United States

The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and... dedicated on October 28, 1886. The statue, a gift to the United States from the people of France, is of a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, who bears a torch and a tabula ansata upon which is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. A broken chain lies at her feet. The statue has become an icon of freedom and of the United States. Bartholdi was inspired by French law professor and politician Édouard René de Laboulaye, who commented in 1865 that any monument raised to American independence would properly be a joint project of the French and American peoples. Due to the troubled political situation in France, work on the statue did not commence until the early 1870s. In 1875, Laboulaye proposed that the French finance the statue and the Americans provide the pedestal and the site.
more

Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was... built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales. It was called Cubs Park between 1920 and 1926 before being renamed for then Cubs team owner and chewing gum magnate, William Wrigley, Jr.. Between 1921 and 1970, it was also the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. In addition, it hosted the second annual National Hockey League Winter Classic on January 1, 2009. Located in the community area of Lakeview, Wrigley Field sits on an irregular block bounded by Clark and Addison Streets and Waveland and Sheffield Avenues. The area surrounding the ballpark contains residential streets, in addition to bars, restaurants and other establishments and is called Wrigleyville. The ballpark's mailing address is 1060 W. Addison Street. Wrigley Field is nicknamed The Friendly Confines, a phrase popularized by "Mr. Cub", Hall of Famer Ernie Banks.
more

The Willis Tower is a 108-story, 1,451-foot skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of its completion in 1973, it was the tallest building in... the world, surpassing the World Trade Center towers in New York, and it held this rank for nearly 25 years. The Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States and the seventh-tallest freestanding structure in the world. Although Sears' naming rights expired in 2003, the building continued to be called the Sears Tower for several years. In March 2009, London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings agreed to lease a portion of the building, and obtained the building's naming rights. On July 16, 2009, the building was officially renamed the Willis Tower. In 1969, Sears, Roebuck & Co. was the largest retailer in the world, with approximately 350,000 employees. Sears executives decided to consolidate the thousands of employees in offices distributed throughout the Chicago area into one building on the western edge of Chicago's Loop.
more

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both... U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to Marin County. It is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco, California, and of the United States. It has been declared one of the modern Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The Frommers travel guide considers the Golden Gate Bridge "possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world". Before the bridge was built, the only practical short route between San Francisco and what is now Marin County was by boat across a section of San Francisco Bay. Ferry service began as early as 1820, with regularly scheduled service beginning in the 1840s for purposes of transporting water to San Francisco. The Sausalito Land and Ferry Company service, launched in 1867, eventually became the Golden Gate Ferry Company, a Southern Pacific Railroad subsidiary, the largest ferry operation in the world by the late 1920s.
more

The Action of 1 April 2010 refers to a pair of naval engagements fought between United States Navy warships, a Sierra Leone merchant ship, and Somali... pirate vessels operating off the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. The frigate USS Nicholas  was attacked by small arms from a pirate skiff while steaming off the coast of Kenya and the islands of Seychelles. Nicholas returned fire with a 50-caliber deck gun and disabled the vessel and three pirates surrendered. Commander Mark Kesselring ordered the skiff sunk and proceeded to attack the nearby pirate mother ship from which the skiff was operating. After a chase the mothership was captured and two more pirates were taken into United States Navy custody. The pirate mothership was likely a small steam powered vessel fitted out as a naval trawler which are regularly used by Somali pirates. The ship was confiscated by the Americans according to news reports and pirates were put in Nicholas' brig, to await court either in Kenya or the United States. That same day, the destroyer USS Farragut , as flagship of Combined Task Force 151, was involved in a pirate attack on a Sierra Leone flagged tanker, the MV Evita.
more

The Maersk Alabama was hijacked off the coast of Somalia on April 8, 2009.

The War in Somalia was an armed conflict involving largely Ethiopian and Somali Transitional Federal Government forces and Somali troops from... Puntland versus the Somali Islamist umbrella group, the Islamic Court Union , and other affiliated militias for control of the country. There is a clear connection between War in Somalia and the War of 2006. The war officially began shortly before July 20, 2006 when U.S. backed Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia to prop up the TFG in Baidoa. The TFG in Somalia invited Ethiopians to intervene, which became an "unpopular decision" that failed to strengthen the government. Subsequently the leader of the ICU, Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, declared "Somalia is in a state of war, and all Somalis should take part in this struggle against Ethiopia". On December 24, Ethiopia stated it would actively combat the ICU. Ethiopia's prime minister, Meles Zenawi, said Ethiopia entered hostilities because it faced a direct threat to its own borders. “Ethiopian defense forces were forced to enter into war to protect the sovereignty of the nation,” he said.
more

The United States and Pakistan have been engaged in several military confrontations and skirmishes inside Pakistan territory. These incidents have... involved the U.S. military and NATO-led ISAF forces, who have been present in Afghanistan fighting the War on Terror since 2001, and the Pakistani Armed Forces. Most of the exchanges have been indirect friendly fires, usually started when American-led security forces have intruded into Pakistani territory or airspace. Since the beginning of the war on terror in 2001 and the subsequent U.S. invasion of Afghanistan to oust the Taliban and al-Qaeda movement, the U.S. has launched several air strikes across into northwest Pakistan to target militants connected with the Afghanistan war who it alleges have fled the country and sought temporary shelter in Pakistan's bordering tribal areas. These strikes have been protested by Pakistan, as a violation of national sovereignty, and have resulted in tense diplomatic relations between the two countries. They have also caused an uproar among Pakistan's civilian population and politicians and have fueled anti-American sentiments.
more

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO , also called the Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North... Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, and the organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. The alliance includes 28 members in North America and Europe, with the most recent being Albania and Croatia who joined in April 2009. An additional 22 countries participate in NATO's Partnership for Peace, with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programs. The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70% of the world's defence spending. For its first few years, NATO was not much more than a political association. However, the Korean War galvanized the member states, and an integrated military structure was built up under the direction of two U.S. supreme commanders.
more

The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the... United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8. In addition, the European Union is represented within the G8, but cannot host or chair. "G8" can refer to the member states or to the annual summit meeting of the G8 heads of government. The former term, G6, is now frequently applied to the six most populous countries within the European Union. G8 ministers also meet throughout the year, such as the G7/8 finance ministers , G8 foreign ministers, or G8 environment ministers. Collectively, the G8 nations comprise 53.0% of global nominal GDP and 42.5% of global GDP . Each calendar year, the responsibility of hosting the G8 rotates through the member states in the following order: France, United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada. The holder of the presidency sets the agenda, hosts the summit for that year, and determines which ministerial meetings will take place.
more

Template:Country data Secretariat of the Pacific Community The Secretariat of the Pacific Community, or SPC , is a regional intergovernmental... organisation whose membership includes both nations and territories. It aims to "develop the technical, professional, scientific, research, planning and management capability of Pacific Island people and directly provide information and advice, to enable them to make informed decisions about their future development and well-being." The SPC headquarters is in Nouméa, New Caledonia. SPC was founded in 1947 as the South Pacific Commission by six developed countries with an interest in the region: For reasons either of reduced development interest in the Pacific Islands region or a desire to concentrate assistance in other areas of greater poverty, two founding members have since withdrawn from the SPC: the Netherlands and the United Kingdom . SPC's founding charter is the Canberra Agreement. In the aftermath of World War II, the six colonial powers which created the SPC, arguably intended it to secure Western political and military interests in the postwar Pacific.
more

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries that seeks to promote free trade and economic cooperation throughout the... Asia-Pacific region. Established in 1989 in response to the growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific economies and the advent of regional economic blocs in other parts of the world, APEC works to raise living standards and education levels through sustainable economic growth and to foster a sense of community and an appreciation of shared interests among Asia-Pacific countries. Members account for approximately 40% of the world's population, approximately 54% of the world's gross domestic product and about 44% of world trade. An annual APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting is attended by the heads of government of all APEC members except the Republic of China , which is represented under the name Chinese Taipei by a ministerial-level official. The location of the meeting rotates annually among the member economies, and until 2011, a famous tradition involved the attending leaders dressing in a national costume of the host member.
more

Dennis Condrey is an American professional wrestler, best known as being one half of the tag team Midnight Express. He is currently signed to World... Wrestling Entertainment as a trainer for Florida Championship Wrestling. Dennis Condrey started wrestling in 1973 in the Tennessee area. He moved on to Alabama's Southeast Championship Wrestling and formed the Midnight Express in 1981 with Randy Rose and Norvell Austin. They dominated the tag team scene there until Condrey left for Mid-South wrestling in 1984. Once there, he formed a new version of the Midnight Express with Bobby Eaton with Jim Cornette as their manager. They also started a legendary feud with the Rock 'n' Roll Express that carried over into the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions in 1985. In early 1986, Condrey and Eaton won the NWA World Tag Team Titles from the Rock 'n' Roll Express and feuded with them until Condrey left the promotion in early 1987. He literally left overnight, giving no notice to Cornette, Eaton, or the NWA. Condrey would reunite with former partner Randy Rose in the AWA under manager Paul E. Dangerously.
more

Sunny Mabrey is an American model and actress who appeared in music videos, such as "Nookie" from Limp Bizkit, before debuting in movies. She... appeared in The New Guy, XXX: State of the Union, and was the lead actress in Species III. She appeared in Desperate Housewives as Karl Mayer's new pregnant wife Marissa Mayer and as a flight stewardess, Shelley, in the Season 3 premiere of Mad Men. Mabrey married actor Ethan Embry in 2005. She is from Gadsden, Alabama. She started her career in front of the cameras as a fashion model at the age of 18. She has performed in commercials for The Gap.
more

Sam Taylor was an American jump blues musician and songwriter. Taylor's more popular recordings included "Funny", "Drinking Straight Tequila" and... "Voice of the Blues". He variously worked with Joey Dee and the Starliters, Otis Redding, B.T. Express, The Drifters, Big Joe Turner, T-Bone Walker, Sam & Dave, Tracy Nelson, Mother Earth and The Isley Brothers. Taylor was inducted to the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. Born Sam Willis Taylor Jr. in Crichton, a suburb of Mobile, Alabama, Taylor began singing gospel at the age of three. His Long Island connection began in 1957, during his service in the United States Air Force. He was stationed at the Westhampton Beach Air Force Base, which was a short distance from the Blue Bird Inn. After leaving the service in 1959, Taylor lived in Riverhead. His first major professional gig was as Maxine Brown's bandleader at the Apollo Theater and his first #1 R&B hit single was "Funny". Taylor himself, often going using his fuller name of Sammy Taylor, recorded for various labels including Capitol, Enjoy and Atlantic Records.
more

Dan Penn is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and sometime guitar player who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s including "Dark End... of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and "Out of Left Field" & "Cry Like A Baby" . Penn has also produced hits such as "The Letter" by The Box Tops, amongst others. Though he is considered to be one of the great white soul singers, Penn has a meagre recorded output, preferring the relative anonymity of songwriting & producing. Penn grew up in Vernon, Alabama and spent much of his teens and early twenties in the Quad Cities/Muscle Shoals area. He was a regular at Rick Hall's FAME Studios as a performer, songwriter and producer. It was during his time with FAME that Penn cut his first record, "Crazy Over You" in 1960, and wrote his first hit, "Is a Bluebird Blue?" which was recorded by Conway Twitty in the same year, and was later covered by James Brown. The success of "I'm Your Puppet," a #6 pop hit for James & Bobby Purify, convinced him that songwriting was a worthwhile career choice.
more

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the... United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometres , Mexico is the fifth largest country in the Americas by total area and the thirteenth largest independent nation in the world. With an estimated population of over 112 million, it is the eleventh most populous country and the most populous Spanish-speaking country. Mexico is a federation comprising thirty-one states and a Federal District, the capital city. In Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica many cultures matured into advanced civilizations such as the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, the Maya and the Aztec before the first contact with Europeans. In 1521, Spain conquered and colonized the territory from its base in México-Tenochtitlan, which was administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain.
more