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 Maine
Facts and Figures Total Area
35,387 sq mi (39th). Population
1,274,923 (40th). Capital Augusta. Admitted
to Union March 15, 1820 (23rd). |
 Savannah
is one of the leading seaports of the
Southeastern United States, despite being 18
miles inland. It was founded by James Oglethorpe
in 1733, and was the first planned city in the
country. Union General William Tecumseh Sherman
captured the city in 1864. |
 Fort
Caroline was established by the French on the
site of present-day Jacksonville in 1564, in an
attempt to gain a share of the riches offered by
the New World. Unfortunately, the Spanish, who
then had a monopoly on trade in the New World,
did not like the competition and destroyed the
settlement barely a year after its establishment. |
 Great
Smoky Mountains National Park
contains the most extensive virgin hardwood and
red spruce forests in the United States, as well
as some of the oldest mountains on Earth. |
 The
Battle
of Fallen Timbers, fought on August
20, 1794, is considered to have been one of the
most significant battles ever fought on American
soil. Had the U.S. lost the battle much of what
we now know as Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan could
very well be part of Canada instead of the United
States. |
 Cherokee
Strip Land Run On September 16,
1893, more than 115,000 people raced to claim one
of 42,000 parcels of land in the largest, most
spectacular, and last land run in American
history. |
 The
Purchase of Alaska On March 30,
1867, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward
and Russian minister to the U.S. Edouard de
Stoeckl signed an agreement for the United States
to purchase Alaska for the sum of $7.2 million
(about 2 cents an acre). The agreement was
ratified by the Senate on May 28, 1867, and the
U.S. flag was raised at Sitka on October 18,
1867. |
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