Portal:United States/Did you know/archive/2011/January

January 2011

... that in Florida v. Thomas, the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed that a state court decision is not "final" if a trial has not concluded in a verdict?
... that Nicholas Longworth built America's first commercially successful winery with a pink sparkling wine made from Catawba?
... that the Hall XPTBH, a patrol torpedo bomber, was the only aircraft that ever received three mission designation letters in the U.S. Navy's aircraft designation system?

... that the Sweetwater Dam (pictured) near San Diego, when first constructed in 1888, was the tallest masonry arch dam in the United States?

... that the two largest Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir trees in the United States survived the B&B Complex Fires (pictured) that burned 90,769 acres (367.33 km²) of forest in the Cascade Range of Oregon?
... that the book Beyond the First Amendment argues freedom of speech on the Internet is not easily addressed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution?
... that in 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court in Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Wisconsin began the regulation of wellhead natural gas prices, which lasted until Congress deregulated them on January 1, 1985?
... that in Booth v. Churner, over 30 U.S. states asked the United States Supreme Court to require prisoners to resolve all administrative claims before pursuing litigation?
... that boxing promoter Don King was the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court decision in Cedric Kushner Promotions, Ltd. v. King?
... that Eric Doeringer has sometimes sold up to US$1,500 worth of "bootlegs", small copies of paintings by eminent modern artists, in one day?
... that the Mayo Clinic argued in Mayo v. United States that medical residents, who work up to 80 hours a week and are paid approximately $50,000 a year, should be considered students instead of employees?
... that in the 1970s, the Pelican Bowl was played to determine the national champions of black college football in the United States?
... that the Vought XSB3U was designed as a result of the U.S. Navy's reluctance to embrace the monoplane for carrier operations?
... that prior to authoring Freedom of Expression®, Kembrew McLeod successfully registered the phrase "freedom of expression" as a trademark in the United States?
... that Justice Thomas said the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Penry v. Johnson on the relevance of mental retardation in death penalty sentencing sent "mixed signals" to lower courts?
... that Graciela Chichilnisky, who proposed the Kyoto Protocol's market for carbon credit trading, obtained her PhDs in mathematics and economics without ever having been an undergraduate?
... that, following the collision of Hughes Airwest Flight 706 with a Marine Corps F-4B Phantom II, the US Armed Forces required military aircraft to obey civilian air traffic controllers?

... that over 400 species of birds (state bird, Brown Thrasher, pictured) have been recorded in the American state of Georgia?
... that the U.S. Supreme Court said Congress did not exempt certain federal banks from state taxes in Director of Revenue of Mo. v. CoBank ACB notwithstanding the landmark decision in McCulloch?
... that Kevin Houston holds the U.S. Military Academy's men's basketball records for points in a game (53), season (953) and career (2,325)?
... that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 2001 securities fraud case that secret plans to disregard an oral contract are illegal?
... that U.S. President Barack Obama gave a speech on January 12, 2011, honoring the victims of the 2011 Tucson shooting?
... that the March 2, 1957, disappearance of attorney Maud Crawford from her Camden, Arkansas, home remains officially unsolved?
... that U.S. Senator Jesse Helms suggested a new series of gold medallions that would make it easier for people to buy gold?
... that polo and ice hockey player Stewart Iglehart is the only man to represent the United States internationally in two sports?

... that although the Vought XSO2U (pictured) was judged superior to the Curtiss XSO3C by the U.S. Navy in a competition for a new scout aircraft for operation from cruisers, the Curtiss aircraft won the contract?
... that the US Supreme Court ruled in Shafer v. South Carolina that defendants must be allowed to inform a jury of an alternative sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole?
... that the United States Supreme Court ruled in Circuit City Stores, Inc. v. Adams that the phrase "contracts of employment" in the Federal Arbitration Act actually does not refer to employment contracts?
... that Frank Freyer of the United States Navy became Chief of Staff of the Peruvian Navy in 1921?
... that a system created by Husk Power Systems uses rice hulls, a waste product of rice milling, to generate power for under US$2 per month for thousands in India with no access to the electrical grid?
... that the development of the BQM-108 UAV was a response by the U.S. Navy to the threat of attack by advanced cruise missiles?
... that the United States Supreme Court has ruled in Daniels v. United States that a defendant cannot challenge previous convictions that were used to enhance his sentence?
... that the United States Supreme Court has ruled that interscholastic athletic associations have police power?

... that Immaculate Conception Catholic Church (pictured) in Celina, Ohio, was built just 43 years after the first Catholic moved into the city?
... that the U.S. Coast Guard's HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft have been used for search and rescue, oil spill monitoring, and sea-turtle transport?
... that it took the U.S. Supreme Court less than three months to decide a case concerning an exemption to the Freedom of Information Act in 2001?
... that Cayuga Indian Nation of N.Y. v. Pataki reversed a US$247.9 million jury award to the Cayuga Nation of New York based on the state's alienation of their land in violation of the Nonintercourse Act?
... that despite wartime rationing during World War II, volunteers at the North Platte Canteen were able to hand out food to up to 8,000 servicemen and women a day for four and a half years?
... that American ice hockey goaltender Tim Regan was awarded an Olympic silver medal in 1972 despite not playing a single game and leaving the Olympics early to return to college?

... that Hurricane Able (track pictured) was the only hurricane to make landfall in the United States during the 1952 hurricane season?
... that the Navajo Times was the first daily newspaper published by an American Indian Nation?
... that in November 2010, pest controller Chris Swan bowled the third-best figures for a first class match in the history of the Queensland cricket team?
... that actor William Caskey Swaim was drafted into the Army in 1968 and served as a medic during his tour on the island of Okinawa?
... that the Louisiana attorney and politician Arnold Jack Rosenthal owned racehorses and maintained a long-term interest in the racing industry?
... that at the end of the 19th century, E. C. Stearns & Company was one of the most extensive hardware manufacturers in the US?

... that United States Navy, British Royal Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy warships bombarded several Japanese cities (bombardment of Kamaishi pictured) during the last weeks of World War II?
... that the British detective series Saber of London ran on two American television networks between 1951 and 1960 under four different show titles?
... that Carrier Strike Group Fourteen is currently the only U.S. carrier strike group that does not have an assigned aircraft carrier or carrier air wing?
... that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Central Green Co. v. United States that the term 'flood waters' includes accidental flooding from a canal?
... that the last will and testament of Adolf Hitler was discovered in 1945 by Arnold Weiss of the United States Army, who had come to Wisconsin as a Jewish orphan from Nazi Germany at the age of 13?
... that U.S. Rep. Albert Estopinal of Louisiana led three missions during the Civil War to transport Union prisoners to the Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia?
... that the Knoxville L&N rail station had three waiting rooms: one for ladies, one for "colored" people, and a general waiting room?
... that Tom Oran was the first Native American to play Major League Baseball?
... that in the United States some defendants chose to appear pro se because of the Perry Mason syndrome?
... that the Japanese air attacks on the Mariana Islands between November 1944 and January 1945 sought to disrupt the bombing of Japan by United States Army Air Forces aircraft based on the islands?
... that, after his rookie season in Major League Baseball, Sam Moffet and his brother extracted over US$200,000 worth of gold and silver from a mine in Butte, Montana?
... that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Green Tree Financial Corp.-Ala. v. Randolph that arbitration agreements do not need to discuss the costs of arbitration?
... that after the crash of a U.S. Air Force C-5 Galaxy near Saigon, Robert Macauley mortgaged his house so he could charter a Boeing 747 from Pan Am to evacuate orphans from South Vietnam?
... that the United States Supreme Court ruled in Legal Services Corp. v. Velazquez that the First Amendment protects against free speech viewpoint discrimination?
... that Steven W. Fisher presided over the trial in the Wendy's massacre and became the last judge in New York to impose the death penalty?
... that the United States Supreme Court ruled in Illinois v. McArthur that police do not need a warrant when they have probable cause to complete a search?