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Walden Pond
Walden Pond is a 102-foot (31 m) deep pond, 61 acres in area and 1.7 miles around, located in Concord, Massachusetts. A famous example of a kettlehole, it was formed by retreating glaciers 10,000 - 12,000 years ago.
The writer, naturalist, and philosopher Henry David Thoreau lived on the shores of the pond for two years starting in the summer of 1845. His account of the experience was recorded in Walden, or, Life in the Woods, and made the spot famous.
Remarkably enough, Frederic Tudor, Boston's "Ice King", harvested ice yearly on Walden Pond for export to the Caribbean, Europe, and India. In his journal, Thoreau philosophizes upon the wintry sight of Tudor's ice harvesters: "The sweltering inhabitants of Charleston and New Orleans, of Madras and Bombay and Calcutta, drink at my well. . . . The pure Walden water is mingled with the sacred water of the Ganges."
Ganges
Managed now by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Walden Pond State Reservation is a popular swimming destination in the summer. In the spring and fall, many people hike the trails that ring the pond and visit the site of Thoreau's one-room cabin.
External links
- [http://www.Walden-Pond.net/ More photos of Walden Pond]
Concord, Massachusetts
Concord is a town located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. As of the 2000 Census, the town had a total population of about 17,000. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.
History
literature
literature and later Nathaniel Hawthorne.]]
Nathaniel Hawthorne, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Margaret Sidney.]]
Margaret Sidney
Concord was first settled in 1635 and was officially incorporated in that same year. Concord was a site of the initial conflict in the American Revolutionary War, the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
Concord also has a remarkably rich literary history, including Louisa May Alcott whose houses, The Orchard House and The Wayside, are now museums; philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson who lived at several sites in town; Nathaniel Hawthorne who lived at The Old Manse and The Wayside; and Henry David Thoreau, who lived in a small cabin on Walden Pond in Concord (where he wrote his famous book Walden). Many notables are buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 67.1 km² (25.9 mi²). 64.5 km² (24.9 mi²) of it is land and 2.5 km² (1.0 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 3.75% water.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there are 16,993 people, 5,948 households, and 4,437 families residing in the town. The population density is 263.3/km² (682.0/mi²). There are 6,153 housing units at an average density of 95.3/km² (246.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 91.64% White, 2.24% African American, 0.09% Native American, 2.90% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 2.12% from other races, and 0.99% from two or more races. 2.80% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 5,948 households out of which 37.2% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.5% are married couples living together, 7.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% are non-families. 22.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.62 and the average family size is 3.08.
In the town the population is spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 28.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 42 years. For every 100 females there are 100.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 101.8 males.
The median income for a household in the town is $95,897, and the median income for a family is $115,839. Males have a median income of $82,374 versus $47,739 for females. The per capita income for the town is $51,477. 3.9% of the population and 2.1% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 3.7% of those under the age of 18 and 3.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Pronunciation
A great amount of people mispronounce the name of Concord, including tourists and the children on the Welch's Fruit Juice commercials. The most common mispronunciation is "Conc-ord," with the "or" sound in it pronounced like the word "or." The correct pronunciation would be saying the name of the town as if it were the word "conquered," with the "ord" in the name of the town pronounced as if it were "erd" as in "nerd."
Famous inhabitants
- Bronson Alcott
- Louisa May Alcott
- Rev. William Emerson
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Alan Lightman
- Henry David Thoreau
- Malcolm X (incarcerated in Concord's Prison)
Points of interest
- Old North Bridge
- The Old Manse, home of Emerson and Hawthorne
- The Wayside, home of Louisa May Alcott, Hawthorne, and Margaret Sidney
- Minute Man National Historical Park
External links
- [http://www.concordnet.org/ Concord official website]
Category:Towns in Massachusetts
Category:Middlesex County, Massachusetts
ja:コンコード (マサチューセッツ州)
Category:Towns in Massachusetts
Category:Middlesex County, Massachusetts
ja:コンコード (マサチューセッツ州)
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the United States of America.
Name
Mass-adchu-et
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was named after the indigenous population, the Massachusett, whose name can be segmented
:mass-adchu-et
where mass is "great", adchu is "hill" and et is a locative suffix.
It has been translated as
:at the great hill, or at the place of large hills, or at the range of hills
with reference to the Blue Hills, or in particular, Big Blue Hill, located on the boundary of Milton and Canton, to the southwest of Boston.
Commonwealth
Massachusetts officially designates itself a "commonwealth", although "state" is commonly used.
History
Early settlement
Various Algonquin tribes inhabited the area prior to European settlement. In the Massachusetts Bay area resided the Massachusett. Near the Vermont and New Hampshire borders and the Merrimack River valley was the traditional home of the Pennacook tribe. Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and southeast Massachusetts were the home of the Wampanoag, whom the Pilgrims met. The extreme end of the Cape was inhabited by the closely related Nauset tribe. Much of the central portion and the Connecticut River valley was home to the loosely organized Nipmuc peoples. The Berkshires were the home of both the Pocomtuc and the Mahican tribes. Spillovers of Narragansett and Mohegan from Rhode Island and Connecticut, respectively, were also present.
The Massachusett, as were all the native Americans on the coast of New England, were heavily decimated by waves of smallpox both before and after the arrival of Captain John Smith in 1614. They had developed no immunity to the disease, a common story when Europeans visited parts of the world remote from Europe. If the tribe had survivors, there is no record of them after this point.
The Pilgrims from the Humber region of England established their settlement at Plymouth in 1620, arriving on the Mayflower. One of their first tasks was to form a government, the Mayflower compact. They also suffered grievously from the native smallpox, but they were assisted in their time of trouble by the Wampanoags under chief Massasoit. In 1621 they celebrated their first Thanksgiving Day together to thank God for their survival. About half survived the first year.
From that time on the English settlers spread rapidly into clearings and fields depopulated by smallpox, their numbers swelled by the harsh treatment of puritans by Charles I at home. The natives called them the Yengeeze, their pronunciation of English, which became yankee. A shared culture prevailed for a time.
Massachusetts Bay Colony period (1629-1686)
The Pilgrims were soon followed by the Puritans from the River Thames region of England, who established the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It eclipsed Plymouth in numbers and economy, the chief factor being the good harbor at Boston. The English Revolution began and Massachusetts Bay Colony became a Puritan stonghold.
Relations with the natives were still good at this time. In 1646 the Long Parliament gave John Eliot a commission and funds to preach to the Wampanoags. He succeeded in converting a large number. The colonial government placed them in a ring of villages around Boston as a defensive strategy. They were called praying indians. The oldest, Natick, was built in 1651.
Although the Puritans came to Massachusetts for religious freedom, they were not tolerant of any religion other than theirs. Pilgrims, as well as Anglicans, Quakers, and a handful of other denominations were grudgingly accepted in the Puritan communities for a time. Then Quakers were banned, and in 1660 four were hanged on Boston Common (see Mary Dyer). People such as Anne Hutchinson, Roger Williams, and Thomas Hooker left Massachusetts and went South because of the Puritans' lack of religious tolerance. Williams ended up founding the colony of Rhode Island and Hooker founded Connecticut.
The colonists' policy toward natives fared no better than their religious tolerance. They treated natives as simpletons, leading at last to a sanguinary attempt to drive the English into the sea under Massasoit's son, Philip. King Philip's War (1675-1676), the bloodiest Indian war of the early colonial period, included major campaigns in the Pioneer Valley and Plymouth Colony. It took many years for the colonies of southern New England to recover from the effects of the war.
The praying indians had attempted to give warning, but they were scorned and ignored. When the blow fell in 1675 the praying indians were caught in the middle. Most left Massachusetts.
The colonists took those who stayed into internment on Deer and Long Islands in Boston Harbor, partly for their own protection. The government succeeded in preventing the colonists from massacring them there, but they died of deprivation and disease. Only 400 emerged in 1677, to reoccupy Wampanoag lands in southeastern Massachusetts.
Until they merged in 1691, Massachusetts Bay Colony and Plymouth Colony were separate colonies.
Dominion of New England (1686-1692)
In May of 1686, the Massachusetts Bay Colony came to an end, as Joseph Dudley became President of New England under a commission of King James II. He established his authority later in New Hampshire and the King's Province (part of today's Rhode Island), maintaining this position until Sir Edmund Andros arrived to become the Royal Governor of the Dominion of New England. Dudley continued on as a member of Governor Andros' council.
At the news of the accession of William and Mary, the Boston colonials rebelled. Andros and his officials were held on Castle Island and then sent back to England as prisoners. Andros was exonerated and went on to become Governor of Virginia (1692–98).
Royal Colony of Massachusetts (1692-1774)
Notable governors during this period were Thomas Hutchinson, Sir Francis Bernard, and Thomas Gage. Gage was the last British governor of Massachusetts.
Revolutionary Massachusetts (1760s-1780s)
Massachusetts was the first colony to revolt against the Crown, and thus the instigator of the American Revolution. On February 9, 1775, the British Parliament declared Massachusetts to be in rebellion, and sent additional troops to restore order to the colony.
In Boston on March 5, 1770, an African-American named Crispus Attucks, from Framingham, was killed (along with four other American colonists) at an event that became known as the Boston Massacre; Attucks is often considered the first casualty of the American Revolution.
Several early Revolutionary battles took place in Massachusetts, including the Battles of Lexington and Concord (where the famous shot heard 'round the world was fired), the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1780-present)
A Constitutional Convention drew up a Constitution drafted mainly by John Adams, and the people ratified it on June 15, 1780. At that time, Adams along with Samuel Adams, and James Bowdoin wrote in the Preamble to the Constitution of the Commonwealth, 1780:
"We, therefore, the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe, in affording us, in the course of His Providence, an opportunity, deliberately and peaceably, without fraud, violence or surprize, on entering into an Original, explicit, and Solemn Compact with each other; and of forming a new Constitution of Civil Government, for Ourselves and Posterity, and devoutly imploring His direction in so interesting a design, Do agree upon, ordain and establish, the following Declaration of Rights, and Frame of Government, as the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."
Other notable history
- Battles of the American Revolution - Battles of Lexington and Concord, Siege of Boston, Battle of Bunker Hill.
- Shays' Rebellion - Western Massachusetts uprising after the Revolution.
- First Governor of the Commonwealth - John Hancock was the first governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
- U.S. Constitution - On February 6, 1788, Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
- Slavery - According to a 1790 census, Massachusetts had a zero population of slaves.
- District of Maine - On March 15, 1820, Maine was separated from Massachusetts, of which it had been a non-contiguous part, and entered the Union as the 23rd State. (See Missouri Compromise)
- Massachusetts contains many historic houses.
- Invention of sports:
:
- Basketball was invented in Springfield, Massachusetts.
:
- Volleyball was invented in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
:
- The earliest reference to Baseball was also in Massachusetts, in Pittsfield.
Geography
Pittsfield, much more rural than Springfield, in the southern part of the valley, or Boston, which is on the coast.]]
Massachusetts is bordered on the north by New Hampshire and Vermont, on the west by New York, on the south by Connecticut and Rhode Island, and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. At the southeastern corner of the state is a large, sandy, arm-shaped peninsula called Cape Cod. The islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket lie to the south of Cape Cod.
Massachusetts is known as the Bay State because of the several large bays that give its coastline its distinctive shape: Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod Bay on the state's east coast, and Buzzards Bay to the south. A few cities and towns on the Massachusetts–Rhode Island border are also adjacent to Narragansett Bay.
Boston is the largest city, located at the inmost point of Massachusetts Bay, at the mouth of the Charles River, the longest river entirely within Massachusetts. Most of the population of the Boston metropolitan area (approximately 5,800,000) does not live in the city; eastern Massachusetts on the whole is fairly densely populated and largely suburban. Western Massachusetts is more rural and sparsely populated, especially in the Berkshires, the branch of the Appalachian Mountains which forms the western border of the state. The most populated part of western Massachusetts is the "Pioneer Valley," alongside the Connecticut River, which flows across Western Massachusetts from north to south.
Economy
Connecticut River produces the paper for Federal Reserve notes]]
[http://www.bea.gov/ The Bureau of Economic Analysis] estimates that Massachusetts's total state product in 2003 was $297 billion. Per capita personal income in 2003 was $39,504, 4th in the nation.
Its agricultural outputs are seafood, nursery stock, dairy products, cranberries, and vegetables. Its industrial outputs are machinery, electric equipment, scientific instruments, printing, and publishing. Thanks largely to the Ocean Spray cooperative, Massachusetts is the second largest cranberry producing state in the union (after Wisconsin). Other sectors vital to the Massachusetts economy include higher education, health care, financial services and tourism.
Demographics
Population
The population of Massachusetts in 2004 was 6,416,505 according to the US Census Bureau. There were 881,400 foreign-born residents living in the state in 2004. Since 1990 the population has increased 400,000, a growth of 6.7%
The bulk of the state's population surrounds Greater Boston, with approximately 5,800,000 people, and the North and South Shores. Historically, the coast has been much more urban than Western Massachusetts, which is very rural, save for the cities of Springfield and Worcester.
Race and Ancestry
The racial makeup of Massachusetts:
- 81.9% White
- 6.8% Hispanic
- 5.4% Black
- 3.8% Asian
- 0.2% Native American
- 2.3% Mixed race
The five largest reported ancestries in Massachusetts are: Irish (22.5%), Italian (13.5%), English (11.4%), French (8%), German (5.9%).
Massachusetts is the most Irish state in the nation and the only state in which people of Irish ancestry (especially in the Boston suburbs) are a plurality. Massachusetts Yankees of English ancestry still have strong presence in the state, including in Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard. Franco-Bay Staters are the largest group in much of western and central Massachusetts. Boston has a large African-American population and its largest immigrant group is Haitians. Fall River and New Bedford on the south coast have large populations of people with Portuguese and Brazilian heritages, with a growing Brazilian population in the Boston area. Census figures become less reliable due to the large, partly undocumented Brazilian population, estimated by some studies to approach 250,000 in Massachusetts. Census data does not account for this significant segment of the community because of confusing terminology, as Brazilians speak Portuguese and often do not consider themselves specifically Hispanic, Latino, White or African American. Lowell, in the northeast of the state, is home to the second largest Cambodian (Khmer) community in the country, outside of Long Beach, California. Although most of the Native Americans were decimated by disease and warfare, the Wampanoag tribe maintains a reservation at Aquinnah, on Martha's Vineyard and a non-recognized reservation at Mashpee. The Nipmuc maintain two state-recognized reservations in the central part of the state.
Religion
Although Massachusetts was initially founded and settled by staunch Protestants (Puritan separatists) in the 17th Century and remained a majority-White Anglo Saxon Protestant state for most of its history, it has since become the second most Catholic state in the Union (second only to next-door Rhode Island in its percentage of Catholic population) due to massive Catholic immigration (especially from Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Quebec, Puerto Rico) over the years. Christian Science began in Massachusetts. Today nearly half of the residents of Massachusetts are Roman Catholics and Protestants make up less than one-third of the state's population. The descendants of the Puritans are the Congregational/United Church of Christ members, who remain prominent in the state. Massachusetts also has one of the nation's largest Unitarian Universalist populations. Both of these denominations are noted for their strong support of social justice, civil rights, and moral issues, including strong and early advocacy of abolition of slavery, women's liberation, and legal recognition of gay marriage, though this may differ from their historical practices.
The religious affiliations of the people of Massachusetts (as of 2001) are shown in the table below:
- Christian – 79%
- Catholic – 47%
- Protestant – 31%
- Congregational/United Church of Christ – 4%
- Baptist – 4%
- Episcopal – 3%
- Methodist – 2%
- Pentecostal – 2%
- Other Protestant or general Protestant – 16%
- Other Christian – 1%
- Jewish – 2%
- Unitarian – 1%
- Other Religions – 1%
- Non-Religious – 17%
Government
Unitarian
The capital of Massachusetts is Boston and the current governor is His Excellency Mitt Romney (Republican). All governors of Massachusetts are given the title His Excellency, a carry-over from the Commonwealth's British past, despite titles being uncommon in American political traditions. The state does not maintain an official governor's residence. Massachusetts's two U.S. senators are Edward Kennedy (Democrat) and John Kerry (Democrat); as of the 2001 redistricting, Massachusetts has ten seats in the United States House of Representatives (all Democratic), giving Massachusetts the largest one-party delegation in Congress (i.e. twelve Democrats). The state legislature is formally styled the "Great and General Court" and is manned mostly by Democrats; the highest court is the "Supreme Judicial Court."
Legal holidays observed
Whenever a holiday falls on a Sunday it is observed on the following Monday.
- Celebrated only in Suffolk County (Boston, Chelsea, Revere, Winthrop) and the city of Somerville.
Politics
Liberal reputation
Massachusetts has a reputation as being a politically liberal state, and is often used as an archetype of liberalism in the U.S. It is the home of the Kennedy family of political fame, and routinely votes for the Democratic Party in federal elections. As of 2005, it is by far the largest U.S. state represented by only one party in the U.S. Congress. Although Republicans have held the governor's office continuously from 1991 to the present, many of these (especially William Weld, the first of the recent lineage of Republican governors) are considered among the most progressive Republicans in the nation. Two of these governors, Paul Cellucci and Jane Swift took office when their predecessors resigned to take other positions.
The liberal tendencies of Massachusetts extend throughout American history: in the 19th century, Massachusetts was a center of abolitionism, having been the first state to abolish slavery by law. During the Colonial period, Massachusetts was one of the leading states in the fight for independence. Recently, Massachusetts has adopted electronic document formats for the government that have the specifications available, so the people will not have to lock themselves to a proprietary office suite to view government documents. The OASIS OpenDocument XML format and PDF formats have been approved.
In presidential elections, Massachusetts supported Republicans until 1912, from 1916 through 1924, in the 1950s, and in 1980 and 1984. From 1988 through 2004, Massachusetts has supported Democratic presidential candidates, giving native son John Kerry his largest margin of victory among states with a 25 percentage point margin and 61.9% of the vote. Every county in the Commonwealth supported the Democratic candidate.
On the other hand, during the first half of the 1900s Boston was quite socially conservative, and strongly under the influence of Methodist minister J. Frank Chase and his New England Watch and Ward Society, founded in 1878. In 1903, the Old Corner Bookstore was raided and fined for selling Boccaccio's Decameron. Howard Johnson's got its start when Eugene O'Neill's Strange Interlude was banned in Boston, and the production had to be moved to Quincy. In 1927, works by Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, and Sherwood Anderson were removed from bookstore shelves. "Banned in Boston" on a book's cover could actually boost sales. Burlesque artists such as Sally Rand needed to modify their act when performing at Boston's Old Howard. The clean version of a performance used to be known as the "Boston version." By 1929, the Watch and Ward society was perceived to be in decline when it failed in its attempt to ban Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, but as late as 1935 it succeeded in banning Lillian Hellman's play The Children's Hour. Censorship was enforced by city officials, notably the "city censor" within the Boston Licensing Division. That position was held by Richard J. Sinnott from 1959 until the office was abolished on March 2, 1982. In modern times, few of such puritanical social mores persist.
Defamation of the Commonwealth
In 2002, Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania partially blamed the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal on Boston saying "...it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm." These remarks resurfaced in July of 2005 when an editorial in the Boston Globe republished Santorum's comments. Although he was heavily criticized for his remarks, Santorum not only refused to apologize, but, on August 1 2005 he complained that Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry of Massachusetts "did nothing" about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in 2002. "They spoke nothing. They sat by and let this happen," Santorum said.
During the 2004 Presidential Election, Massachusetts was the target of many GOP regionalist attacks along the campaign trail. When informed that the Democratic National Convention would be in Boston, House Majority Leader Dick Armey remarked, "If I were a Democrat, I suspect I'd feel a heck of a lot more comfortable in Boston than, say, America." While campaigning in the western part of the country, President Bush would often jab, "My opponent says he's in touch with the West, but sometimes I think he means Western Massachusetts." The stump speech that he used at many of his campaign stops included many such remarks directed at Massachusetts and New England in general.
Contemporary political issues
Following a November 2003 decision of the state's Supreme Court, Massachusetts became the first (and heretofore only) state to issue same-sex marriage licenses on May 17, 2004. See the articles on same-sex marriage in the United States and same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.
Famous politicians and public figures
- John Adams, 1st Vice President of the U.S., 2nd President of the U.S., 1800 Federalist presidential nominee
- John Quincy Adams, Congressman, Senator, 6th President of the U.S.
- Samuel Adams, Patriot in the American Revolutionary War
- George H. W. Bush, 43rd Vice President of the U.S., 41st President of the U.S.
- Calvin Coolidge, 29th Vice President of the U.S., 30th President of the U.S.
- Michael Dukakis, Governor, 1988 Democratic presidential nominee
- Benjamin Franklin, Patriot in the American Revolutionary War
- Elbridge Gerry, Congressman, Governor, 5th Vice President of the U.S., namesake of gerrymandering
- John Hancock, Governor, President of the Continental Congress
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Supreme Court Justice
- James Michael Curley, Governor, Congressman, Mayor of Boston
- Edward M. Kennedy, incumbent U.S. Senator, 1980 Democratic presidential candidate
- John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator, 35th President of the U.S.
- Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator (representing New York), 1968 Democratic presidential candidate
- John F. Kerry, Lt. Governor, incumbent U.S. Senator, 2004 Democratic presidential nominee
- Tip O'Neill, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
- Theodore Sedgwick, President pro tempore of the Senate, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
- Paul Tsongas, U.S. Senator, 1992 Democratic presidential candidate
- Henry Wilson, U.S. Senator, 18th Vice President of the U.S.
Massachusetts cities, towns and counties
18th Vice President of the U.S.
Massachusetts shares with the five other New England states, plus New York and New Jersey, a governmental structure known as the "New England town."
Prominent cities and towns
There are 50 cities and 301 towns in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, grouped into 14 counties. Municipalities of historical or cultural prominence include:
Education and research
New Jersey
The central role of education
Massachusetts contains only 2.5% of the U.S. population, but is home to many of its most renowned preparatory schools, colleges, and universities[http://www.utexas.edu/world/univ/state/] (see full list of colleges and universities in Massachusetts). Eight Boston-area institutions (Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis, Harvard, MIT, Northeastern, Tufts, and UMass/Boston) are recognized research universities; in the eyes of many they became engines of economic growth following World War II, and currently contribute $7 billion annually to the local economy [http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2003/econimpact.html]. The population of metropolitan Boston surges noticeably during the school year due to the concentration of colleges and universities in the area (see list of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston).
Prominent colleges and universities
According to U.S. News & World Report, five of the nation's top-50 national universities are located in Massachusetts: Boston College, Brandeis University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tufts University. Massachusetts is also home to six of the nation's top-50 liberal arts colleges : Amherst College, College of the Holy Cross, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Wellesley College and Williams College.
Public schools
Massachusetts is known for having one of the best public school systems in the nation. It has one of the lowest high-school dropout rates in the nation and is tied with New Jersey for having the 2nd highest percentage of students who go on to college after high-school. It is also one of the highest scoring states on advanced placement tests.
Professional sports
- Baseball
- Boston Red Sox
- Cape Cod Baseball League
- Lowell Spinners
- North Shore Spirit
- Brockton Rox
- Worcester Tornadoes
- Basketball
- Boston Celtics
- Basketball Hall of Fame (Springfield)
- Football
- New England Patriots
- Hockey
- Boston Bruins
- Lowell Lock Monsters
- Springfield Falcons
- Lacrosse
- Boston Cannons
- Soccer
- New England Revolution
- Western Mass Pioneers
- Volleyball
- Volleyball Hall of Fame (Holyoke)
Trivia
The Commonwealth's nickname is the Bay State. Other nicknames are the Old Colony State, and less commonly the Puritan state and the Baked Bean state. On December 18, 1990, the Legislature decided that the people of the Commonwealth would be designated as Bay Staters.
The United States Postal Service abbreviation for Massachusetts is MA and its traditional abbreviation is Mass.
Seven ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Massachusetts in honor of this state.
When the Governor dies, resigns, or is removed from office, the office of Governor remains vacant (for the rest of the 4 year term), the Lieutenant Governor doesn't succeed, only decharges powers & duties as Acting Governor (for rest of the 4 year term).
See also
- Moxie
- Patriot's Day
- Puritanism and Transcendentalism
- Salem Witch Trials
- Thanksgiving
For historical context, see:
- Colonial America
- American Revolution
- History of the United States
References
- Bond, C. Lawrence, Native Names of New England Towns and Villages Translating 145 Names Derived from Native American Words, privately published by Bond, Topsfield, Massachusetts, 1991
External links
- [http://www.state.ma.us State web site]
- [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/massachusetts.html Maps of Massachusetts]
- [http://obit.obitlinkspage.com/ma.htm Massachusetts Obituary Links Page]
- [http://www.genealogybuff.com/ma GenealogyBuff.com - Massachusetts Library of Files]
- [http://newenglandtowns.org/massachusetts Historic descriptions of Massachusetts cities, towns, mountains, lakes, and rivers]
-
Category:States of the United States
ko:매사추세츠 주
ja:マサチューセッツ州
th:มลรัฐแมสซาชูเซตส์
KettleholeA kettlehole (or kettle hole) is a small, usually round depression formed as a result of glacial action. They are believed to form when a large piece of ice breaks from the edge of a retreating glacier, and becomes partially buried under glacial debris deposited by the glacier; after melting, this fragment leaves a small depression in the landscape.
When water occupies a kettlehole, it may be called a kettle pond or kettle lake. In contrast to most ponds and lakes, kettleholes often have no inflowing or outflowing streams. Many small ponds in New England are kettleponds, including Walden Pond, Jamaica Pond, Ell Pond, Fresh Pond, Spruce Hole Bog, and on Long Island, Lake Ronkonkoma.
External link
- [http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/glossary/h_k/kettle_hole.html Geological definition of a kettle hole] from the University of Wisconsin
Category:Bodies of water
Category:Glaciology
1845
1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar).
Events
- January 29 - The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe is published for the first time (New York Evening Mirror).
- February 7 - In the British Museum, drunken visitor smashes Portland Vase - it takes months to repair
- March 1 - President John Tyler signs a bill authorizing the United States to annex the Republic of Texas.
- March 3 - Florida is admitted as the 27th U.S. state.
- March 3 - For the first time the U.S. Congress passes legislation overriding a presidential veto.
- March 11 - First Maori War: Chiefs Kawiti and Hone Heke lead 700 Maoris in the burning of the British colonial settlement of Kororareka, now known as Russell.
- March 17 - The rubber band is invented in England
- May 20 - The HMS Erebus and Terror with 134 men under John Franklin sail from the River Thames beginning a disastrous expedition to find the Northwest Passage.
- July 4 - Near Concord, Massachusetts, Henry David Thoreau embarks on a two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond (see Walden).
- July 20 - Charles Sturt enters the Simpson Desert in central Australia
- August 28 - Scientific American begins publication
- October 10 - In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors.
- October 13 - A majority of voters in the Republic of Texas approve a proposed constitution, that if accepted by the U.S. Congress, will make Texas a U.S. state.
- December 2 - Manifest Destiny: US President James Polk announces to Congress that the Monroe Doctrine should be strictly enforced and that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.
- December 5 - Templars of Honor and Temperance founded.
- December 6 - Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity founded.
- December 27 - Anesthesia is used for childbirth for the first time (Dr. Crawford Williamson Long in Jefferson, Georgia).
- December 29 - Texas is admitted as the 28th U.S. state.
- December 30 - Queen's Colleges of Belfast, Cork and Galway are incorporated in Ireland.
Month/day unknown
- Second separation of Republic of Yucatan from Mexico
- Beginning of the Irish potato famine.
- James K. Polk succeeds John Tyler as President of the United States of America
- Ephraim Bee reveals that the Emperor of China has given him a special dispensation; that he had entrusted him with certain sacred and mysterious rituals through Caleb Cushing, the US Commissioner to China, to "extend the work and influence of the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus" in the new world.
- Templars of Honor and Temperance established in U.S.
- Aberdeen Act signed
Ongoing Events
- Irish Potato Famine (1845-1849)
Births
- February 15 - Elihu Root, American statesman and diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1937)
- February 25 - George Reid, fourth Prime Minister of Australia, (d. 1918)
- March 3 - Georg Cantor, German mathematician (d. 1918)
- March 10 - Emperor Alexander III of Russia (d. 1894)
- March 27 - Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1923)
- April 24 - Carl Spitteler, Swiss writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
- May 12 - Gabriel Fauré, French composer (d. 1924)
- May 16 - Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, Russian microbiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1916)
- May 17 - Jacint Verdaguer, Catalan poet (d. 1902)
- May 25 - Eugène Grasset, Swiss-born artist (d. 1917)
- May 25 - Lip Pike, baseball player (d. 1893)
- May 30 - King Amadeus I of Spain (d. 1890)
- June 7 - Leopold Auer, Hungarian violinist and composer (d. 1930)
- June 9 - Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto (d. 1914)
- June 18 - Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1922)
- July 18 - Tristan Corbière, French poet (d. 1875)
- July 19 - Horatio Nelson Young, American naval hero (d. 1913)
- August 10 - Abai Kunanbaev, Kazak poet (d. 1904)
- August 19 - Edmond James de Rothschild, French philantropist (d. 1934)
- August 25 - King Ludwig II of Bavaria (d. 1886)
- November 10 - John Sparrow David Thompson, Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1894)
- Joshua Levering, American Presidential candidate
Deaths
- April 10 - Dr. Thomas Sewall, American anatomist
- May 12 - Janos Bacsanyi, Hungarian poet (b. 1763)
- June 8 - Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States (b. 1767)
- October 12 - Elizabeth Fry, British humanitarian (b. 1780)
----
1845 is also the name of a song on One Minute Silence's album Buy Now... Saved Later.
Category:1845
ko:1845년
ms:1845
simple:1845
Walden:This article is about a book by Henry Thoreau. For other uses of the name, see Walden (disambiguation).
Walden (disambiguation)
Walden (also known as Walden; or, Life in the Woods) by Henry David Thoreau is one of the best-known non-fiction books written by an American.
Published in 1854, it details Thoreau's life for two years and two months in second-growth forest around the shores of Walden Pond, not far from his friends and family in Concord, Massachusetts. Walden was written so that the stay appears to be a year, with expressed seasonal divisions. Thoreau called it an experiment in simple living.
Walden is neither a novel nor a true autobiography, but a social critique of the Western World, with each chapter heralding some aspect of humanity that needed to be either renounced or praised. Along with his critique of the civilized world, Thoreau examines other issues afflicting man in society, ranging from economy (the first chapter of the book) and reading to solitude and higher laws. He also takes time to talk about the experience at Walden Pond itself, commenting on the animals and the way people treated him for living there, using those experiences to bring out his philosophical positions. This extended commentary on nature has often been interpreted as a strong statement to the natural religion that transcendentalists like Thoreau and Emerson were preaching.
More than a century later, Walden remains a touchstone for Americans seeking to "get in touch with Nature" and is a major cultural icon. It has been parodied in the Doonesbury comic strip and emulated in Walden Two by B.F. Skinner.
The pond itself is a tourist attraction, as well as a center of controversy over nearby development - thus demonstrating the very tension between natural and man-made pleasures that Thoreau explored in his book.
Perhaps the book's most strongly resonating passage is its last paragraph: "I do not say that John or Jonathan will realize all this; but such is the character of that morrow which mere lapse of time can never make to dawn. The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star."
Chapters
- Economy
- Complemental Verses (this chapter consists of one poem)
- Where I Lived, and What I Lived For
- Reading
- Sounds
- Solitude
- Visitors
- The Bean-Field
- The Village
- The Ponds
- Baker Farm
- Higher Laws
- Brute Neighbors
- House-warming
- Former Inhabitants; and Winter Visitors
- The Pond in Winter
- Spring
- Conclusion
External links
-
- [http://www.transcendentalists.com/walden.htm Full text version of Walden] - Read Walden online
- [http://eserver.org/thoreau/ The Thoreau Reader] — Thoreau's works, criticism, and other resources
- [http://www.gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/walden/fullsumm.html ClassicNotes] - Comprehensive summary and analysis of the text
Category:1854 books
Category:Political books
Ganges
The Ganges River (Ganga in Indian languages; Ganges is the Latin form) (Devanagari गंगा) is a major river in northern India and Bangladesh. It originates as the Bhagirathi from the Gangotri Glacier in the Uttaranchal Himalaya and joins the Alaknanda near Deoprayag to form the Ganga. Then on, the Ganga flows across the large plains of North India (called the Gangetic Plains) and empties into the Bay of Bengal after dividing up into many distributaries. One of them is the Hoogli River near Kolkata, another major distributary being the Padma River that enters Bangladesh and merges with Jamuna River, a branch of the Brahmaputra River.
The total length of the river is about 2,510 km (1,560 mi). One of the densest human population belts on earth is built around the Ganges.
The region encompassing the delta near the Bay of Bengal coast is known as The Sundarbans (Beautiful Forests) — a region of thick mangrove forests, and one of the major habitats of the Royal Bengal tiger.
The Ganges Basin is incredibly fertile and, at present, about one in every 12 people in the world (8%) live in its catchment area. However, due to this incredible concentration of population, pollution and destruction of habitats is increasing at an alarming rate in the region.
The Yamuna River — a major river in its own right, and nearly as sacred — is a tributary of the Ganga, and their confluence is near what is the site of the traditional holy Hindu city of Prayag, now known as Allahabad.
Two species of dolphin can be found in the Ganges, the Ganges River Dolphin and the Irrawaddy Dolphin. The Ganges is also notable in that it contains a rare species of freshwater shark, Glyphis gangeticus about which little is known.
The Ganga in Hinduism
Glyphis gangeticus
The Ganga is personified in Hinduism as a goddess: Maa Ganga (Mother Ganga). Hindu legend makes her the foster-mother of Karttikeya, who was actually a son of Shiva and Parvati
Several places sacred to Hindus lie along the banks of the river Ganga, including Haridwar and Varanasi. It is believed that taking a dip in the river will wash away one's sins, and that having one's ashes disposed of in the Ganga after death may improve one's next life or even allow Moksha to be attained sooner. Devout Hindus make pilgrimages to bathe in the Ganga and to meditate on its banks.
According to mythological legend, Brahma collected the sweat of Vishnu's feet and created Ganga. Being touched by two members of the Trimurti, Ganga became very holy.
Several years later, a king named Sagara magically acquired sixty thousand sons. One day, King Sagara performed a ritual of worship for the good of the kingdom. One of the integral parts of the ritual was a horse, which was stolen by the jealous Indra. Sagara sent all his sons all over the earth to search for the horse. They found it in the nether-world (or Underworld) next to a penitent sage Kapila. Believing that the sage had stolen the horse, they hurled insults at him and caused his penance to be disturbed. The sage opened his eyes for the first time in several years, and looked at the sons of Sagara. With this glance, all sixty thousand were burnt to death. Kapila
Kapila
The souls of the sons of Sagara wandered as ghosts since their final rites had not been performed. When Bhagiratha, one of the descendants of Sagara, son of Dilip, learnt of this fate, he vowed to bring Ganga down to Earth so that her waters could cleanse their souls and release them to heaven.
Bhagiratha prayed to Brahma that Ganga come down to Earth. Brahma agreed, and he ordered Ganga to go down to the Earth and then on to the nether regions so that the souls of Bhagiratha's ancestors would be able to go to heaven. The vain Ganga felt that this was insulting and decided to sweep the whole earth away as she fell from the heavens. Alarmed, Bhagiratha prayed to Shiva that he break up Ganga's descent.
Ganga arrogantly fell on Shiva's head. But Shiva calmly trapped her in his hair and let her out in small streams. The touch of Shiva further sanctified Ganga. As Ganga travelled to the nether-worlds, she created a different stream to remain on Earth to help purify unfortunate souls there.
Because of Bhagiratha's efforts Ganga descended on to earth and hence the river is also known as Bhagirathi, and the term "Bhagirath prayatna" is used to describe valiant efforts or difficult achievements.
Another name that Ganga is known by is Jahnavi. Story has it that once Ganga came down to earth, on her way to Bhagiratha, her rushing waters created turbulence and destroyed the fields and the sadhana of a sage called Jahnu. He was angered by this and drank up all of Ganga's waters. Upon this, the Gods prayed to Jahnu to release Ganga so that she could proceed on her mission. Pleased with their prayers, Jahnu released Ganga (her waters) from his ears. Hence the name "Jahnavi" (daughter of Jahnu) for Ganga.
Pollution
Jahnu
The pollution of the Ganges River is becoming increasingly worse as time goes on. Pollution that is found in the Ganges include cremated corpses, livestock carcasses, raw sewage, waste from factories, Cholera, and the used water from peoples' daily lives. There have been many attempts to clean up the Ganges, but they have either failed or made the problem worse. India's government has already spent over $33 million to address the overwhelming sewage problem.
References
- Alley, Kelly D. On the Banks of the Ganga: When Wastewater Meets a Sacred River, University of Michigan press (2002) [ISBN 0-472-06808-3]
- Darian, Steven G.,The Ganges in Myth and History, The University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu (1978) [ISBN 0824805097]
- Newby, Eric, Slowly down the Ganges, Lonely Planet Publications (1998) [ISBN 0864426313]
External links
- [http://www.atmajyoti.org/vi_india_videos.asp Ganga Arati Video] Quicktime streaming video of worship of the Ganges in Hardwar (15 minutes)
See also
- Ganges Delta
- Ganges Fan
- Ganga Pollution
- Ganga Basin
Category:Geography of India
Category:Rivers of India
Category:Hindu pilgrimage sites
ja:ガンジス川
762
Events
- Abbasid caliph al-Mansur founds new capital at Baghdad, Iraq
- Tang Military Leader Li Fuguo killed the wife of Suzong and shortly after that, Suzong died of heart attack. Daizong killed Li.
Births
Deaths
- Emperor Xuanzong of Tang China (b. 685)
- Li Po, Chinese poet (b. 701)
- Emperor Suzong of Tang China (b. 711)
- Li Fuguo, Chinese eunuch official and military leader (b. 704)
Category:762
ko:762년
wagi pisanie prac heavy metal Sklep wdkarski tapety motorola
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- También
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