Rikunarita-ORG/Wikinium huggingface dataset:
# Thanksgiving (United States)

**Thanksgiving** is a holiday celebrated once a year on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States of America. It is a holiday that is only celebrated within the United States; foreigners do not celebrate it in their own countries because it is not part of their culture.

## History

External video|  |
|  The True Story of the First Thanksgiving, *American Experience*, PBS, November 24, 2015 |

In 1620 the *Mayflower* brought the Pilgrims to Massachusetts. They made their new home in what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, 380 km northeast of what is now New York.

Half of the Pilgrims died during their first winter in North America. They were cold and did not have enough food. The following year, though, the Native Americans, who were from the Wampanoag tribe, helped them grow crops. At harvest time in the autumn of 1621 they were very thankful that they had a good crop of food to eat during the coming winter. They thanked God and the Native Americans for teaching them how to grow the local foods.

They invited three of the Wampanoags who had helped them to their feast. They were Squanto, Samoset, and Chief Massasoit. The Wampanoags brought their families. This was over 90 people. There were so many people that the Pilgrims did not have enough food to make the meal, so the Wampanoags brought along their own food for the feast.

The Wampanoags brought turkey, duck, fish, deer, berries, squash, and cornbread. They also brought vegetables that they had farmed and shown the Pilgrims how to care for.

However, there is some disagreement over which event was the first Thanksgiving with claims that Virginia had the first celebrations.

## Thanksgiving today

A traditional thanksgiving dinner today.
In the United States, the Thanksgiving holiday is a four-day holiday over a weekend, starting on Thanksgiving Thursday and ending on Sunday. Families and friends usually eat a special meal together (usually with a turkey as the main dish). This meal also usually includes mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, several casseroles, and stuffing. The food eaten today for Thanksgiving is very different from the food that was eaten at the First Thanksgiving in 1621. A traditional food is turkey.

## Controversy

Thanksgiving is not looked upon positively by some who use the day for mourning to take into account the genocide and conquest of Native Americans by colonists although not all indigenous people are entirely negative on Thanksgiving. The holiday is also looked upon negatively by some vegetarians for promoting the eating of turkeys although many vegetarians and vegans eat plant-based alternatives for Thanksgiving.

## Related pages

* Thanksgiving
* Black Friday
# Pacific Railroad Acts

The **Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862** were a series of acts of Congress that supported the construction of a "transcontinental railroad" (the Pacific Railroad) in the United States. This happened through authorizing issuing government bonds and the grants of land to railroad companies. The War Department under then-Secretary of War Jefferson Davis was authorized by the Congress in 1853 to do surveys of five different potential transcontinental routes from the Mississippi. These surveys ranging from north to south and submitted a massive twelve volume report to Congress with the results in early 1855. However, no route or bill could be agreed upon and passed authorizing the Government's financial support and land grants. This change when the secession of the southern states in 1861 ended their opposition to a central route. The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 (12 Stat. 489) was the original act. Some of its provisions were changed, expanded, or repealed by four more amending Acts: The Pacific Railroad Act of 1863 (12 Stat. 807), Pacific Railroad Act of 1864 (13 Stat. 356), Pacific Railroad Act of 1865 (13 Stat. 504), and Pacific Railroad Act of 1866 (14 Stat. 66).

The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 started federal government land grants directly to corporations; before that act, the land grants were made to the states, for the benefit of corporations.
# Monroe Doctrine

US President James Monroe.US Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, the author of the Monroe Doctrine.
The **Monroe Doctrine** was a foreign policy of the United States that was proclaimed in 1823 by US President James Monroe but was the idea of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. It stated that no European power could colonize any more of the Americas or the rest of the Western Hemisphere.

In particular, most of the Spanish Empire in South America had recently become independent because of the Napoleonic Wars against France. Having won the Peninsular War, Spain wanted its empire back, which the Monroe Doctrine warned that the United States would resist. The United Kingdom agreed because it wanted to trade with the newly-independent countries and so it helped enforce the Monroe Doctrine by its powerful Royal Navy.
# Smallpox

| Smallpox |
| --- |
| *Classification and external resources* |
| Child infected with smallpox. Bangladesh, 1973. In ordinary type smallpox the bumps are filled with a thick, opaque fluid and often have a depression or dimple in the center. This is a major distinguishing characteristic of smallpox. |
| ICD-10 | B03.  |
| ICD-9 | 050 |
| DiseasesDB | 12219 |
| MedlinePlus | 001356 |
| eMedicine | emerg/885 |
| MeSH | *D012899* |

**Smallpox** was a dangerous disease with a high mortality rate. It no longer exists as an epidemic disease. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977. The World Health Organization (WHO) certified the global eradication of the disease in 1980 (said there was no more).

It was caused by a virus. There are two different species of viruses that can cause the disease. They are *Variola major* and *Variola minor*. Some people also call smallpox **Variola**, from the Latin work for "spotted" which is also the viruses' scientific name.

Only humans can get this disease, but it probably came from a virus which infected animals. *Variola major* killed between 20% and 40% of those who got it. *Variola minor* killed only about 1%. Many people who survived become blind because of the damage the virus did to the eyes.

During the first half of the 20th century, between 300 million and 500 million people died of this disease. Even in 1967, about 15 million people caught the disease, and about two million people died of it, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The first vaccine for smallpox used the results of cowpox infections. It was invented by Edward Jenner. It was used to stop people from getting smallpox. The word "vaccine" came from "vaccina", the Latin word for cow, because cowpox was used. The WHO (World Health Organisation) vaccinated people all over the world. In 1980, the WHO said the disease no longer existed, and no one would ever get sick from it again. Live copies of smallpox are kept in maximum-security laboratories around the world to make sure the disease can never infect people again.

Some people believe that smallpox could be used as an agent for purposely infecting enemies in a war. Today, most people no longer receive a smallpox shot.

## Related pages

* Cowpox
* Poxviridae
* List of diseases
# Ford's Theater

The box at Ford's Theater where Lincoln was shot
**Ford's Theater** is a building in Washington, D.C.. It is most well known as the place where Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth during the play *Our American Cousin*. It is called Ford's Theater because it was run by a man named Ford during the American Civil War. The building has been rebuilt several times. Before the Civil War, it was used as church. After the Civil War, it was used as a museum, warehouse and office. It is now a National Historic Site.
# Fido (Abraham Lincoln's dog)

**Fido** (c. 1851 – 1865) was a yellow mixed-breed dog owned by US President, Abraham Lincoln. It was kept by the family for years before Lincoln became President, He became a presidential pet when Lincoln became president. Fido was noticed because of the scholarship of T. D. Bancroft who was the first writer to publish content about Fido in a pamphlet published about Lincoln at the time of the United State's centennial in 1876.

## Death

In February 1893, the *Illinois State Journal* reported that Fido died in a tragic accident.

 Media related to Fido (dog) at Wikimedia Commons
# 1976 Republican National Convention

Gerald Ford and his wife Betty celebrate at the end of the convention
The **1976 Republican National Convention** was a United States political convention of the Republican Party that met from August 16 to August 19, 1976 to select the party's nominee for President.

It was held in Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, the convention nominated President Gerald R. Ford for a full term, but only after narrowly defeating a strong challenge from former California Governor Ronald W. Reagan.

The convention also nominated Senator Robert J. Dole of Kansas for Vice President, instead of Vice President Nelson Rockefeller.
# Party leaders of the United States Senate

Party leaders of the U.S. SenateMajority Leader
John Thune (R-SD)Majority Whip
John Barrasso (R-WY)Minority Leader
Chuck Schumer (D-NY)Minority Whip
Dick Durbin (D-IL)
The **Senate Majority and Minority Leaders** are two United States Senators who are elected by the party caucuses that hold the majority and the minority. These leaders are elected to their positions.

## Other websites

* Majority and Minority Leaders and Party Whips, via Senate.gov
# Bill Frist

| Bill Frist |
| --- |
|  |
|  |
| United States Senator from Tennessee |
| **In office** January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2007 |
| Preceded by | Jim Sasser |
| Succeeded by | Bob Corker |
| Senate Majority Leader |
| **In office** January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2007 |
| Deputy | Mitch McConnell |
| Preceded by | Tom Daschle |
| Succeeded by | Harry Reid |
|  |
| Personal details |
| Born | (1952-02-22)February 22, 1952 Nashville, Tennessee |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Karyn Frist (1982-2012) Tracy Roberts Frist (m. 2015) |
| Residence | Nashville |
| Alma mater | Princeton University (A.B.) Harvard Medical School (M.D.) |
| Occupation | Cardiothoracic surgeon Professor Businessman Philanthropist |
| Signature |  |

**Bill Frist** (born February 22, 1952) is a former Republican U.S. Senator from Tennessee. He served in the United States Senate from 1995 to 2007.

Frist was born on February 22, 1952 in Nashville, Tennessee. He studied at Princeton University and at Harvard Medical School. He is married to Tracy Roberts Frist.
# Clayton Keith Yeutter

| Clay Yeutter |
| --- |
|  |
|  |
| Counselor to the President |
| **In office** January 1, 1992 – January 20, 1993 |
| President | George H. W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Edwin Meese (1985) |
| Succeeded by | David Gergen |
| Chair of the Republican National Committee |
| **In office** January 25, 1991 – January 1, 1992 |
| Preceded by | Lee Atwater |
| Succeeded by | Richard Bond |
| 23rd United States Secretary of Agriculture |
| **In office** February 16, 1989 – March 1, 1991 |
| President | George H. W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Richard Edmund Lyng |
| Succeeded by | Edward Rell Madigan |
| 9th United States Trade Representative |
| **In office** July 1, 1985 – January 20, 1989 |
| President | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Bill Brock |
| Succeeded by | Carla Anderson Hills |
|  |
| Personal details |
| Born | Clayton Keith Yeutter (1930-12-10)December 10, 1930 Eustis, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Died | March 4, 2017(2017-03-04) (aged 86) Potomac, Maryland, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Jeanne Vierk (1952–1991) Cristena Bach (1993–2017) |
| Relations | 9 (grandchildren) |
| Children | 7 |
| Education | University of Nebraska–Lincoln (BS, JD, MS, PhD) University of Wisconsin–Madison |

**Clayton Keith Yeutter**, ONZM (December 10, 1930 – March 4, 2017) was an American politician. He served as United States Secretary of Agriculture under President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1991 before serving as Counselor to the President in 1992. He served as United States Trade Representative from 1985 to 1989 and as Chairman for the Republican National Committee from 1991 until 1992.

Yeutter died from colorectal cancer in Potomac, Maryland on March 4, 2017, aged 86.

## Other websites

* Biography Archived 2012-09-29 at the Wayback Machine at the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Profile Archived 2011-06-14 at the Wayback Machine at Hogan Lovells
* Yeutter's USTR Nomination Hearing on the Senate Finance Committee Website
# Michael Steele

| Michael Steele |
| --- |
|  |
|  |
| Chairman of the Republican National Committee |
| **In office** January 30, 2009 – January 14, 2011 |
| Preceded by | Mike Duncan |
| Succeeded by | Reince Priebus |
| 7th Lieutenant Governor of Maryland |
| **In office** January 15, 2003 – January 17, 2007 |
| Governor | Bob Ehrlich |
| Preceded by | Kathleen Kennedy Townsend |
| Succeeded by | Anthony G. Brown |
| Chairman of the Maryland Republican Party |
| **In office** 2000–2002 |
| Preceded by | Joyce Lyon Tehres |
| Succeeded by | Louis Pope |
|  |
| Personal details |
| Born |  (1958-10-19) October 19, 1958 Andrews Field, Maryland, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) |
Andrea Derritt ​(m. 1985)​ |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Johns Hopkins University (BA) Villanova University Georgetown University (JD) |
| Signature |  |

**Michael Stephen Steele** (born October 19, 1958) is an American conservative political commentator, attorney, and Republican Party politician. Steele was the seventh lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007. He was the first African-American elected to statewide office in Maryland.

He made an unsuccessful run in the 2006 U.S. Senate election in Maryland, losing to Democrat Ben Cardin. He was the Chair of the Republican National Committee from 2009 to 2011.

In 2020, he formally endorsed Joe Biden for the presidency.
# Kansas Republican Party

| Kansas Republican Party  |
| --- |
| Chairperson | Mike Kuckelman |
| House leadership | Ron Ryckman Jr. (Speaker) |
| Senate leadership | Susan Wagle (President) |
| Founded | May 18, 1859 |
| Headquarters | 2605 SW 21st St Topeka, KS 66604 |
| Ideology | Conservatism Economic liberalism Fiscal conservatism Social conservatism |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| National affiliation | Republican Party |
| Colors | Red (unofficial) |
| US Senate (Kansan seats) | 2 / 2 |
| US House (Kansan seats) | 3 / 4 |
| Statewide offices | 4 / 6 |
| Seats in the Kansas Senate | 28 / 40 |
| Seats in the Kansas House | 85 / 125 |
| Website |
| www.kansas.gop |
| * Politics of Kansas
 |

The **Kansas Republican Party** is the state political party in Kansas of the United States Republican Party. The Kansas Republican Party was created in May 1859. It has been the main political party of Kansas ever since.

## Related pages

* Kansas Democratic Party

## Other websites

* Official website
# Massachusetts Republican Party

The **Massachusetts Republican Party** , also known as the **MassGOP**, is the branch of the Republican Party that has business in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
# Republican Party of Virginia

| Republican Party of Virginia  |
| --- |
| Chairman | Mark Peake |
| Governor of Virginia | Glenn Youngkin |
| Lieutenant Governor of Virginia | Winsome Sears |
| Senate Minority Leader | Ryan McDougle |
| House Minority Leader | Terry Kilgore |
| Founded | 1854 (1854) |
| Headquarters | Obenshain Center 115 E. Grace St. Richmond, Virginia 23219 |
| Student wing | High School Republican Federation of Virginia |
| Ideology | Conservatism |
| National affiliation | Republican Party |
| Colors |   Red |
| Statewide Executive Offices | 3 / 3 |
| Senate | 19 / 40 |
| House of Delegates | 48 / 100 |
| U.S. Senate | 0 / 2 |
| U.S. House of Representatives | 5 / 11 |
| Fairfax County Board of Supervisors | 1 / 10 |
| Election symbol |
|  |
| Website |
| virginia.gop |

The **Republican Party of Virginia** (**RPV**) is the Virginia affiliate of the Republican Party. It is based at the Richard D. Obenshain Center in Richmond.
# Freedom Caucus

The **Freedom Caucus**, also known as the **House Freedom Caucus**, is a congressional caucus. It includes Republican members of the United States House of Representatives.

## History

The caucus started during the mid–January 2015 Republican congressional retreat in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Founding member Mick Mulvaney said, "that was the first time we got together and decided we were a group, and not just a bunch of pissed-off guys". Nine conservative Republican members of the House began planning a new congressional caucus separate from the Republican Study Committee and the House Republican Conference. The first board of directors for the new caucus were Republican representatives Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Jim Jordan of Ohio, John Fleming of Louisiana, Matt Salmon of Arizona, Justin Amash of Michigan, Raúl Labrador of Idaho, Mulvaney of South Carolina, Ron DeSantis of Florida and Mark Meadows of North Carolina.

## Other websites

*
*
# Republican Governors Association

The Leader of the RGA since 2019 is Greg Abbott of Texas
The **Republican Governors Association** (**RGA**) is a Washington, D.C.-based 527 organization. It started in 1963. Its members are U.S. state and territorial Republican governors.

The RGA chairman is Governor Greg Abbott of Texas. He became chairman in November 2019 after Governor Pete Ricketts of Nebraska. The 2017 RGA Vice Chair was Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin. The rest of the Executive Committee includes Governors Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Larry Hogan of Maryland, Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Henry McMaster of South Carolina, Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Bill Lee of Tennessee, Pete Rickets of Nebraska, Eric Holcomb of Indiana, and Doug Burgum of North Dakota.

40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, was once president of the RGA when he was Governor of California.

These people have been leaders of the RGA: John Chafee, William Milliken, Winfield Dunn, Kit Bond, Arch A. Moore, Jr., Otis R. Bowen, Victor Atiyeh, Dick Thornburgh, John H. Sununu, John Ashcroft, George Voinovich, Tommy Thompson, Terry Branstad, Mike Leavitt, Jim Gilmore, Tom Ridge, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Sonny Perdue, Bobby Jindal, Scott Walker, Chris Christie, Haley Barbour and Susana Martinez.

The RGA is not working with the non-partisan National Governors Association.

## Related pages

* Democratic Governors Association
# Log Cabin Republicans

Log Cabin Republicans| Abbreviation | LCR |
| Motto | Inclusion Wins |
| Formation | 1977 (1977) |
| Type | Republican, LGBT |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Region served  | United States |
| Executive Director | Gregory T. Angelo |
| Affiliations | Republican Party |
| Website | logcabin.org |

**Log Cabin Republicans** (**LCR**) is an organization in the United States. They do work within the Republican Party. They work for equal rights for LGBT people in the United States.

On February 15, 2013, the National Board of Directors made Gregory T. Angelo the director.

## History

Log Cabin Republicans began in 1977 in California as a cause for Republicans who were against the Briggs Initiative. The Briggs Initiative would have banned homosexuals from teaching in public schools. It called for the firing of openly gay or lesbian teachers.

Ronald Reagan, who was running for president, was against the Briggs Initiative.

LCR was against the re-election of George W. Bush in 2004 because of his support of the Federal Marriage Amendment.

## Platform

LCR acts differently from socially conservative Republicans' views or is neutral. They work for same-sex marriage, domestic partner benefits and permanent removal of the estate tax.

The LCR has no official position on abortion.
# Young Republicans

| Young Republican National Federation |
| --- |
|  |
| National Chairman | Hayden Padgett |
| National Co-Chairman | Catherine Whiteford |
| Founded | April 23, 1931 (1931-04-23) |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Ideology | Conservatism Fiscal conservatism Social conservatism |
| Mother party | Republican Party |
| International affiliation | International Young Democrat Union |
| Website | www.yrnf.com |

The **Young Republican National Federation**, commonly referred to as the **Young Republicans** or **YRNF**, is a 527 organization for members of the Republican Party of the United States between the ages of 18 and 40. It has both a national organization and chapters in individual states.

Young Republican clubs are both social and political in nature. Many of them sponsor various social events and networking events for members. In addition, Young Republican clubs assist Republican political candidates and causes.
# Albert Abraham Michelson

Michelson in 1923
**Albert Abraham Michelson** (December 19, 1852 – May 9, 1931) was an American physicist. He was born in Strzelno (in Posen, Prussia, now in Poland) but grew up in California. He was known for his work on measuring the speed of light. That work led to him being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1907. He was the first American to receive it in the field of science.

## Related pages

* Michelson–Morley experiment

## Other websites

 Media related to Albert A. Michelson at Wikimedia Commons
# Battle of Pea Ridge

The **Battle of Pea Ridge** was a battle which happened during the American Civil War. It was fought on March 7th and 8th, 1862 in Arkansas. The Confederates lost the battle.
# Henry Halleck

**Henry Halleck** was a general in the United States army. He was born in 1815 in New York. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1839. He fought in the Mexican-American War. During the American Civil War, he became the commander of the Union armies in the Western Theater in 1862. In July 1862, Lincoln made Halleck the general-in-chief of all Union armies. However, Lincoln did not like the way Halleck ran the army, so in March 1864 Halleck was replaced as general-in-chief by U.S. Grant. Halleck was Grant's chief of staff and stayed in Washington, D.C. In 1865 he was transferred to the West Coast. In 1869, he was transferred to Kentucky, where he died in 1872.
# Memorial Day

Memorial Day, Boston by Henry Sandham
**Memorial Day** is a national holiday in the United States. It is also a state holiday in many states. The holiday honors troops who have died in past wars like World War I and the Korean War. It was founded by U.S. Army General John A. Logan, who fought in the Civil War and the Mexican–American War.

Memorial Day was first held in 1865 after the American Civil War. It was called **Decoration Day** at that time. The holiday was first called Memorial Day in 1882, and became a federal holiday in 1967. On June 28, 1968, the United States Congress made a law that said that the official Memorial Day holiday is May 30, but that Memorial Day was to be observed by federal employees as a paid holiday on the last Monday in May.

Memorial Day is thought of by many Americans as being the start of summer.
# Free people of color

Agostino Brunias Free Women of Color with their Children and Servants in a Landscape, ca 1764-1796
When talking about the colonies in the New World, the term **free people of color** was used for people who had both European, and African, and sometimes native American parents, but who were not slaves. This term applied to many people in Louisiana (which was known as 'New France' at the time), and the Caribbean islands. In the colonies, these people were classified in various ways, usually depending on what they looked like. The term became popular in the late 17th century. In the thirteen colonies, these people were sometimes called **free negroes**.

The term did not apply to freed slaves, which were usually known as *affranchi*, in French.