Founded in 1728 by the same act of the Virginia Assembly that established neighboring Fredericksburg, Falmouth was created as a port town on the Rappahannock. It served the inhabitants living north of the river within the vast Northern Neck holdings of Lord Fairfax. His agent, Robert "King" Carter, promoted the establishment of the town. The Carter family played a dominant role in the town's growth throughout much of the colonial period. Originally located within King George County, Falmouth became part of Stafford County when county lines were redrawn in 1776.
During the American Civil War, Falmouth was occupied by Union forces in 1862 and 1863. Northern commanders located their headquarters southeast of the town during the Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville campaigns.
Today Falmouth is a residential community and a suburb of Fredericksburg. Among the community's significant historic structures is Belmont, the home of American artist Gari Melchers, now a historic house museum administered by the University of Mary Washington. Chatham Manor, the 1771 home of William Fitzhugh and a Union headquarters during the Civil War, is located downstream from Falmouth, opposite the historic district of Fredericksburg. It is administered by the National Park Service as part of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park and now serves as park headquarters.
Falmouth is located at (38.331790, -77.461361).
According to the United States Census Bureau, Falmouth has a total area of 3.2 square miles (8.4 km²), of which, 3.1 square miles (8.1 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (3.09%) is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,624 people, 1,323 households, and 997 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 1,155.6 people per square mile (445.6/km²). There were 1,412 housing units at an average density of 450.3/sq mi (173.6/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 89.29% White, 6.46% Black or African American, 0.22% Native American, 1.08% Asian, 0.61% from other races, and 2.35% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.15% of the population.
There were 1,323 households out of which 35.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them. Of these, 58.5% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.6% were non-families. 18.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.03.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 26.2% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 25.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 92.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $57,697, and the median income for a family was $66,989. Males had a median income of $39,280 versus $31,202 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $25,544. About 5.9% of families and 7.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.6% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.
Vienne (river)
The Vienne () is one of the most important rivers in southwestern France, a main left tributary of the lower Loire river. It supports numerous hydroelectric dams.
It flows through the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Centre-Val de Loire regions, and two French "départements" are named after the Vienne: the Haute-Vienne (87) and the Vienne (86).
The Vienne river has a length of and a drainage basin with an area of approximately .
The Vienne river starts in the department of the Corrèze, at the foot of "Mont Audouze", on the "Plateau de Millevaches", in the "commune" of Millevaches, at an elevation of about .
It then flows roughly west to the city of Limoges where its water was used in the famous Limoges porcelain industry. A little way after Limoges it takes a turn to the north.
Finally, the river flows into the Loire river, on the left side, in the "commune" Candes-Saint-Martin.
The Vienne flows through 6 departments and 96 "communes", in 2 regions:
The Vienne flows through three regional nature parks: "Parc naturel régional de Millevaches en Limousin", "Parc naturel régional Périgord Limousin" and "Parc naturel régional Loire-Anjou-Touraine".
The main tributaries of the Vienne river are:
Left tributaries:
Right tributaries:
Its average yearly discharge (volume of water which passes through a section of the river per unit of time) is at Nouâtre in the Indre-et-Loire department.
Aquia Creek
Aquia Creek () is a tributary of the tidal portion of the Potomac River and is located in Northern Virginia. The creek's headwaters lie in southeastern Fauquier County, and it empties into the Potomac at Brent Point in Stafford County, south of Washington, D.C.
The Public Quarry at Government Island in the creek served as the source for Aquia Creek sandstone. This sandstone was used in numerous public buildings. The most important of these public buildings was the first White House in Washington, DC. It was painted white for symbolic reasons. The National Capitol Columns were also quarried at the Aquia Creek Public Quarry in the early 1800s. They were transported to Washington on a barge.
In an early American Civil War skirmish, the Battle of Aquia Creek, three US gunboats battled a Confederate shore battery. The skirmish took place from May 29, 1861 to June 1, 1861 during the Union campaign to blockade the Chesapeake Bay. There were an estimated 10 casualties.
C96
The Mauser C96, is a German semi-automatic pistol that has a broomhandle-style pistol grip made by Mauser. Nicknames for the gun include the Broomhandle (named for its grip), the Red 9, and the box cannon. Although there were some semi-automatic pistols made before it was invented, the C96 was one of the first that was successful. The C96 was used by many countries including Germany, Spain, China, and the Soviet Union. The C96 was produced by Germany from 1896 and ended in 1937. Spain and China made many of their own unlicensed models of the C96 Although it was invented in Germany, it was never a standard pistol for the German military. Nonetheless, it was still very popular pistol for German soldiers and officers until the end of World War II. The only country that made the C96 its standard pistol was China.
The C96 had many different models that fired different types of bullets. The first models fired 7.63x25mm Mauser bullets, but Germany later made a 9x19mm Parabellum version. 9x19mm versions of the gun have a red number 9 imprinted on the handle so that people would know to only load 9x19mm bullets and not the 7.63x25mm bullets. This is how the 9x19mm versions got the nickname "Red 9". In China, .45 ACP versions were made for the police and the military. The Chinese Army nicknamed the C96 the boxcannon, but the official name was the Type 17 pistol.
The gun comes with a magazine built in the gun. Most magazines for the C96 could hold 6 bullets, 10 bullets, or 20 bullets. Unlike most semi-automatic pistols, in order to load the C96, the shooter must load the bullets through the top of the gun using a stripper clip (like what you see in the picture above), rather than load a box magazine inside the grip. The C96 can also attach a wooden buttstock to the grip so that the shooter can aim more easily. The buttstock is also used as the gun's holster. The gun was also one of the first machine pistols, since some models allow the shooter to shoot the gun in full automatic fire.
Although the C96 is a little awkward to use, especially compared to most pistols today, it's old and unusual appearance make it a popular weapon in video games, like "Resident Evil 4", the "Metal Gear" series, the Zombies game mode in the "Call of Duty" series, "", "Battlefield 1", "", "Far Cry 4", and many others.