Arkansas

Pea Ridge National Military Park is a United States National Military Park located in extreme northwestern Arkansas near the Missouri border. The... park protects the site of the American Civil War Battle of Pea Ridge which was fought March 7 and March 8, 1862. The battle was a victory for the Union, and helped it gain control of the crucial border state of Missouri. The 4,300-acre Pea Ridge National Military Park was created by an act of Congress in 1956 to preserve the battlefield of the 1862 Battle of Pea Ridge. It was dedicated as a national park during the nation’s Civil War Centennial in 1963. In 1956, the Arkansas congressional delegation proposed legislation to make Pea Ridge a national military park. This was a major breakthrough in Civil War battlefield preservation. At that time, under the National Park Service classification system, only 1-acre should have been preserved, along with a monument. On July 20, 1956, Congress enacted legislation to accept a 5,000-acre donation from the state of Arkansas.
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The McDonald's Sign, also known as McDonald's Store #433 Sign, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, United States, is the only known surviving example of a... single-arch McDonald's sign in Arkansas. The sign was erected in 1962 and remained at its original location until 2007. In 2007 McDonald's Store #433 moved and the sign was renovated and moved to the new location. The McDonald's sign was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2006. Before McDonald's Store #433 was built on South Main Street in Pine Bluff, the neighborhood was mostly residential. The area began to change as the mid-20th century approached and commercial enterprises began to appear in the area. The McDonald's was constructed at 1300 South Main Street in 1962 and followed the standard corporate design for the era: a red, white and yellow motif with arches projecting through the roof. Owned by Mike Retzer. McDonald's Store #433 opened on July 3, 1962, and remained in operation until it was announced in August 2007 that the store would close by the end of the year. A new location was constructed in the 2800 block of South Olive Street, about two miles from the original location.
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The Walnut Ridge Amtrak station is a train station in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, United States served by Amtrak, the national railroad passenger system.... It was originally a Missouri Pacific Railroad station and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1992. Of the five Arkansas stations served by Amtrak, Walnut Ridge was the third busiest in FY2010, boarding or detraining an average of approximately 13 passengers daily.
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Robinson Center is the western portion of downtown Little Rock's Statehouse Plaza, including a 2,609-seat performance hall, an exhibition hall, and... various meeting rooms. The most notable architectural feature of the complex is the south façade of Joseph Taylor Robinson Municipal Auditorium, , adorned with columns that echo the Greek Revival style also found in the centerpiece of the plaza, the Old State House Museum. Under the name Joseph Taylor Robinson Memorial Auditorium, the music hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. Additional meeting space complementing Robinson Center's offerings are located to the east of the Old State House, inside Statehouse Convention Center. The center is named for Joseph Taylor Robinson, a powerful former U.S. Senator and Congressman and Arkansas governor, and is one of several locations and facilities that bear his name. The Robinson Center Music Hall and Performance Theater is the primary performance space for the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, traveling productions of popular Broadway plays and musicals, and various concerts throughout the year. It seats 2,609.
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Leonard Charles "Lenny" Williams is an American singer known for his work in the R&B and soul music genres. During the 1970s, he was the lead vocalist for Tower of Power. As a soloist, he made several hit recordings, including 1977's Choosing You and 1978's Cause I Love You. Williams moved to... Oakland, California at a young age. Learning to play the trumpet in elementary school fueled his interest in music; his skills as a vocalist were first nurtured by singing in gospel choirs and groups around the Bay Area. He worked with several notable artists, such as Sly Stone, Andraé Crouch, Billy Preston and members of the Hawkins family, Edwin, Walter and Tramaine. After winning several local talent contests, Williams signed his first recording contract with Fantasy Records. He cut two singles for the label including "Lisa’s Gone" and "Feelin Blue", written by John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival. In 1972, Williams joined the emerging funk band Tower of Power. A string of hits followed, including "So Very Hard To Go", "Don't Change Horses " and "Luvin You", written by Williams and Johnny "Guitar" Watson.
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Daniel Davis is an American stage, screen, and television actor best known for portraying Niles the butler on the popular sitcom The Nanny and his guest appearances as Professor Moriarty on Star Trek: The Next Generation, affecting an upper class English accent for both roles. Davis was born in... Gurdon, Arkansas, and first became interested in acting at a young age, when his parents operated and owned a movie theatre. He specifically enjoyed Tyrone Power movies, stating later that they were what inspired his desire to act. His first acting job was at the age of 11, when he was cast on a local Little Rock broadcast program called Betty's Little Rascals. Davis graduated from Hall High School in Little Rock in 1963. He studied at the Arkansas Arts Center, followed by work with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, and six years with the American Conservatory Theatre -- during his time at ACT, he also taught acting.
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Steve Barton was an American actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, stage director and teacher. Steven Neal Barton was born on June 26, 1954, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, United States, the youngest of three children of Tom and Mary Barton. He grew up in Nederland, Texas. He won a scholarship to the... University of Texas at Austin, where he majored in theater, dance and singing, appearing in over 30 productions with the University of Texas and with the Ballet of Austin. Barton graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, where he now has an endowed Presidential Scholarship named after him, and went to Europe, getting his first job at St. Gallen, Switzerland, and then playing in major Swiss, German and Austrian theater companies. He played leading roles in West Side Story, Godspell, Romeo and Juliet, The Fantasticks, The Threepenny Opera, Oklahoma!, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Guys and Dolls, and Camelot, before playing the role of Munkustrap in the original Vienna cast of Cats, at the Theater an der Wien.
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Robert Brown , known professionally as Washboard Sam, was an American blues singer and musician. Born in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, United States, and reputedly the half-brother of Big Bill Broonzy, Brown moved to Memphis, Tennessee in the 1920s, performing as a street musician with Sleepy John Estes... and Hammie Nixon. He then moved to Chicago in 1932, performing regularly with Broonzy, and appearing with him and other musicians including Memphis Slim and Tampa Red on innumerable recording sessions for Lester Melrose of Bluebird Records. In 1935 he began recording in his own right for both Bluebird and Vocalion Records, becoming one of the most popular Chicago blues performers of the late 1930s and 1940s, selling numerous records and playing to packed audiences. Between 1935 and 1949 he recorded over 160 sides, including such popular numbers as "Mama Don't Allow", "Back Door" and "Diggin' My Potatoes." His strong voice and talent for creating new songs overcame his stylistic limitations. By the 1950s, his audience began to shrink, largely because he had difficulty adapting to the new electric blues.
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Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. Oklahoma is the 20th most extensive and the 28th most... populous of the 50 United States. The state's name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning "red people", and is known informally by its nickname, The Sooner State. Formed by the combination of Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory on November 16, 1907, Oklahoma was the 46th state to enter the union. Its residents are known as Oklahomans or, informally "Okies", and its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City. A major producer of natural gas, oil, and agriculture, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, energy, telecommunications, and biotechnology. It has one of the fastest growing economies in the nation, ranking among the top states in per capita income growth and gross domestic product growth. Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahoma's primary economic anchors, with nearly 60 percent of Oklahomans living in their metropolitan statistical areas. With small mountain ranges, prairie, and eastern forests, most of Oklahoma lies in the Great Plains and the U.S.
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Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and... Nebraska. Missouri is the 21st most extensive and the 18th most populous of the 50 United States. Missouri comprises 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis. The four largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia. Missouri's capital is Jefferson City. The land that is now Missouri was acquired from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase and became known as the Missouri Territory. Part of the Territory was admitted into the union as the 24th state on August 10, 1821. Missouri mirrors the demographic, economic and political makeup of the nation with a mix of urban and rural culture. It has long been considered a political bellwether state. With the exceptions of 1956 and 2008, Missouri's results in U.S. presidential elections have accurately predicted the next President of the United States in every election since 1904. It has both Midwestern and Southern cultural influences, reflecting its history as a border state.
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Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. Tennessee is the 36th most extensive and the 17th most populous of the 50... United States. Tennessee is bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, and Arkansas and Missouri to the west. The Appalachian Mountains dominate the eastern part of the state, and the Mississippi River forms the state's western border. Tennessee's capital and second largest city is Nashville, which has a population of 626,144. Memphis is the state's largest city, with a population of 670,902. The state of Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association, a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachians. What is now Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, and later part of the Southwest Territory. Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state on June 1, 1796. Tennessee was the last state to leave the Union and join the Confederacy at the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War in 1861, and the first state to be readmitted to the Union at the end of the war.
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Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from... the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi . Mississippi is the 32nd most extensive and the 31st most populous of the 50 United States. The state is heavily forested outside of the Mississippi Delta area, which had been cleared for cotton cultivation in the 19th century. Today its catfish aquaculture farms produce the majority of farm-raised catfish consumed in the United States. The state symbol is the magnolia grandiflora tree. Mississippi is bordered on the north by Tennessee, on the east by Alabama, on the south by Louisiana and a narrow coast on the Gulf of Mexico and on the west, across the Mississippi River, by Louisiana and Arkansas. In addition to its namesake, major rivers in Mississippi include the Big Black River, the Pearl River, the Yazoo River, the Pascagoula River, and the Tombigbee River. Major lakes include Ross Barnett Reservoir, Arkabutla Lake, Sardis Lake and Grenada Lake.
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