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

January 2010

... that the American Delta blues pianist and singer, Willie Love, never employed his musician friend, Sonny Boy Williamson II, on any of his own recordings?

... that completion of the Howard A. Hanson Dam (pictured) in 1961 ended a 70-year era of flooding in the Green River Valley, and by 1996, the dam had prevented an estimated US$694 million in flood damages?
... that United States Supreme Court associate justice Antonin Scalia reportedly hates the word "choate", because it is a back-formation from "inchoate"?
... that centenarian Dorothy Geeben was the oldest mayor in the United States until her death on January 10, 2010?
... that in 1862, Senator Samuel Pomeroy of Kansas proposed the colony of Linconia to fulfill U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's vision for African-American emigration to Central America?
... that in November 1931, American country blues harmonicist Eddie Mapp was found stabbed to death at the age of 20 on an Atlanta, Georgia, street corner?
... that the passage of the A.B. 390 by California's Public Safety Committee marked the first time in United States history that a bill legalizing marijuana passed a legislative committee?
... that in response to sightings of Osama bin Laden in the United States, his face was added to facial recognition programs for the 2002 Olympics?
... that in order to play for the All-American Basketball Alliance, one must be a natural-born US citizen "with both parents of Caucasian race"?
... that the American thoroughbred racehorse Meridian won the Kentucky Derby in 1911, establishing a new record time?
... that Indians perform the second most Google searches for Ayn Rand after Americans?
... that the founder of Nassau Valley Vineyards had to lobby the Delaware legislature and even draft the bill that overturned the state's Prohibition-era laws which banned wine production?
... that Kentucky political boss Thomas Rhea was instrumental in getting delegates from Southern states to vote to nominate Franklin D. Roosevelt for president at the 1932 Democratic National Convention?
... that the early-February 1995 winter storm was the only major nor'easter of the 1994–1995 winter?
... that as the chairman of the U.S. Reform Party, Russ Verney asked its highest elected official, Governor Jesse Ventura of Minnesota, to resign from the party?
... that a 66-year-old man named Johnny Lee Wicks opened fire at a Las Vegas federal courthouse on January 4, 2010, allegedly over cuts to his Social Security benefits?
... that Paul v. U.S. expressed the principle that the legal theories of res judicata and stare decisis do not apply to Congressional reference cases?

... that the first modern U.S. presidential debate between Thomas E. Dewey and Harold E. Stassen (pictured) in 1948 was heard by approximately 40 million people?
... that the release of Game Change, a book about the 2008 United States presidential election, led Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to apologize over remarks he made about President Barack Obama?
... that the Todd Manning and Marty Saybrooke rape storylines from the American daytime drama One Life to Live have been the subject of various academic works, as well as outrage from leading anti-sexual assault organizations such as RAINN?
... that no member of the U. S. Congress has been appointed to the United States Supreme Court since the 1949 nomination of Sherman Minton?
... that after turning down an invitation to play with the Americans, Brandon Kozun scored the shootout winning goal for Canada to defeat the United States during round robin play at the 2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships?
... that same-sex marriage under United States tribal jurisdictions has been allowed in the Coquille Tribe of Oregon despite the state's defense of marriage amendment?
... that the Louisiana sheriff Elliot D. Coleman was one of the police bodyguards on duty at the time of the 1935 assassination of U.S. Senator Huey P. Long, Jr.?
... that the Goose Creek Oil Field in Galveston Bay had the first offshore oil wells in Texas, U.S., and the removal of oil led to subsidence of the overlying terrain?
... that the oil in the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, which killed upwards of 10,000 birds and numerous other creatures along the coast of California, U.S., came from the Dos Cuadras Offshore Oil Field?
... that screenwriter Brad Falchuk tried to stand out in high school by wearing a tie every day and declaring himself a Republican?
... that 2004 Olympic gold medalist Rhi Jeffrey left competitive swimming just four months before the U.S. Olympic Trials for Beijing?

... that the Red Tail Project evolved after a United States Air Force P-51 Mustang (pictured) flown by the Tuskegee Airmen was passed through several owners for over 40 years?
... that Woody Freeman, one of the Republicans defeated by Bill Clinton for governor of Arkansas, claimed he began a computer software business in 1985 with $3 in his account?
... that as early as 1978 the Republican gubernatorial nominee in Arkansas, Lynn Lowe accused Bill Clinton of having been a draft dodger during the Vietnam War?
... that prominent American Jewish leader Alan Solow called President Barack Obama "the first Jewish president"?
... that because of his race, U.S. President Barack Obama has been the subject of multiple assassination threats and alleged plots?
... that at age 36, Populist Party Chairman Marion Butler of North Carolina obtained his law degree from the University of North Carolina while serving in the U.S. Senate?
... that Riverside Theater in Jacksonville was the first theater in Florida, and the third in the United States, equipped to show sound film?
... that in Cross v. United States, the United States Supreme Court established the principle that the Court of Claims could rehear Congressional reference cases?
... that as a result of 1962 U.S. Supreme Court decision Glidden Co. v. Zdanok, the Court of Claims did not accept new Congressional reference cases until 1966?
... that Roanoke, Virginia, television station WROV-TV was the first UHF station in the United States to shut down?