband. He riveted the pockets for strength and the pants were a hit! He entered a partnership with Levi Strauss and an American institution was founded. In 1890, the "waist overalls" were renamed 501 for their lot number.
Levi Strauss & Co. continued to call the pants "waist overalls" until teenagers in the 1950's began calling them "jeans".
For the past 18 years, the Labrador Retriever has remained the most popular American dog. In 2008, it is followed by Yorkshire Terrier, German Shepard, Golden Retriever, Beagle and Boxer.
The Bulldog is growing in popularity nationally but also in Miami, where they were the 7th most popular in 2008, with the French Bulldog coming in 5th in Miami.
In 2008 St. Louis was the only city to have the Great Dane in its Top 10. In Chicago, the Hungarian Vizla made its Top 10 for the second year in a row.
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