Broad Street is a main pedestrianised thoroughfare and the primary high street in the English town of Reading. The street is situated in the town centre, running for approximately 0.25 miles (0.40 km), from west to east. The western end of the road lies at the crossroads with Oxford Road, West Street and St Mary's Butts. The eastern end continues as King Street after the junction with Minster Street and Butter Market (Market Place).
Today the street is principally known as a shopping destination, being anchored at its east and west ends respectively by The Oracle and Broad Street Mall enclosed shopping centres. However the street has also played an occasional role in English history, most especially during the Battle of Reading (1688), sometimes referred to as the Battle of Broad Street.


The town of Reading is believed to have been founded in the Saxon period, and originally centred on the site of the current St Mary's Church, to the south of the western end of Broad Street. After 1121, the foundation of Reading Abbey, to the north of the eastern end of Broad Street, provided a stimulus for the rapid expansion of the town. Broad Street, and the parallel Friar Street, were laid out by the Abbey at this time, to connect the newer Norman part of town to the older Saxon centre.
The early street layout of Reading can be seen in John Speed's atlas, published in 1611 (named Brode Stret). Broad Street commenced at the junction with St Mary's Butts (then known as Old Street) and Oxford Road (Pangbourne Lane), and ran eastwards. Only two side streets are shown, with Chain Street running south and Cross Street to the north. Between the Cross Street and Minster Street, what is now the eastern end of Broad Street was occupied by two narrow and roughly parallel streets, Fisher Row and Butcher Row, with a middle row of buildings between them.
William Laud, the Archbishop of Canterbury executed for treason during the Civil War, was born in 1573 at a house where the junction of Broad Street and Queen Victoria Street now lies. During the Siege of Reading in that war, Francis Walsingham's town house, on the corner of Broad Street and Minster Street, was used by Robert Devereux, the 3rd Earl of Essex, as his headquarters. The house had previously been used to entertain Elizabeth I.
Broad Street was central to the second Battle of Reading, also known as the Battle of Broad Street, in 1688. In this skirmish, the only significant military action of the Glorious Revolution, the Royalist army of James II was defeated by the Protestant troops of Prince William of Orange. Two days after the defeat of his troops in Reading, James quit London and fled to France. William assumed the British crown in 1689 as William III.
In 1862, the row of shops that had occupied the centre of what is now the eastern end of Broad Street was demolished. The narrow streets of Fisher Row and Butcher Row were joined together and became part of Broad Street. In 1879, the first line of the Reading Tramway Company's horse-drawn tramway was opened along Broad Street.
In 1903, Reading Corporation Tramways' electric trams replaced the horse-drawn tramcars along Broad Street. The following year, the last major change to the street plan of Broad Street occurred when Queen Victoria Street was opened, cutting through various old properties between Broad Street and Friar Street. Queen Victoria Street at last provided a direct link from Broad Street to Reading station, opened in 1840.
The last tram services in Reading continued to operate along Broad Street until 1939, when they were replaced by trolleybuses. These in turn were retired in 1968, when diesel buses took over. In 1970, Broad Street was closed to all traffic except buses and for access, with through traffic diverted onto a one-way system and the first phase of the town's Inner Distribution Road.
Broad Street was further pedestrianised in 1995, and the bus services that previously used it were diverted onto the loop route around the town's central area, using St Mary's Butts, Friar Street, Market Place and Minster Street. The street was subsequently remodelled with a red-brick surface extending across the whole width of the street, and with the inclusion of street trees, sculpture and licensed street traders.


The department store of John Lewis & Partners (formerly known as Heelas) is located on Broad Street. There are also branches of many chain stores, including Bhs, Boots, H&M, Marks and Spencers, Next, Sainsbury's, schuh and W H Smith. The Broad Street branch of booksellers Waterstone's is of particular interest, as it is a remarkable conversion of a nonconformist chapel dating from 1707.
The Oracle shopping centre has a direct entrance from Broad Street, and houses many other major stores, including the department stores of Debenhams and House of Fraser, as well as a large selection of restaurants and bars.
Union Street known locally as Smelly Alley due to its open fronted fishmonger's and greengrocer's shops, is a narrow street which runs between Broad Street and the parallel Friar Street. Although the number of food shops has declined recently, it is still home to a number of local independent stores.


The surrounding area was part of the manor of Moston, near the now demolished Moston Hall. It was owned by Sir Edward Tootal Broadhurst, a local industrialist, who in 1920 donated 80 acres of the land for use as a park, as a recognition of victory in the First World War.
The ground on which the stadium is built has long been used for sport. The playing fields in Moston were purchased on behalf of the workers of Johnson, Clapham and Morris, a metal working and fabrication business. The fields were named for Ronald Lindsay Johnson (24 September 1889 – 29 May 1917), a member of the Johnson family who died while serving as an Acting Captain and Divisional Trench Mortar Officer (DTMO) in the First World War. As DTMO for the 23rd Division, Johnson was responsible for co-ordinating the targeting and positioning of mortar batteries and it was during preparation for the Battle of Messines that he was mortally wounded on 29 May 1917. He had ascended to chairman of his family business following the deaths of his father in February 1914 and his brother William in July 1916. His will (compiled before Christmas 1916) originally left his shares in the family business in trust for the benefit of the employees of the firm; but when this bequest was deemed to be impractical, the trustees decided instead that eight acres of land should be purchased for the staff as playing fields and a recreation ground. They were opened in the presence of his mother on 17 June 1925.
In April 1934, following the moving of the Richard Johnson, Clapham and Morris Ltd firm to Trafford Park, the playing grounds were offered to the Parks Committee of the Manchester Corporation for £2,400. At the time, the ground was described as being fenced all round with iron railings, containing bowling greens, a number of tennis courts and a cricket pitch, together with two well-built pavilions. For many years the land was used for community events including football and funfairs. A cycle speedway track was built during the 1980s. In 2005, a 2.4 m green powder coated weld mesh fence with gates was erected at the perimeter of the fields. Moston Juniors Football Club secured a lease for the site in 2007, with a view to future development.


Broadmoor is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans.  A subdistrict of the Uptown/Carrollton Area, its boundaries as defined by the New Orleans City Planning Commission are: Eve Street to the north, Washington Avenue and Toledano Street to the east, South Claiborne Avenue to the south, and Jefferson Avenue, South Rocheblave Street, Nashville Avenue, and Octavia Street to the west.  It includes the Broadmoor Historic District which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003 and increased in its boundaries in 2007.


Broadmoor is low-lying ground in New Orleans, and was only substantially developed beginning in the early 20th century after improved drainage was initiated (see: Drainage in New Orleans). Before being developed, the area was a large marsh and was a fishing spot for Uptowners.  Early construction were mostly high raised houses for fear of repeats of historic floods, but after decades with little problem more low lying residential structures were built in Broadmoor. The first area drainage canals were built in 1885. In 1903 a pumping station at Broad Street and Washington within the Broadmoor boundaries opened in 1903. In 1915, pumps more powerful than previous ones were established at that pumping station. After 1915, smaller groups of people began settling the area.
During the early 1920s a sharp population increase occurred in Broadmoor. Over one third of Broadmoor's houses and the Wilson School, the first public school in Broadmoor, were built during that decade. Population growth continued for several years In the late 1950s and the 1960s many people began moving to suburbs in Jefferson Parish and New Orleans East, leading to population losses for Broadmoor.
Broadmoor was hit hard by the May 8th 1995 Louisiana Flood, after which extensive improvements of drainage were constructed.
Broadmoor flooded badly in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. A Bring New Orleans Back Commission preliminary report map showed Broadmoor as a suggested area to be turned into park land; this suggestion is strongly objected to by residents, hundreds of whom were already back in their homes by January 2006, many living in the upstairs of two story homes while they worked on gutting and repairing their flooded ground floors.


Broadmoor is located at 29°56′56″N 90°06′15″W and has an elevation of 2 feet (0.6 m).  According to the United States Census Bureau, the district has a total area of 0.56 square miles (1.5 km²).  0.56 square miles (1.5 km²) of which is land and 0.00 square miles (0.0 km²) (0.00%) of which is water.
It is in proximity to some of the wealthier communities in New Orleans, such as Uptown and the Garden District. It is also in proximity to Claiborne Avenue, the street connecting Downtown New Orleans with Jefferson Parish.


The New Orleans City Planning Commission defines the boundaries of Broadmoor as these streets: Eve Street, Washington Avenue, Toledano Street, South Claiborne Avenue, Jefferson Avenue, South Rocheblave Street, Nashville Avenue, and Octavia Street.


South Broadway's southern terminus is Main Street just north of the San Diego Freeway (I-405) in Carson. From there it runs 10 miles (16 km) north through Athens and South Los Angeles to Downtown Los Angeles – at Olympic Blvd. entering downtown's Historic Core, in which the buildings lining Broadway form the Broadway Theater and Commercial District. Crossing 3rd Street, Broadway passes through the Civic Center including Grand Park. After crossing the US-101 (Santa Ana Freeway), signs read "North Broadway" as it enters Chinatown. It then curves northeast, passing through old railyards, crosses the Golden State Fwy. (I-5) and heads due east to its terminus at Mission Road in Lincoln Heights.


For more than 50 years, Broadway from 1st Street to Olympic Boulevard was the main commercial street of Los Angeles, and one of its premier theater and movie palace districts as well. It contains a vast number of historic buildings and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Prior to the turn of the 20th century, the city's Central Business District was further north, along Spring and Main streets between the Plaza and 2nd Street. In 1895 J.W. Robinson's opened what was then considered a very large and impressive four-story department store at 239 S. Broadway, signaling of the shift over the next decade and a half of the main shopping district to Broadway below 2nd Street.


From around 1905 through the 1950s, Broadway was considered the center of the city, where residents went to ornate movie palaces and live theaters, and shopped at major department stores and shops. See the Table of department stores on Broadway and Seventh streets below.
The square footage of the four largest department stores alone — Bullock's at 806,000 sq ft (74,900 m²), The Broadway at 577,000 sq ft (53,600 m²), May Co. at over 1,000,000 sq ft (93,000 m²) and J. W. Robinson's (7th St. at Hope) at 623,700 sq ft (57,940 m²) — totaled over three million square feet, the size of American Dream Meadowlands, America's largest mall today.
Among dozens of significant buildings from that era are the Bradbury Building, Ace Hotel Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Examiner building designed by Julia Morgan.
Some of the movie theaters on the street fell into disuse and disrepair, some were replaced with parking lots, but many have been repurposed and/or restored. The department stores closed in the 1970s and 1980s, but Broadway has been the premier shopping destination for working class Latinos for decades.


The district has been the subject of preservation and restoration efforts since the 1980s. In 1987, the Los Angeles Conservancy started a program called "Last Remaining Seats" in which the old movie palaces were opened each summer to show classic Hollywood movies. In 1994, the Conservancy's associate director, Gregg Davidson, noted: "When we started this, the naysayers said no one will go downtown to an old theater to see an old movie in the middle of the summer, but we get a number of people who have never seen a movie in a theater with a balcony. The older people (go) for nostalgia. And the movie people—seeing a classic film on a big screen is a different experience." After attending a Conservancy screening, one writer noted: "The other night I went to the movies and was transported to a world of powdered wigs and hoop skirts, a rococo fantasy of gilded cherubs and crystal chandeliers. And then the film started."
Despite preservation efforts, many of the theaters have been converted to other uses, including flea markets and churches. The Broadway movie palaces fell victim to a number of circumstances, including changing demographics and tastes, a downtown location that was perceived as dangerous at night, and high maintenance costs for aging facilities. With the closure of the State Theater in 1998, the Orpheum and the Palace were the only two still screening films.
In 2006, the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Of all of L.A.'s many hidden gems, maybe none is as sparkling nor as hidden as the Broadway theater district downtown." Bemoaning the possible loss of such gems, the same writer noted: "L.A. gave birth to the movies. To lose the astonishing nurseries where the medium grew up would be tragic."


In 2008, the City of Los Angeles launched a $40-million campaign to revitalize the Broadway district, known as the "Bringing Back Broadway" campaign. Some Latino merchants in the district expressed concern that the campaign was an effort to spread the largely Anglo gentrification taking hold in other parts of downtown to an area that has become the city's leading Latino shopping district. A worker at one of the district's bridal shops noted, "On one side, I like the idea. The only thing is that I don't think they want our types of businesses."
The Downtown's real estate revitalization, using the City's adaptive reuse ordinance that makes it easier for developers to convert outmoded and/or vacant office and commercial buildings into residential buildings, has reached the Broadway Historic District. It includes the transformation of the United Artists Theater office tower into the Ace Hotel Los Angeles, and restoration of its movie palace.
The Bringing Back Broadway commission is working on further reviving the landmark Los Angeles boulevard in the historic district. Led by City Councilman Jose Huizar, the commission has recommended widening sidewalks, eliminating traffic lanes, constructing new parking structures, and bringing back streetcar service reminiscent of the street's past. A pedestrian-friendly project finished up in December 2014 that widened the sidewalks and replaced the parking lane with planters, chairs and round cafe tables with bright-red umbrellas. The Great Streets Initiative seeks to bolster the street-level health of the city by making several dozen boulevards more hospitable to pedestrians, cyclists and small businesses. Mayor Eric Garcetti said the effort represents "a shift from the way that our neighborhoods have been planned in Los Angeles," with a new focus on "walkability and transit."
Broadway retail is transitioning from a broad mix of stores catering to Hispanic immigrants and a burgeoning sneaker and streetwear retail cluster has emerged from 4th to 9th streets: Sneaker Row.
Retail in and around the Eastern Columbia, located at the intersection of 9th Street & Broadway, has proliferated in recent years with the opening of Acne Studios, Oak NYC, Aesop, Tanner Goods, BNKR, Austere, A.P.C., and Urban Outfitters located in the Rialto Theater (Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 472).


Bradbury Building (1893, architects Sumner Hunt and George Wyman, Italian Renaissance Revival, Romanesque Revival, and Chicago School styles), the oldest remaining commercial building in Downtown Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Conservancy calls it an icon and a "unique treasure". Commissioned by gold-mining and real estate millionaire Lewis Bradbury. It is famous for its light-filled atrium, open cage elevators, marble stairways and ornate iron railings, and has appeared in many films including Blade Runner.


LA Metro's Historic Broadway station is an under-construction underground light rail station near the intersection of 2nd and Broadway, part of the new Regional Connector tunnel extending light rail lines that currently terminate at 7th Street/Metro Center station, to Union Station. In the new scheme that LA Metro will adopt when the Connector opens, trains will run from Historic Broadway Station on the E Line east to East Los Angeles and west to Santa Monica, and on the A Line northeast to Union Station, Pasadena, and Azusa and south to Long Beach.
Metro J Line bus rapid transit (BRT) has 5 stations adjacent to Broadway in South Los Angeles: 37th Street/USC, Slauson, Manchester/I-110, Harbor Freeway, and Rosecrans. These stations are along the Harbor Transitway, a dedicated busway between Downtown L.A. (Adams Blvd.) and the Harbor Gateway, near Carson, in the median of the Harbor Freeway (I-110), just west of Broadway. J Line BRT runs as far south as San Pedro and as far northeast as El Monte.
Metro Local bus line 45 serves most of the length of Broadway, between Lincoln Heights through Downtown to the Harbor Freeway Station. Local routes 4, 30, and 40 serve portions of Broadway downtown.


The Broadway Bridge is a double-deck vertical-lift bridge crossing the Harlem River Ship Canal in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It carries Broadway, also known as U.S. Route 9, on the lower level and three New York City Subway tracks on the upper level. Although the bridge serves as a route for traffic between Manhattan and the Bronx, it is entirely in Manhattan. The southern end of the bridge is in Inwood, on Manhattan Island, while the northern end is in Marble Hill, on the mainland United States. The bridge also passes over the Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line on its northern end.
The lower level is used by the Bx7 and Bx20 local bus routes, operated by MTA New York City Transit, and the BxM1 express bus route operated by the MTA Bus Company. The subway tracks carry the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (1 train). Immediately to the north of the bridge along this line is the Marble Hill–225th Street station. In 2016, the New York City Department of Transportation, which operates and maintains the bridge, reported an average daily traffic volume in both directions of 36,027. The peak ADT over the Broadway Bridge was 42,555 vehicles in 1990. Between 2000 and 2014, the bridge opened for vessels 434 times.
The bridge measures 558 feet (170 m) long, including approaches. The lift span is 304 feet (93 m) long and sits 25 feet (7.6 m) above mean high water in the "closed" position, though it can be raised to 136 feet (41 m) above mean high water. It weighs 2,600 short tons (2,300 long tons; 2,400 t) and is composed of two Warren trusses. The lift span is supported by the lift towers at each end, which rise 160 feet (49 m) above mean water.  The lift span is suspended by two sets of 12 wire ropes at each corner. Each rope is wrapped around counterweights on each end: at the top of each tower and on the span. The span can be lifted by one electrical drive in each tower. The tops of the lift towers were tapered to be flush with the top of the lift span.
The lower deck contains two roadways and sidewalks, one on each of the west and east sides. The roadways are each 34 feet (10 m) wide, carrying one direction of traffic on Broadway, and the sidewalks are each 8 feet (2.4 m) wide. A median divides the two roadways. In addition, there are 80 short tons (71 long tons; 73 t) of subway and electrical conduits along the bottom of the Harlem Ship Canal. The conduits had to be placed in a trench at the bottom of the canal because it was infeasible to place fixed conduits on the movable span.


Around 1900, the city sold the Harlem Ship Canal Bridge to the Rapid Transit Construction Company, which was building the first city subway line. The subway's West Side Branch was to cross the Harlem River Ship Canal above Broadway, which necessitated modifying or replacing the existing bridge. The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), which had been formed to operate the subway, determined the existing structure could not support the elevated subway line, choosing instead to build a second, double-decker swing bridge. The old substructure was deemed to be sufficiently strong to support the weight of a new span. The need to replace the Harlem Ship Canal Bridge was further emphasized in 1903, when the New York State Legislature passed legislation allowing the realignment of the New York Central Railroad's Spuyten Duyvil Line (now the Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line) along the Harlem River's eastern bank. The railroad wished to avoid a grade crossing with the Metropolitan Street Railway's streetcar tracks, to be built on the lower deck. Ultimately, the city made an agreement with the three railroads to relocate the first span down the Harlem River, only ten years after it had been constructed. The old Harlem Ship Canal Bridge became the University Heights Bridge, which opened in 1908.
The American Bridge Company was contracted to construct the new bridge. The temporary framework for the second bridge's swing span was constructed at 216th Street in Manhattan, slightly south of the bridge site. The approach spans were constructed next to Broadway, along the shore where they were to be installed. Pile-driving for the new swing span began at 216th Street in May 1905 and was finished that September. The approach spans were built on crib piers that rested along flatcars, with each span slightly overhanging the shore on either end. After the approach spans were completed, the approach spans were pushed off the flatcars and floated onto scows. The spans of the old Harlem Ship Canal Bridge were replaced with the new double-decker spans in three phases. Traffic on Broadway was not to be interrupted for more than five days total. After the old spans were disconnected from their old location and moved aside, the corresponding sections of the second bridge were floated into place. The southern approach at Broadway was replaced in October 1905, followed by the northern approach in November. The old swing span was replaced with the new swing span in June 1906. The second span ultimately cost $1,182,782 to install. When the IRT's West Side Branch was extended in March 1906, it had a temporary terminal at 221st Street, just south of the bridge's Manhattan end. Subway service was extended over the Broadway Bridge to Marble Hill–225th Street in January 1907 and the 221st Street station was closed.
By the early 1930s, there were proposals to build the long-delayed Henry Hudson Bridge to the west, carrying traffic on the Henry Hudson Parkway (New York State Route 9A). The project was being upheld as a way to alleviate traffic on the Broadway Bridge, which in 1933 accommodated 28,000 vehicles a day, almost as much as the Holland Tunnel between New Jersey and New York. While the Henry Hudson Bridge was to be a toll bridge, the Broadway Bridge charged no toll for the eleven million vehicles that, at the time, crossed it every year. In mid-December 1934, the section of Broadway across the bridge was signed as US 9 within New York City for the first time, as were several other U.S. Highways and state routes. The section of US 9 south of the bridge ran to 179th Street, turning west to the George Washington Bridge to New Jersey, while the section north of the bridge ran to the Bronx and Westchester County. The Henry Hudson Bridge opened in 1936.
In 1949, the city's commissioner of public works proposed that a lift bridge be built for $7.64 million (equivalent to $67 million in 2020) to replace the second Broadway Bridge. The swing span's three vehicular lanes could no longer accommodate modern traffic loads, and a lift span would provide more horizontal clearance for marine traffic. As part of this proposal, the lift bridge would carry six lanes, and the sections of Broadway on either side of the bridge would be widened to 125 feet (38 m). The Bridge Department again called for the construction of a lift bridge in 1956, this time at a cost of $12.71 million (equivalent to $94 million in 2020), although the city would still not include money for a new bridge in its budget. The 225th Street Bridge was damaged by fire that October, requiring it to be closed for emergency repairs. In January 1957, Public Works Commissioner Frederick H. Zurmuhlen announced that the swing bridge had sustained more severe damage than originally projected, and that it would be difficult to close the swing span due to warping of the steel beams. The swing bridge was closed to tall marine vessels in 1957.


Zurmuhlen announced in February 1958 that work would commence on a new lift span costing $13.4 million (equivalent to $94 million in 2020). The first phase of the work was awarded to the Moore & Lopier Construction Corporation and involved constructing new piers parallel to the second swing span. The American Bridge Company constructed the new lift span on the Bronx side of the bridge. Because the second 225th Street Bridge was so heavily used, with an average of 23,000 vehicles per weekday, the lift span was built before the lift towers, in the opposite sequence from other lift bridges. A construction schedule was planned so that subway traffic would be disrupted as little as possible.
At the end of November 1960, the second bridge was closed to vehicular traffic, but remained open for subway operation. Subway service on the bridge was suspended for three days starting on December 23, 1960, to install the lift span during the Christmas weekend. High winds delayed the installation of the lift span by one day. Subway service and pedestrian crossings resumed on December 26; the iron-grating roadbed had yet to be welded at the time. The second swing span was towed to just north of the University Heights Bridge, where it was cut up into scrap. The new lift bridge opened to vehicles in January 1961, but was closed to vehicles again that July. This closure allowed the lift machinery to be installed and the approach roadways to be rebuilt. The eastern roadway of the new bridge reopened to two-way vehicular traffic on July 1, 1962, while the western roadway opened that November. After further intermittent closures to marine, road, and subway traffic, work was complete by November 1963.
Mayor John Lindsay proposed enacting tolls along the University Heights Bridge, as well as all other free bridges across the East and Harlem rivers, in 1971. The proposal failed in 1977 after the United States Congress moved to ban tolls on these bridges.
The NYCDOT made some minor renovations to the Broadway Bridge in 2003. The work, costing $10 million, included repairs to the deck as well as placing a protective coating on the lift span's steel beams. By 2005, the NYCDOT had classified the bridge's condition as fair, with a 3.986 rating out of 7, indicating that some components were in need of repair. At the time, it had never undergone a major rehabilitation. In 2018, the NYCDOT awarded a contract to Tutor Perini to renovate architectural, electrical, mechanical, and structural components of the bridge. The same year, the agency announced a plan to improve pedestrian and cyclist access to several bridges over the Harlem River, including the Broadway Bridge. As part of the plan, bike lanes would be added to the bridge by 2021.


The 'Saxon' tower was the brainchild of Capability Brown and designed by James Wyatt in 1794 in the form of a castle, and built for Barbara, Countess of Coventry in 1798–1799. The tower was built on a beacon hill, where beacons were lit on special occasions. Lady Coventry wondered whether a beacon on this hill could be seen from her house in Worcester — about 22 miles (35 km) away — and sponsored the construction of the folly to find out. Indeed, the beacon could be seen clearly.
For some years, the tower became home to the printing press of Sir Thomas Phillipps.  By the mid-1870s, it was being rented by C J Stone and Cormell Price, the latter being headmaster of the United Services College at Westward Ho!, and a close friend and confidant of artists William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti: "I am up at Crom Price's Tower among the winds and the clouds," Morris wrote in a letter to Aglaia Coronio in the summer of 1876.
Near the tower is a memorial to the crew of an A.W.38 Whitley bomber that crashed there during a training mission in June 1943.
In the late 1950s, Broadway Tower monitored nuclear fallout in England; an underground Royal Observer Corps bunker was built 50 yards (46 m) from the Tower. Staffed continuously from 1961 and designated as a master post, the bunker was one of the last such Cold War bunkers constructed and, although officially stood down in 1991, the bunker is now one of the few remaining fully equipped facilities in England.


The tower is a tourist attraction and the centre of a country park with various exhibitions open to the   public at a fee, as well as a gift shop and restaurant. The place is on the Cotswold Way and can be reached by following the Cotswold Way from the A44 road at Fish Hill, or by a steep climb out of Broadway village.


The original construction dates from about 1209. The chapel and vestry are Gothic-style and the whole church is built of bricks. The churchyard has the tallest wooden bell tower in Denmark, which dates back to 1650.
The church itself is decorated with murals from various periods.
Restoration of the church in 1924-27 revealed frescoes from different periods; Romanesque from the beginning of the 13th century, late-Gothic from about 1500 and Renaissance paintings from 1587. The chapel's murals  depict the legend of Saint George and the Dragon, and his martyrdom. These pictures, together with the late medieval carved wooden figure of the dragon slayer from app. 1490  formed the setting for the chapel's Saint George cult. In the late 1990s,  restoration was done in collaboration with the architects Hans Lund and  Alan Havsteen-Mikkelsen (1938–2002).
The altarpiece was made by Dutch artist Anthon Günther Lundt and dating from 1717. The style is Baroque with acanthus foliage. The pulpit is Renaissance from 1591 made at one of the fine local joiner-workshops in Flensburg.
The crucifix from approx. 1250 is a mixture type between Late Romanesque and early Gothic.
The baptismal font origins from the first building period of the church together with the communion table.  The font is composed of two types of granite; a reddish basin upon a greyish foot. Upon the foot are four carved male heads, two with pageboy haircuts and no beard and two with center parting and beard. The lid of the font is a wooden crown from 1787. The baptismal  basin  is of brass and dates from the same period.


The Broch of Clickimin (also Clickimin or Clickhimin Broch) is a large, well-preserved but restored broch in Lerwick in Shetland, Scotland (grid reference HU46434082). Originally built on an island in Clickimin Loch, it was approached by a stone causeway. The broch is situated within a walled enclosure and, unusually for brochs, features a large "forework" or "blockhouse" between the opening in the enclosure and the broch itself. The site is maintained by Historic Scotland. According to its excavator, John R.C. Hamilton, there were several periods of occupation of the site: Late Bronze Age farmstead, Early Iron Age farmstead, Iron Age fort, broch period, and wheelhouse settlement.


The broch was originally excavated and cleared in 1861–2. Following major vandalism and dilapidation, parts of the site were rebuilt by the Office of Works in 1908–10. It was excavated again between 1953 and 1957 by J. R. C. Hamilton, who proposed a complex chronology for it. The earliest occupation of the site, according to Hamilton, was a small Late Bronze Age farmstead of the 7th or 6th centuries BC which (he said) was superseded by a larger circular Iron Age farmhouse built about the 5th century BC. In the 4th, or early 3rd century BC, Hamilton continued, a stone-walled fort consisting of the block-house and ringwork was constructed, which was in turn superseded by the broch in about the 1st century AD. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD a large wheelhouse was built within the reduced tower and with minor outhouses, storage pits and cattle stalls dug in the debris inside the older defences.
In recent years Hamilton's schema has been challenged by archaeologists and others: the ring wall, blockhouse and broch are now usually assumed to be contemporary. For a full account see B. Smith, 'How not to reconstruct the Iron Age in Shetland: modern interpretations of Clickimin broch', Northern Studies, 47, 2015.


Finds include stone lamps, whetstones, bone and whalebone objects, a die, a few bronze objects, and two fragments of Roman glass.


As early as 1869 there was a design for the construction of a railway to the Brocken, but it was turned down. A resubmission in 1895 succeeded, however, and, on 30 May 1896, the construction permit was issued once Prince Otto of Stolberg-Wernigerode had allocated the requisite land. The first section of the Brocken Railway, from Drei Annen Hohne to Schierke, was opened on 20 June 1898 and construction work for the remaining section up to the Brocken was begun on 4 October 1898. Initially services to the Brocken only ran between 30 April to 15 October; during the winter trains terminated at Schierke station. At the end of the Second World War significant damage occurred to the track, mainly through bombs and artillery shells, in the course of fighting in the Harz, which had been declared a fortress. The section to the Brocken was only reopened, therefore, in 1949.
The operator of the Brocken Railway until 5 August 1948 was the Nordhausen-Wernigerode Railway Company (NWE), after which it belonged from the Association of Publicly Owned Companies (VVB), part of Saxony-Anhalt's transport services, and, from 11 April 1949 to the Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany. Only after the German winter sports championships in 1950, which took place in Schierke, did winter trains run up to the Brocken summit. A railway station at Eckerloch was also built for the championships which was closed again after they had ended. The location of the former sidings at Eckerloch station can still be easily seen.
Goods trains continued to work the Brocken Railway right up to 1987, although since the construction of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961 the Brocken and its station had been part of the out-of-bounds area and thus not accessible to the public. Up to that time the trains transported coal, oil and building materials up the mountain for the East German Border Troops and Soviet soldiers who were stationed there.
Passengers services on the Brocken Railway continued to run from Drei Annen Hohne to Schierke; usually only two pairs of passenger train pairs ran each day; however they could  be used with only a special pass, because Schierke lay in the border zone with West Germany.
After German reunification the continued operation of the Brocken Railway was initially called into question, however united efforts by railway enthusiasts and politicians under the overall control of the then state Minister for the Economy, Horst Rehberger, helped to give the Brocken Railway a second chance. The German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) was also involved, because the Brocken Railway was needed to haul away the obsolete, military facilities on the Brocken. On 15 September 1991, after being renovated, the Brocken Railway was ceremoniously opened to the public with two steam-hauled trains. The trains were headed by locomotive no. 99 5903, a Mallet locomotive, which had been procured by the NWE in 1897/98, and locomotive no. 99 6001, a prototype developed in 1939 by the firm of Krupp.
Since the privatisation of the narrow gauge lines in the Harz in 1993 the Brocken Railway has been operated by the Harz Narrow Gauges Railways (HSB).
The steam trains on the Brocken Railway have become popular with thousands of tourists every year, offering convenient access to the top of the Brocken.


The city of Slavonski Brod, Croatia, which was an important strategic and traffic center controlling the border crossing towards Turkey and connecting main commercial trails at the time, in the period between 1715 and 1780 Austria built the large imperial and royal border Fortress of Brod on the Sava River, which along with the fortified baroque towns of Slavonia, namely Osijek and Stara Gradiška, belongs to the great defense system on the border towards the Turkish Empire, designed by Prince Eugene of Savoy in the first half of the 18th century. It was constructed by peasants of the Military Border under forced labor more specifically 634 a day, who also gave 53 horse-drawn carts daily for the transport of material. The regular star-like form of the fortress was determined by the flat-country. It was built of rammed earth, bricks, wood and partially stone, and designed for the accommodation of 4,000 soldiers, mostly infantry and 150 cannons.
According to an evaluation of the Brod Fortress resistance, during the classical siege with full capacity channels, it would have taken 10 days of preparation for the attacks and 46 days for the enemy to take over the entire Fortress. The Fortress of Brod occupied about 33 hectares (82 acres). The military government did not allow for the construction of solid material houses, because the entire town was within the range of the fortress cannons, and consequently, throughout the entire 18th and most of the 19th century, Brod was the town of small wooden houses, roofed by shingle or board. In case of the potential Turkish attack, the town was to be leveled down, in order to provide the artillery with the open space around the fortress. Although being a military border stronghold, the Fortress almost never had the opportunity to prove and demonstrate its combative power. However, there are many preserved fortifications reminiscent of the bygone times and the everyday military life that took place within. The Fortress of Brod was constructed according to the Vauban system. It is basically of a rectangular form, while the system of defense channels provides its star-like layout. It consisted of three defense zones: internal, external and southern, and it was protected by two moat areas, water-fed from the nearby stream.


The external defense zone consisted of ravelins - triangular bastions protecting the main walls and obstructing the enemy access to the Fortress. All ravelins are constructed of rammed earth and brick walled on the outside, while in the upper part there is an overlayer and parapets. Within the west and east ravelin walls there is a redoubt - the pentagonal fortification used as a provisional powder magazine and as a gunsmith's. Due to the rapid development of the siege techniques, the Brod Fortress lost its defensive task already by the mid 19th century. From that point onwards, Brod on the Sava River started its intensive development, while the old wooden Brod started to disappear. The devastation of the Brod Fortress continues throughout the 20th century. Some objects were destroyed by the army as useless, while the abandoned and unsustainable buildings cave in and dilapidate. In the period from 1945 up until the Croatian War of Independence in the 1990s, the Fortress serves as accommodation for the soldiers of the National Army of Yugoslavia. Today the Fortress of Brod, cultural heritage site and the unique and monumental example of the 18th century Slavonian military fortification architecture, belongs to the city of Slavonski Brod, decidedly initiating its revitalization.


Architecturally, the castle has a very well-preserved 16th-century central keep with two 5-storey towers on opposing corners. The interior of the castle is also well preserved, containing fine antique furniture, oriental artefacts and painted ceilings, largely dating from the 17th–19th centuries.
Today the castle and surrounding policies, including a national daffodil collection, are owned by the National Trust for Scotland and are open to the public to visit throughout the year. The castle may be hired for weddings and indoor or outdoor events. An ancient Pictish monument known as Rodney's Stone can be seen in the castle grounds.


The castle is built in a square formation. The four wings of the castle surrounded the central courtyard.  A 54-metre tower provided an entrance to the second floor of the castle. In the corners of the castle were small look-out towers, which stick out from the castle's square shape. The castle basements were used as utility rooms. The underground rooms performed various functions: a chapel, refectory, chapter house, infirmary, chamber of the commander and other specialised rooms. Entries to them lead to the gallery surrounding the courtyard. The second floor included from the side of the courtyard magazines and a granary, and an additional defensive porch within castle walls. By the main tower there is a gate to which access was provided by a former drawbridge. It was a key part of the castle's defense complex. The pre-castle fortification was placed between the town and the castle.


Broken Top is a glacially eroded complex stratovolcano. It lies in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, part of the extensive Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located southeast of the Three Sisters peaks, the volcano, residing within the Three Sisters Wilderness, is 20 miles (32 km) west of Bend, Oregon in Deschutes County. Eruptive activity stopped roughly 100,000 years ago, and currently, erosion by glaciers has reduced the volcano's cone to where its contents are exposed. There are two named glaciers on the peak, Bend and Crook Glacier.
Diverse species of flora and fauna inhabit the area, which is subject to frequent snowfall, occasional rain, and extreme temperature variation between seasons. Broken Top and its surrounding area constitute popular destinations for hiking, climbing, and scrambling.


The Three Sisters Wilderness covers an area of 281,190 acres (1,137.9 km²), making it the second-largest wilderness area in Oregon, after the Eagle Cap Wilderness area. Designated by the United States Congress in 1964, it borders the Mount Washington Wilderness to the north and shares its southern edge with the Waldo Lake Wilderness. The area includes 260 miles (420 km) of trails and many forests, lakes, waterfalls, and streams, including the source of Whychus Creek. The Three Sisters and Broken Top account for about a third of the Three Sisters Wilderness, and this area is known as the Alpine Crest Region. Rising from about 5,200 feet (1,600 m) to 10,358 feet (3,157 m) in elevation, the Alpine Crest Region features the wilderness area's most-frequented glaciers, lakes, and meadows.


Weather varies greatly in the area due to the rain shadow caused by the Cascade Range. Air from the Pacific Ocean rises over the western slopes, which causes it to cool and dump its moisture as rain (or snow in the winter). Precipitation increases with elevation. Once the moisture is wrung from the air, it descends on the eastern side of the crest, which causes the air to be warmer and drier. On the western slopes, precipitation ranges from 80 to 125 inches (200 to 320 cm) annually, while precipitation over the eastern slopes varies from 40 to 80 inches (100 to 200 cm) in the east. Temperature extremes reach 80 to 90 °F (27 to 32 °C) in summers and −20 to −30 °F (−29 to −34 °C) during the winters.
Before settlement of the area at the end of the 19th century, wildfires frequently burned through the local forests, especially the ponderosa pine forests on the eastern slopes. Due to fire suppression over the past century, the forests have become overgrown, and at higher elevations, they are further susceptible to summertime fires, which threaten surrounding life and property. In the 21st century, wildfires have been larger and more common in the Deschutes National Forest. In September 2012, a lightning strike caused a fire that burned 41 square miles (110 km²) in the Pole Creek area within the Three Sisters Wilderness, leaving the area closed until May 2013. In August 2017, officials closed 417 square miles (1,080 km²) in the western half of the Three Sisters Wilderness, including 24 miles (39 km) of the Pacific Crest Trail, to the public because of 11 lightning-caused fires, including the Milli Fire. As a result of the increasing incidence of fires, public officials have factored the role of wildfire into planning, including organizing prescribed fires with scientists to protect habitats at risk while minimizing adverse effects on air quality and environmental health.


A major threat to evergreen trees is the fungus Rhizosphere kalkhoffii, which causes the commonly green needles to appear brown or purple in color. This disease is called needle cast disease, and is widespread in Minnesota and other US states. This fungi spreads through splashing water to adjacent trees and needles. It has been found that needle infection occur at an average temperature of 25 degrees Celsius. Some particular trees are in fact resistant to the disease, such as Plant Norway (P. abides) or white spruce (P. glaucid), while others such as Colorado blue spruce (Pica pungent) are extremely at risk of contracting the disease. Preventative efforts to protect the evergreens include fungicide, mulch at the base of the tree and increased sprinkler control to prevent the water contamination. Within recent years, this detrimental disease has entered into Canada and provides challenges for commercial conifer tree growers (such as Christmas trees), and extensive research was conducted into possible fungicides for this disease with no clear cut option being presented. Therefore the future research regarding evergreen longevity is highly linked to additional counter measures to Rhizosphere kalkhoffii by looking at other fungicide potions.


Deciduous trees shed their leaves usually as an adaptation to a cold or dry/wet season. Evergreen trees do lose leaves, but each tree loses its leaves gradually and not all at once. Most tropical rainforest plants are considered to be evergreens, replacing their leaves gradually throughout the year as the leaves age and fall, whereas species growing in seasonally arid climates may be either evergreen or deciduous. Most warm temperate climate plants are also evergreen. In cool temperate climates, fewer plants are evergreen. In this climate, there is a predominance of conifers because few evergreen broadleaf plants can tolerate severe cold below about −26 °C (−15 °F).
In areas where there is a reason for being deciduous, e.g. a cold season or dry season, evergreen plants are usually an adaptation of low nutrient levels. Additionally, they are usually sclerophyllous,(meaning hard-leaved) and have an excellent water economy due to scarce resources in the area in which they reside. The excellent water economy within the evergreen species is due to high abundance when compared to deciduous species. Whereas, deciduous trees lose nutrients whenever they lose their leaves. In warmer areas, species such as some pines and cypresses grow on poor soils and disturbed ground. In Rhododendron, a genus with many broadleaf evergreens, several species grow in mature forests but are usually found on highly acidic soil where the nutrients are less available to plants. In taiga or boreal forests, it is too cold for the organic matter in the soil to decay rapidly, so the nutrients in the soil are less easily available to plants, thus favoring evergreens.
In temperate climates, evergreens can reinforce their own survival; evergreen leaf and needle litter has a higher carbon-nitrogen ratio than deciduous leaf litter, contributing to a higher soil acidity and lower soil nitrogen content. This is the case with Mediterranean evergreen seedlings, which have unique C and N storages that allow stored resources to determine fast growth within the species, limiting competition and bolstering survival. These conditions favor the growth of more evergreens and make it more difficult for deciduous plants to persist. In addition, the shelter provided by existing evergreen plants can make it easier for younger evergreen plants to survive cold and/or drought.


Japanese umbrella pine is unique in that it has its own family of which it is the only species.


There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs. Evergreens include:
Most species of conifers (e.g., pine, hemlock, blue spruce, and red cedar), but not all (e.g., larch)
Live oak, holly, and "ancient" gymnosperms such as cycads
Most angiosperms from frost-free climates, such as eucalypts and rainforest trees
Clubmosses and relatives
The Latin binomial term sempervirens, meaning "always green", refers to the evergreen nature of the plant, for instance
Cupressus sempervirens (a cypress)
Lonicera sempervirens (a honeysuckle)
Sequoia sempervirens (a sequoia)
Leaf longevity in evergreen plants varies from a few months to several decades (over thirty years in the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine).


In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.


Evergreen and deciduous species vary in a range of morphological and physiological characters. Generally, broad-leaved evergreen species have thicker leaves than deciduous species, with a larger volume of parenchyma and air spaces per unit leaf area. They have larger leaf biomass per unit leaf area, and hence a lower specific leaf area. Construction costs do not differ between the groups. Evergreens have generally a larger fraction of total plant biomass present as leaves (LMF), but they often have a lower rate of photosynthesis.


Vitamin C has a definitive role in treating scurvy, which is a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency. Beyond that, a role for vitamin C as prevention or treatment for various diseases is disputed, with reviews reporting conflicting results. A 2012 Cochrane review reported no effect of vitamin C supplementation on overall mortality. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.


Vitamin C is an essential nutrient for certain animals including humans. The term vitamin C encompasses several vitamers that have vitamin C activity in animals. Ascorbate salts such as sodium ascorbate and calcium ascorbate are used in some dietary supplements. These release ascorbate upon digestion. Ascorbate and ascorbic acid are both naturally present in the body, since the forms interconvert according to pH. Oxidized forms of the molecule such as dehydroascorbic acid are converted back to ascorbic acid by reducing agents.
Vitamin C functions as a cofactor in many enzymatic reactions in animals (including humans) that mediate a variety of essential biological functions, including wound healing and collagen synthesis. In humans, vitamin C deficiency leads to impaired collagen synthesis, contributing to the more severe symptoms of scurvy. Another biochemical role of vitamin C is to act as an antioxidant (a reducing agent) by donating electrons to various enzymatic and non-enzymatic reactions. Doing so converts vitamin C to an oxidized state - either as semidehydroascorbic acid or dehydroascorbic acid. These compounds can be restored to a reduced state by glutathione and NADPH-dependent enzymatic mechanisms.
In plants, vitamin C is a substrate for ascorbate peroxidase. This enzyme utilizes ascorbate to neutralize excess hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) by converting it to water (H₂O) and oxygen.


Vitamin C blood serum levels are considered saturated at levels > 65 μmol/L (1.1 mg/dL), achieved by consuming amounts which are at, or above, the Recommended Dietary Allowance, while adequate levels are defined as ≥ 50 μmol/L. Hypovitaminosis in the case of vitamin C is defined as ≤ 23 μmol/L and deficiency occurs at ≤ 11.4 μmol/L. For those 20 years of age or above, data from the U.S. 2003-04 NHANES survey showed mean and median serum concentrations of 49.0 and 54.4 μmol/L, respectively. The percent of people reported as deficient was 7.1%.
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C. Without this vitamin, collagen made by the body is too unstable to perform its function and several other enzymes in the body do not operate correctly. Scurvy is characterized by spots on and bleeding under the skin, spongy gums, 'corkscrew' hair growth, and poor wound healing. The skin lesions are most abundant on the thighs and legs, and a person with the ailment looks pale, feels depressed, and is partially immobilized. In advanced scurvy there are open, suppurating wounds, loss of teeth, bone abnormalities and, eventually, death.
Notable human dietary studies of experimentally induced scurvy were conducted on conscientious objectors during World War II in Britain and on Iowa state prisoners in the late 1960s to the 1980s. Men in the prison study developed the first signs of scurvy about four weeks after starting the vitamin C-free diet, whereas in the earlier British study, six to eight months were required, possibly due to the pre-loading of this group with a 70 mg/day supplement for six weeks before the scorbutic diet was fed. Men in both studies had blood levels of ascorbic acid too low to be accurately measured by the time they developed signs of scurvy. These studies both reported that all obvious symptoms of scurvy could be completely reversed by supplementation of only 10 mg a day.
People in sepsis or septic shock may have micronutrient deficiencies, including low levels of vitamin C.


Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, and also sold as a dietary supplement. It is used to prevent and treat scurvy. Vitamin C is an essential nutrient involved in the repair of tissue, the formation of collagen, and the enzymatic production of certain neurotransmitters. It is required for the functioning of several enzymes and is important for immune system function. It also functions as an antioxidant. Most animals are able to synthesize their own vitamin C. However, apes (including humans) and monkeys (but not all primates), most bats, some rodents, and certain other animals must acquire it from dietary sources.
There is some evidence that regular use of supplements may reduce the duration of the common cold, but it does not appear to prevent infection. It is unclear whether supplementation affects the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, or dementia. It may be taken by mouth or by injection.
Vitamin C is generally well tolerated. Large doses may cause gastrointestinal discomfort, headache, trouble sleeping, and flushing of the skin. Normal doses are safe during pregnancy. The United States Institute of Medicine recommends against taking large doses.
Vitamin C was discovered in 1912, isolated in 1928, and, in 1933, was the first vitamin to be chemically produced. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Vitamin C is available as an inexpensive generic and over-the-counter medication. Partly for its discovery, Albert Szent-Györgyi and Walter Norman Haworth were awarded the 1937 Nobel Prizes in Physiology and Medicine and Chemistry, respectively. Foods containing vitamin C include citrus fruits, kiwifruit, guava, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, bell peppers, potatoes and strawberries. Prolonged storage or cooking may reduce vitamin C content in foods.


The name Connecticut is derived from the Mohegan-Pequot word that has been translated as "long tidal river" and "upon the long river", both referring to the Connecticut River. Evidence of human presence in the Connecticut region dates to as much as 10,000 years ago. Stone tools were used for hunting, fishing, and woodworking. Semi-nomadic in lifestyle, these peoples moved seasonally to take advantage of various resources in the area. They shared languages based on Algonquian. The Connecticut region was inhabited by multiple Native American tribes which can be grouped into the Nipmuc, the Sequin or "River Indians" (which included the Tunxis, Schaghticoke, Podunk, Wangunk, Hammonasset, and Quinnipiac), the Mattabesec or "Wappinger Confederacy" and the Pequot-Mohegan. Some of these groups still reside in Connecticut, including the Mohegans, the Pequots, and the Paugusetts.


Connecticut (/kəˈnɛtɪkət/ (listen)) is the southernmost state in the New England region of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it has the highest per-capita income, second-highest level of human development behind Massachusetts, and highest median household income in the United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capital is Hartford and its most populous city is Bridgeport. Historically the state is part of New England as well as the tri-state area with New York and New Jersey, which together make up metropolitan New York City. The state is named for the Connecticut River which approximately bisects the state. The word "Connecticut" is derived from various anglicized spellings of "Quononoquett" (Conanicut), a Mohegan-Pequot word for "long tidal river".
Connecticut's first European settlers were Dutchmen who established a small, short-lived settlement called Fort Hoop in Hartford at the confluence of the Park and Connecticut Rivers. Half of Connecticut was initially claimed by the Dutch colony New Netherland, which included much of the land between the Connecticut and Delaware Rivers, although the first major settlements were established in the 1630s by the English. Thomas Hooker led a band of followers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony and founded the Connecticut Colony; other settlers from Massachusetts founded the Saybrook Colony and the New Haven Colony. The Connecticut and New Haven colonies established documents of Fundamental Orders, considered the first constitutions in America. In 1662, the three colonies were merged under a royal charter, making Connecticut a crown colony. Connecticut was one of the Thirteen Colonies which rejected British rule in the American Revolution.
Connecticut is the third smallest state by area, the 29th most populous, and the fourth most densely populated of the fifty states. It is known as the "Constitution State", the "Nutmeg State", the "Provisions State", and the "Land of Steady Habits". It was influential in the development of the federal government of the United States (see Connecticut Compromise). The Connecticut River, Thames River, and ports along Long Island Sound have given Connecticut a strong maritime tradition which continues today. The state also has a long history of hosting the financial services industry, including insurance companies in Hartford County and hedge funds in Fairfield County.


The first European explorer in Connecticut was Dutchman Adriaen Block, who explored the region in 1614. Dutch fur traders then sailed up the Connecticut River, which they called Versche Rivier ("Fresh River"), and built a fort at Dutch Point in Hartford that they named "House of Hope" (Dutch: Huis van Hoop).
The Connecticut Colony was originally a number of separate, smaller settlements at Windsor, Wethersfield, Saybrook, Hartford, and New Haven. The first English settlers came in 1633 and settled at Windsor, and then at Wethersfield the following year. John Winthrop the Younger of Massachusetts received a commission to create Saybrook Colony at the mouth of the Connecticut River in 1635.
The main body of settlers came in one large group in 1636. They were Puritans from Massachusetts Bay Colony led by Thomas Hooker, who established the Connecticut Colony at Hartford. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut were adopted in January 1639, and have been described as the first constitutional document in America.
The Quinnipiack Colony was established by John Davenport, Theophilus Eaton, and others at New Haven in March 1638. The New Haven Colony had its own constitution called "The Fundamental Agreement of the New Haven Colony", signed on June 4, 1639.
The settlements were established without official sanction of the English Crown, and each was an independent political entity. In 1662, Winthrop traveled to England and obtained a charter from Charles II which united the settlements of Connecticut. Historically important colonial settlements included Windsor (1633), Wethersfield (1634), Saybrook (1635), Hartford (1636), New Haven (1638), Fairfield (1639), Guilford (1639), Milford (1639), Stratford (1639), Farmington (1640), Stamford (1641), and New London (1646).
The Pequot War marked the first major clash between colonists and Native Americans in New England. The Pequots reacted with increasing aggression to Colonial settlements in their territory—while simultaneously taking lands from the Narragansett and Mohegan tribes. Settlers responded to a murder in 1636 with a raid on a Pequot village on Block Island; the Pequots laid siege to Saybrook Colony's garrison that autumn, then raided Wethersfield in the spring of 1637. Colonists declared war on the Pequots, organized a band of militia and allies from the Mohegan and Narragansett tribes, and attacked a Pequot village on the Mystic River, with death toll estimates ranging between 300 and 700 Pequots. After suffering another major loss at a battle in Fairfield, the Pequots asked for a truce and peace terms.
The western boundaries of Connecticut have been subject to change over time. The Hartford Treaty with the Dutch was signed on September 19, 1650, but it was never ratified by the British. According to it, the western boundary of Connecticut ran north from Greenwich Bay for a distance of 20 miles (32 km), "provided the said line come not within 10 miles of Hudson River". This agreement was observed by both sides until war erupted between England and The Netherlands in 1652. Conflict continued concerning colonial limits until the Duke of York captured New Netherland in 1664.
On the other hand, Connecticut's original Charter in 1662 granted it all the land to the "South Sea"—that is, to the Pacific Ocean. Most Colonial royal grants were for long east–west strips. Connecticut took its grant seriously and established a ninth county between the Susquehanna River and Delaware River named Westmoreland County. This resulted in the brief Pennamite Wars with Pennsylvania.
Yale College was established in 1701, providing Connecticut with an important institution to educate clergy and civil leaders. The Congregational church dominated religious life in the colony and, by extension, town affairs in many parts.
With more than 600 miles of coastline including along its navigable rivers, Connecticut developed during its colonial years the antecedents of a maritime tradition that would later produce booms in shipbuilding, marine transport, naval support, seafood production, and leisure boating.
Historical records list the Tryall as the first vessel built in Connecticut Colony, in 1649 at a site on the Connecticut River in present-day Wethersfield. In the two decades leading up to 1776 and the American Revolution, Connecticut boatyards launched about 100 sloops, schooners and brigs according to a database of U.S. customs records maintained online by the Mystic Seaport Museum, the largest being the 180-ton Patient Mary launched in New Haven in 1763. Connecticut's first lighthouse was constructed in 1760 at the mouth of the Thames River with the New London Harbor Lighthouse.


Connecticut designated four delegates to the Second Continental Congress who signed the Declaration of Independence: Samuel Huntington, Roger Sherman, William Williams, and Oliver Wolcott. Connecticut's legislature authorized the outfitting of six new regiments in 1775, in the wake of the clashes between British regulars and Massachusetts militia at Lexington and Concord. There were some 1,200 Connecticut troops on hand at the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775. In 1775, David Bushnell invented the Turtle which the following year launched the first submarine attack in history, unsuccessfully against a British warship at anchor in New York Harbor.
In 1777, the British got word of Continental Army supplies in Danbury, and they landed an expeditionary force of some 2,000 troops in Westport. This force then marched to Danbury and destroyed homes and much of the depot. Continental Army troops and militia led by General David Wooster and General Benedict Arnold engaged them on their return march at Ridgefield in 1777. For the winter of 1778–79, General George Washington decided to split the Continental Army into three divisions encircling New York City, where British General Sir Henry Clinton had taken up winter quarters. Major General Israel Putnam chose Redding as the winter encampment quarters for some 3,000 regulars and militia under his command. The Redding encampment allowed Putnam's soldiers to guard the replenished supply depot in Danbury and to support any operations along Long Island Sound and the Hudson River Valley. Some of the men were veterans of the winter encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, the previous winter. Soldiers at the Redding camp endured supply shortages, cold temperatures, and significant snow, with some historians dubbing the encampment "Connecticut's Valley Forge".
The state was also the launching site for a number of raids against Long Island orchestrated by Samuel Holden Parsons and Benjamin Tallmadge, and provided men and material for the war effort, especially to Washington's army outside New York City. General William Tryon raided the Connecticut coast in July 1779, focusing on New Haven, Norwalk, and Fairfield. New London and Groton Heights were raided in September 1781 by Benedict Arnold, who had turned traitor to the British.
At the outset of the American Revolution, the Continental Congress assigned Nathaniel Shaw Jr. of New London as its naval agent in charge of recruiting privateers to seize British vessels as opportunities presented, with nearly 50 operating out of the Thames River which eventually drew the reprisal from the British force led by Arnold.


Connecticut's extensive industry, dense population, flat terrain, and wealth encouraged the construction of railroads starting in 1839. By 1840, 102 miles (164 km) of line were in operation, growing to 402 miles (647 km) in 1850 and 601 miles (967 km) in 1860.
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, called the New Haven or "The Consolidated", became the dominant Connecticut railroad company after 1872. J. P. Morgan began financing the major New England railroads in the 1890s, dividing territory so that they would not compete. The New Haven purchased 50 smaller companies, including steamship lines, and built a network of light rails (electrified trolleys) that provided inter-urban transportation for all of southern New England. By 1912, the New Haven operated over 2,000 miles (3,200 km) of track with 120,000 employees.
As steam-powered passenger ships proliferated after the Civil War, Noank would produce the two largest built in Connecticut during the 19th century, with the 332-foot wooden steam paddle wheeler Rhode Island launched in 1882, and the 345-foot paddle wheeler Connecticut seven years later. Connecticut shipyards would launch more than 165 steam-powered vessels in the 19th century.
In 1875, the first telephone exchange in the world was established in New Haven.


Connecticut manufacturers played a major role in supplying the Union forces with weapons and supplies during the Civil War. The state furnished 55,000 men, formed into thirty full regiments of infantry, including two in the U.S. Colored Troops, with several Connecticut men becoming generals. The Navy attracted 250 officers and 2,100 men, and Glastonbury native Gideon Welles was Secretary of the Navy. James H. Ward of Hartford was the first U.S. Naval Officer killed in the Civil War. Connecticut casualties included 2,088 killed in combat, 2,801 dying from disease, and 689 dying in Confederate prison camps.
A surge of national unity in 1861 brought thousands flocking to the colors from every town and city. However, as the war became a crusade to end slavery, many Democrats (especially Irish Catholics) pulled back. The Democrats took a pro-slavery position and included many Copperheads willing to let the South secede. The intensely fought 1863 election for governor was narrowly won by the Republicans.


For the first time in 1800, Connecticut shipwrights launched more than 100 vessels in a single year. Over the following decade to the doorstep of renewed hostilities with Britain that sparked the War of 1812, Connecticut boatyards constructed close to 1,000 vessels, the most productive stretch of any decade in the 19th century.
During the war, the British launched raids in Stonington and Essex and blockaded vessels in the Thames River. Derby native Isaac Hull became Connecticut's best-known naval figure to win renown during the conflict, as captain of the USS Constitution.
The British blockade during the War of 1812 hurt exports and bolstered the influence of Federalists who opposed the war. The cessation of imports from Britain stimulated the construction of factories to manufacture textiles and machinery. Connecticut came to be recognized as a major center for manufacturing, due in part to the inventions of Eli Whitney and other early innovators of the Industrial Revolution.
The war led to the development of fast clippers that helped extend the reach of New England merchants to the Pacific and Indian oceans. The first half of the 19th century saw as well a rapid rise in whaling, with New London emerging as one of the New England industry's three biggest home ports after Nantucket and New Bedford.
The state was known for its political conservatism, typified by its Federalist party and the Yale College of Timothy Dwight. The foremost intellectuals were Dwight and Noah Webster, who compiled his great dictionary in New Haven. Religious tensions polarized the state, as the Congregational Church struggled to maintain traditional viewpoints, in alliance with the Federalists. The failure of the Hartford Convention in 1814 hurt the Federalist cause, with the Democratic-Republican Party gaining control in 1817.
Connecticut had been governed under the "Fundamental Orders" since 1639, but the state adopted a new constitution in 1818.


1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year of the 1950s decade.


Due to its large area and variations in elevation, the state has a wide variety of localized climate conditions. In the lower elevations, the climate is primarily desert, with mild winters and extremely hot summers. Typically, from late fall to early spring, the weather is mild, averaging a minimum of 60 °F (16 °C). November through February are the coldest months, with temperatures typically ranging from 40 to 75 °F (4 to 24 °C), with occasional frosts.
About midway through February, the temperatures start to rise, with warm days, and cool, breezy nights. The summer months of June through September bring a dry heat from 90 to 120 °F (32 to 49 °C), with occasional high temperatures exceeding 125 °F (52 °C) having been observed in the desert area. Arizona's all-time record high is 128 °F (53 °C) recorded at Lake Havasu City on June 29, 1994, and July 5, 2007; the all-time record low of −40 °F (−40 °C) was recorded at Hawley Lake on January 7, 1971.
Due to the primarily dry climate, large diurnal temperature variations occur in less-developed areas of the desert above 2,500 ft (760 m). The swings can be as large as 83 °F (46 °C) in the summer months. In the state's urban centers, the effects of local warming result in much higher measured night-time lows than in the recent past.
Arizona has an average annual rainfall of 12.7 in (323 mm), which comes during two rainy seasons, with cold fronts coming from the Pacific Ocean during the winter and a monsoon in the summer. The monsoon season occurs toward the end of summer. In July or August, the dewpoint rises dramatically for a brief period. During this time, the air contains large amounts of water vapor. Dewpoints as high as 81 °F (27 °C) have been recorded during the Phoenix monsoon season. This hot moisture brings lightning, thunderstorms, wind, and torrential, if usually brief, downpours. These downpours often cause flash floods, which can turn deadly. In an attempt to deter drivers from crossing flooding streams, the Arizona Legislature enacted the Stupid Motorist Law. It is rare for tornadoes or hurricanes to occur in Arizona.
Arizona's northern third is a plateau at significantly higher altitudes than the lower desert, and has an appreciably cooler climate, with cold winters and mild summers, though the climate remains semiarid to arid. Extremely cold temperatures are not unknown; cold air systems from the northern states and Canada occasionally push into the state, bringing temperatures below 0 °F (−18 °C) to the state's northern parts.
Indicative of the variation in climate, Arizona is the state which has both the metropolitan area with the most days over 100 °F (38 °C) (Phoenix), and the metropolitan area in the lower 48 states with the most days with a low temperature below freezing (Flagstaff).


Arizona (/ˌærɪˈzoʊnə/ (listen) ARR-ih-ZOH-nə; Navajo: Hoozdo Hahoodzo [hoː˥z̥to˩ ha˩hoː˩tso˩]; O'odham: Alĭ ṣonak) is a state in the Western United States, grouped in the Southwestern and occasionally Mountain subregions. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona shares the Four Corners region with Utah to the north, Colorado to the northeast, and New Mexico to the east; its other neighboring states are Nevada to the northwest, California to the west and the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California to the south and southwest.
Arizona is the 48th state and last of the contiguous states to be admitted to the Union, achieving statehood on February 14, 1912. Historically part of the territory of Alta California in New Spain, it became part of independent Mexico in 1821. After being defeated in the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase.
Southern Arizona is known for its desert climate, with very hot summers and mild winters. Northern Arizona features forests of pine, Douglas fir, and spruce trees; the Colorado Plateau; mountain ranges (such as the San Francisco Mountains); as well as large, deep canyons, with much more moderate summer temperatures and significant winter snowfalls. There are ski resorts in the areas of Flagstaff, Alpine, and Tucson. In addition to the internationally known Grand Canyon National Park, which is one of the world's seven natural wonders, there are several national forests, national parks, and national monuments.
Since the 1950s, Arizona's population and economy have grown dramatically because of migration into the state, and now the state is a major hub of the Sun Belt. Cities such as Phoenix and Tucson have developed large, sprawling suburban areas. Many large companies, such as PetSmart and Circle K, have headquarters in the state, and Arizona is home to major universities, including the University of Arizona and Arizona State University. Traditionally, the state is politically known for national conservative figures such as Barry Goldwater and John McCain, though it voted Democratic in the 1996 presidential race and in the 2020 presidential and senatorial elections.
Arizona is home to a diverse population. About one-quarter of the state is made up of Indian reservations that serve as the home of 27 federally recognized Native American tribes, including the Navajo Nation, the largest in the state and the United States, with more than 300,000 citizens. Since the 1980s, the proportion of Hispanics in the state's population has grown significantly owing to migration from Mexico. In terms of religion, a substantial portion of the population are followers of the Catholic Church and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).


During the Mexican Revolution from 1910 to 1920, several battles were fought in the Mexican towns just across the border from Arizona settlements. Throughout the revolution, many Arizonans enlisted in one of the several armies fighting in Mexico. Only two significant engagements took place on U.S. soil between U.S. and Mexican forces: Pancho Villa's 1916 Columbus Raid in New Mexico, and the Battle of Ambos Nogales in 1918 in Arizona. The Mexicans won the first battle and the Americans won the latter.
After Mexican federal troops fired on U.S. soldiers, the American garrison launched an assault into Nogales, Mexico. The Mexicans eventually surrendered after both sides sustained heavy casualties. A few months earlier, just west of Nogales, an Indian War battle had occurred, considered the last engagement in the American Indian Wars, which lasted from 1775 to 1918. U.S. soldiers stationed on the border confronted Yaqui Indians who were using Arizona as a base to raid the nearby Mexican settlements, as part of their wars against Mexico.
Arizona became a U.S. state on February 14, 1912. Arizona was the 48th state admitted to the U.S. and the last of the contiguous states to be admitted.
Cotton farming and copper mining, two of Arizona's most important statewide industries, suffered heavily during the Great Depression. But during the 1920s and even the 1930s, tourism began to develop as the important Arizonan industry it is today. Dude ranches, such as the K L Bar and Remuda in Wickenburg, along with the Flying V and Tanque Verde in Tucson, gave tourists the chance to take part in the flavor and activities of the "Old West". Several upscale hotels and resorts opened during this period, some of which are still top tourist draws. They include the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in central Phoenix (opened 1929) and the Wigwam Resort on the west side of the Phoenix area (opened 1936).
Arizona was the site of German prisoner of war camps during World War II and Japanese American internment camps. Because of wartime fears of a Japanese invasion of the U.S. West Coast (which in fact materialized in the Aleutian Islands Campaign in June 1942). From 1942 to 1945, they were forced to reside in internment camps built in the interior of the country. Many lost their homes and businesses. The camps were abolished after World War II.
The Phoenix-area German P.O.W. site was purchased after the war by the Maytag family (of major home appliance fame). It was developed as the site of the Phoenix Zoo. A Japanese-American internment camp was on Mount Lemmon, just outside the state's southeastern city of Tucson. Another POW camp was near the Gila River in eastern Yuma County.
Arizona was also home to the Phoenix Indian School, one of several federal Indian boarding schools designed to assimilate Native American children into mainstream European-American culture. Children were often enrolled in these schools against the wishes of their parents and families. Attempts to suppress native identities included forcing the children to cut their hair, to take and use English names, to speak only English, and to practice Christianity rather than their native religions.
Numerous Native Americans from Arizona fought for the United States during World War II. Their experiences resulted in a rising activism in the postwar years to achieve better treatment and civil rights after their return to the state. After Maricopa County did not allow them to register to vote, in 1948 veteran Frank Harrison and Harry Austin, of the Mojave-Apache Tribe at Fort McDowell Indian Reservation, brought a legal suit, Harrison and Austin v. Laveen, to challenge this exclusion. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled in their favor.
Arizona's population grew tremendously with residential and business development after World War II, aided by the widespread use of air conditioning, which made the intensely hot summers more comfortable. According to the Arizona Blue Book (published by the Arizona Secretary of State's office each year), the state population in 1910 was 294,353. By 1970, it was 1,752,122. The percentage growth each decade averaged about 20% in the earlier decades, and about 60% each decade thereafter.
In the 1960s, retirement communities were developed. These age-restricted subdivisions catered exclusively to the needs of senior citizens and attracted many retirees who wanted to escape the harsh winters of the Midwest and the Northeast. Sun City, established by developer Del Webb and opened in 1960, was one of the first such communities. Green Valley, south of Tucson, was another such community, designed as a retirement subdivision for Arizona's teachers. Many senior citizens from across the U.S. and Canada come to Arizona each winter and stay only during the winter months; they are referred to as snowbirds.
In March 2000, Arizona was the site of the first legally binding election ever held over the internet to nominate a candidate for public office. In the 2000 Arizona Democratic Primary, under worldwide attention, Al Gore defeated Bill Bradley. Voter turnout in this state primary increased more than 500% over the 1996 primary.
In the 21st century, Arizona has frequently garnered national attention for its efforts to quell illegal immigration into the state. In 2004, voters passed Proposition 200, requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. The Supreme Court of the United States struck this restriction down in 2013. In 2010, Arizona enacted SB 1070 which required all immigrants to carry immigration papers at all times, but the Supreme Court also invalidated parts of this law in Arizona v. United States in 2012.
On January 8, 2011, a gunman shot congresswoman Gabby Giffords and 18 others at a gathering in Tucson. Giffords was critically wounded. The incident sparked national attention regarding incendiary political rhetoric.
Three ships named USS Arizona have been christened in honor of the state, although only USS Arizona (BB-39) was so named after statehood was achieved.


The state's name appears to originate from an earlier Spanish name, Arizonac, derived from the O'odham name alĭ ṣonak, meaning "small spring". Initially this term was applied by Spanish colonists only to an area near the silver mining camp of Planchas de Plata, Sonora. To the European settlers, the O'odham pronunciation sounded like Arissona. The area is still known as alĭ ṣonak in the O'odham language.
Another possible origin is the Basque phrase haritz ona ("the good oak"), as there were numerous Basque sheepherders in the area. A native Mexican of Basque ancestry  established the ranchería (village) of Arizona between 1734 and 1736 in the current Mexican state of Sonora. It became notable after a significant discovery of silver there, c. 1737.
The misconception that the state's name purportedly originated from the Spanish term Árida Zona ("Arid Zone") is considered a case of folk etymology.


Arizona is in the Southwestern United States as one of the Four Corners states. Arizona is the sixth largest state by area, ranked after New Mexico and before Nevada. Of the state's 113,998 square miles (295,000 km²), approximately 15% is privately owned. The remaining area is public forest and park land, state trust land and Native American reservations. There are 24 National Park Service maintained sites in Arizona, including the three national parks of Grand Canyon National Park, Saguaro National Park, and the Petrified Forest National Park.
Arizona is well known for its desert Basin and Range region in the state's southern portions, which is rich in a landscape of xerophyte plants such as the cactus. This region's topography was shaped by prehistoric volcanism, followed by the cooling-off and related subsidence. Its climate has exceptionally hot summers and mild winters. The state is less well known for its pine-covered north-central portion of the high country of the Colorado Plateau (see Arizona Mountains forests).
Like other states of the Southwest United States, Arizona is marked by high mountains, the Colorado plateau, and mesas. Despite the state's aridity, 27% of Arizona is forest, a percentage comparable to modern-day Romania or Greece. The world's largest stand of ponderosa pine trees is in Arizona.
The Mogollon Rim (/ ˌmoʊ gəˈyoʊn /), a 1,998-foot (609 m) escarpment, cuts across the state's central section and marks the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau. In 2002, this was an area of the Rodeo–Chediski Fire, the worst fire in state history until 2011.
Located in northern Arizona, the Grand Canyon is a colorful, deep, steep-sided gorge, carved by the Colorado River. The canyon is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and is largely contained in the Grand Canyon National Park – one of the first national parks in the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of designating the Grand Canyon area as a National Park, often visiting to hunt mountain lion and enjoy the scenery. The canyon was created by the Colorado River cutting a channel over millions of years, and is about 277 miles (446 km) long, ranges in width from 4 to 18 miles (6 to 29 km) and attains a depth of more than 1 mile (1.6 km). Nearly two billion years of the Earth's history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut through layer after layer of sediment as the Colorado Plateau uplifted.
Arizona is home to one of the most well-preserved meteorite impact sites in the world. Created around 50,000 years ago, the Barringer Meteorite Crater (better known simply as "Meteor Crater") is a gigantic hole in the middle of the high plains of the Colorado Plateau, about 25 miles (40 km) west of Winslow. A rim of smashed and jumbled boulders, some of them the size of small houses, rises 150 feet (46 m) above the level of the surrounding plain. The crater itself is nearly a mile (1.6 kilometers) wide and 570 feet (170 m) deep.
Arizona is one of two U.S. states, along with Hawaii, that does not observe Daylight Saving Time, though the large Navajo Nation in the state's northeastern region does.


For thousands of years before the modern era, Arizona was home to many ancient Native American civilizations. Hohokam, Mogollon, and Ancestral Puebloan cultures were among those that flourished throughout the state. Many of their pueblos, cliffside dwellings, rock paintings and other prehistoric treasures have survived and attract thousands of tourists each year.
In 1539, Marcos de Niza, a Spanish Franciscan, became the first European to contact Native Americans. He explored parts of the present state and made contact with native inhabitants, probably the Sobaipuri. The expedition of Spanish explorer Coronado entered the area in 1540–1542 during its search for Cíbola.
 Few Spanish settlers migrated to Arizona. One of the first settlers in Arizona was José Romo de Vivar.
Father Kino was the next European in the region. A member of the Society of Jesus ("Jesuits"), he led the development of a chain of missions in the region. He converted many of the Indians to Christianity in the Pimería Alta (now southern Arizona and northern Sonora) in the 1690s and early 18th century. Spain founded presidios ("fortified towns") at Tubac in 1752 and Tucson in 1775.
When Mexico achieved its independence from the Kingdom of Spain and its Spanish Empire in 1821, what is now Arizona became part of its Territory of Nueva California, ("New California"), also known as Alta California ("Upper California"). Descendants of ethnic Spanish and mestizo settlers from the colonial years still lived in the area at the time of the arrival of later European-American migrants from the United States.
During the Mexican–American War (1847–1848), the U.S. Army occupied the national capital of Mexico City and pursued its claim to much of northern Mexico, including what later became Arizona Territory in 1863 and later the State of Arizona in 1912. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) specified that, in addition to language and cultural rights of the existing inhabitants of former Mexican citizens being considered as inviolable, the sum of $15 million in compensation (equivalent to $469,788,461.54 in 2021) be paid to the Republic of Mexico. In 1853, the U.S. acquired the land south below the Gila River from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase along the southern border area as encompassing the best future southern route for a transcontinental railway.
What is now known as the state of Arizona was initially administered by the United States government as part of the Territory of New Mexico until the southern part of that region seceded from the Union to form the Territory of Arizona. This newly established territory was formally organized by the federal government of the Confederate States on Saturday, January 18, 1862, when President Jefferson Davis approved and signed An Act to Organize the Territory of Arizona, marking the first official use of the name "Territory of Arizona". The Southern territory supplied the Confederate government with men, horses, and equipment. Formed in 1862, Arizona scout companies served with the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Arizona has the westernmost military engagement on record during the Civil War with the Battle of Picacho Pass (1862).
The Federal government declared a new U.S. Arizona Territory, consisting of the western half of earlier New Mexico Territory, in Washington, D.C., on February 24, 1863.
 These new boundaries would later form the basis of the state. The first territorial capital, Prescott, was founded in 1864 following a gold rush to central Arizona. The capital was later moved to Tucson, back to Prescott, and then to its final location in Phoenix in a series of controversial moves as different regions of the territory gained and lost political influence with the growth and development of the territory.
Although names including "Gadsonia", "Pimeria", "Montezuma" and "Arizuma" had been considered for the territory, when 16th President Abraham Lincoln signed the final bill, it read "Arizona", and that name was adopted. (Montezuma was not derived from the Aztec emperor, but was the sacred name of a divine hero to the Pima people of the Gila River Valley. It was probably considered – and rejected – for its sentimental value before Congress settled on the name "Arizona".)
Brigham Young, patriarchal leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City in Utah, sent Mormons to Arizona in the mid- to late 19th century. They founded Mesa, Snowflake, Heber, Safford, and other towns. They also settled in the Phoenix Valley (or "Valley of the Sun"), Tempe, Prescott, and other areas. The Mormons settled what became northern Arizona and northern New Mexico. At the time these areas were in a part of the former New Mexico Territory.
During the nineteenth century, a series of gold and silver rushes occurred in the territory, the best known being the 1870s stampede to the silver bonanzas of Tombstone, Arizona in southeast Arizona, also known for its legendary outlaws and lawmen. By the late 1880s, copper production eclipsed the precious metals with the rise of copper camps like Bisbee, Arizona and Jerome, Arizona. The boom and bust economy of mining also left hundreds of ghost towns across the territory, but copper mining continued to prosper with the territory producing more copper than any other state by 1907, which earned Arizona the nickname "the Copper State" at the time of statehood. During the first years of statehood the industry experienced growing pains and labor disputes with the Bisbee Deportation of 1917 the result of a copper miners' strike.


As well as the Spanish and the Indigenous people, Northern Mexico has received Lebanese, Jewish, Portuguese, Chinese, Irish, German, Italian and Spanish immigrants. All this mixture of cultures have strongly influenced the cuisine from the north. Northern Mexican gastronomy is based in beef, goat and pig meat and flour tortillas, which are remnants of Jewish and Lebanese heritage. Because of the German influence cheese and dairy products are also important in the cuisine of the region.
Nachos, Quesadillas and burritos are probably the three most famous dishes from the north. One of the most famous customs from northern Mexico is to reunite family and friends on weekends to prepare barbecue, named Carne Asada by the Mexicans. A variation of this tradition is to prepare discada, a mixture of grilled meats cooked on an agricultural plow disk harrow.


Northern Mexican Spanish distinguishes itself from other varieties of Spanish spoken in the country for its strong intonation. Due to its proximity to the United States, it receives a great deal of influence from English. For example, English words such as troca (truck), lonche (lunch) and bai (bye) are of common usage.
In addition to Spanish, there are also many Indigenous languages, with Tepehuan, Mayo, and Tarahumara being among the largest and most prominent. However, another important difference between the North and South-Central Spanish is that Northern Mexico Spanish has not received as much Native American influence as Central and South Mexico Spanish, this is because Northern Mexico has the lowest concentration of Indigenous communities of all regions in the country and there is not a single Indigenous language that surpasses 100,000 speakers.
Curiously, in Spanish dubs from English language films or TV series, it is a cliche to associate the Northern Mexican accent with people from Australia or Southern USA, so a lot of Hispanics wrongly associate Northern Mexican Spanish with Australian English and Southern American English.


For a long time, November 20; the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution; was considered the National Day in northern states. This has been changed by some politics implanted by the SEP making obligatory the celebrations of the September 16 (The Independence Day of Mexico) and the Día de los Muertos, which are days that originally weren't celebrated in the region.
Other important days in the north are July 8, the foundation of Durango City (the first city founded in the North) and the carnaval of Mazatlán, celebrated 6 days before Ash Wednesday. Because of the American influence in the region, northern Mexican people also celebrate some American traditions like Halloween, Thanksgiving and Saint Patrick's Day.


It is not known exactly when the first settlers came to Northern Mexico.  The harsh climate in the region limited the practice of agriculture, so ancient cultures developed a nomadic lifestyle dedicated to hunting and gathering.
One of the most important native cultures at northern Mexico are the Tepehuanes in Durango, who are actually named the Odamis, meaning "people from the mountains". Something similar has happened with the Raramuris in Chihuahua; Raramuri means "people who run", but they are known as Tarahumaras. Other important cultures are Mayos in Sinaloa and Sonora, and Yaquis in Sonora, and Laguneros in Coahuila. In Nuevo León, many nomads were exterminated for resisting the construction of Monterrey.


Northern Mexico (Spanish: el Norte de México IPA: [el norte ðe ˈmexiko] (listen)), commonly referred as El Norte, is an informal term for the northern cultural and geographical area in Mexico. Depending on the source, it contains some or all of the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, Sonora and Tamaulipas.
In fact there is not a border that separates the northern states from the southern states in Mexico. For some authors, only states that have a border with the US are considered as northern Mexico, i.e. Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Sonora and Tamaulipas. Others also include Durango, Sinaloa and Baja California Sur. Other people consider that the north starts above the Tropic of Cancer, but this description would include some parts of Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí that are not considered northern states.


Northern Mexican culture is very different from the culture in south and central Mexico. Northern Mexican opinion tends to be more conservative on average on cultural topics like abortion, gay marriage and legalization of marijuana, but more liberal on topics like business or technology. Another important difference between the North and the rest of Mexico is that Northern Mexicans tend to be more identified with their Spanish heritage.
In early 2014, the Strategic Communication Cabinet, a statistical consulting services company, published a report called "Social Intolerance In Mexico", in which polls that covered several social issues were conducted in the 45 largest cities and municipalities of the country. Aside from liberal Mexico City, the federal capital, the study found the strongest support for same-sex marriage in northern cities such as Tijuana and La Paz; whereas it was the weakest in Durango, Ciudad Victoria, Chihuahua and Monterrey. As for adoption by same-sex couples, it was more widely accepted in the border cities of Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez, while the least support was found in Chihuahua and Durango. Support for abortion upon request, cannabis legalisation and euthanasia was the weakest in Northern Mexico. Nonetheless, Coahuila became the first state to legalise same-sex marriage in the country.