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The institutions of the United States are rich, complex, and highly interconnected. |
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The institutions of the United States are closely tied to other related areas of knowledge such as science, personal studies, anthropology, and culture. In particular, the history and sociology of the United States are fairly closely connected.
1 Oct 2008 - The United States Senate passed the civilian nuclear agreement with India by a vote of 86–13. India had not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, but may now undertake nuclear trade to the States
1 Oct 2008 - The National Transportation Safety Board reported that a Metrolink engineer sent a text message 22 seconds before the Chatsworth train collision in Los Angeles, California, that killed 25 people.
1 Oct 2008 - United States Army General David D. McKiernan, the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, said that a greater military presence is "needed as quickly as possible."
1 Oct 2008 - Subprime mortgage crisis: U.S. Representative Carol Shea-Porter said that "more than 400 economists, including Nobel laureates, appealed to Congress to slow down and make sure [they] got [the bailout bill] right". Swedish Minister for Finance Anders Borg slammed the culture of "greed" exemplified by U.S. financial institutions and its role in precipitating the current financial crisis. The U.S. Senate approved HR1424, a revised version of the proposed bailout of the nation's financial system.
1 Oct 2008 - A new U.S. Armed Forces Unified Combatant Command for Africa—AFRICOM—was created. Main functions of AFRICOM include fighting terror, securing oil supplies in Africa, and supporting U.S. foreign policy in the region where Chinese influence is growing.
2 Oct 2008 - Sarah Palin and Joe Biden had their only scheduled debate for the vice presidency of the United States.
2 Oct 2008 - Subprime mortgage crisis: The United States Securities and Exchange Commission said it would extend the short-sale ban to as long as October 17 or up to three business days after the passage of the proposed bailout plan, but will not make it permanent. The Wall Street Journal reports that the short-sale ban failed to prevent stock-price declines, increased the volatility in the stock market and made trading more expensive for investors. U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said that no Democrats who opposed the proposed bailout plan earlier this week have pledged to back it.
3 Oct 2008 - Subprime mortgage crisis: U.S. President George W. Bush signed the US$ 700,000,000,000 bailout bill after it is passed by the House.
October 3 - Global financial crisis: U.S. President George W. Bush signed the revised Emergency Economic Stabilization Act into law, creating a 700 billion dollar Treasury fund to purchase failing bank assets.
3 Oct 2008 - United States government announced sale of billions of dollars of arms to Taiwan to keep a balance with China's massive arms buildup aimed at Taiwan.
3 Oct 2008 - A jury convicted retired American football player O.J. Simpson of armed robbery and kidnapping, 13 years to the day after he was acquitted of killing his ex-wife and her friend in Los Angeles.
4 Oct 2008 - Mahir al-Zubaydi, senior commander for al Qaeda in Iraq for Bagdad east of the Tigris River, was killed by U.S. troops.
6 Oct 2008 - Subprime mortgage crisis: The Dow Jones industrial average fell by as much as 800.06 points, its biggest intraday drop on record; the Dow closed below the 10,000 mark for the first time since October 26, 2004. Speaking before a U.S. House Committee, Richard Fuld, CEO of failed Lehman Brothers says that he believed all his decisions "were both prudent and appropriate" given the information he had at the time. Significant losses were marked on stock exchanges world-wide: São Paulo Stock Exchange suspended trading after a 15 percent drop in its benchmark index. The UK's leading share index, the FTSE 100 closes down 391.1 points (7.85%), the largest single day points fall since it was launched in 1984. The French CAC 40 also recorded a record drop of 9.04%, whilst Germany's DAX finished down 7.09%. United States Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson announced that Neel Kashkari will be in charge of administering the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.
October 6 - Global financial crisis: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell below 10,000 points for the first time since October 29, 2004
6 Oct 2008 - U.S. to rely on Russia for manned space flights between 2010 and 2015.
7 Oct 2008 - The United States Federal Reserve announced plans to buy billions of dollars of short-term commercial paper to restore liquidity to the money market.
7 Oct 2008 - The Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke warned that the crisis will weaken the United States economy well into 2009 and expressed a willingness to cut interest rates.
7 Oct 2008 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 500 points following Bernanke's comments.
8 Oct 2008 - The United States Federal Reserve Board cuts interest rates by half a percentage point to 1.5% as part of coordinated activity with the European Central Bank and other central banks.
8 Oct 2008 - The United States embassy in Beirut sought assistance in finding two US journalists missing in Lebanon.
9 Oct 2008 - The U.S. National Security Agency was accused of listening to Americans' private phone conversations.
9 Oct 2008 - War on Terrorism: NATO commander U.S. Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock asked member countries for authority to target drug trade in Afghanistan. U.S. claimed 27 militants killed in military operations in Afghanistan. Two air strikes northwest of Pakistan killed 20 militants. US missile strikes in northwest of Pakistan kill at least nine.
October 9 - Global financial crisis: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 679 points, or 7.3%, and plunged below 8,600 for the first time since May 21, 2003.
10 Oct 2008 - An Alaskan legislative committee found that the Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin unlawfully abused her authority in terminating the Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan.
10 Oct 2008 - The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that gay and lesbian couples had the right to marry in Connecticut.
11 Oct 2008 - Global financial crisis of September–October 2008: United States President George W. Bush committed to collaborative action with G7 finance ministers. The International Monetary Fund warned of a global meltdown and offered to lend to countries if needed.
11 Oct 2008 - The U.S. State Department removed North Korea from its list of sponsors of terrorism.
13 Oct 2008 - The Dow Jones industrial average increased by 935 points or 11.1 percent as stock markets around the world respond positively to steps to relieve the economic crisis of 2008.
13 Oct 2008 - Summer 2008 California wildfires A second wildfire broke out in the hills above Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley prompting mandatory evacuations. Santa Ana winds caused an existing fire in the Angeles National Forest north of Los Angeles to flare up resulting in the closure of two freeways.
October 13 - Global financial crisis: The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 936 points, or 11.1%, the biggest one-day point gain in history.
13 Oct 2008 - The U.S. Federal Reserve approved the merger of Wells Fargo and Wachovia after Citigroup withdrew the legal case in a New York federal court to put a hold on the merger.
14 Oct 2008 - Double murderer Richard Cooey is executed at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, despite his claims that his obesity made lethal injection inhumane.
14 Oct 2008 - United States President George W. Bush announced new measures to attack the current economic crisis including plans for the U.S. government to buy stakes in major banks.
15 Oct 2008 - Retail sales in the United States decline by 1.2% in September 2008, a third successive month in decline and the sharpest decline in three years, further evidence that the United States economy is in a recession.
16 Oct 2008 -The Environmental Protection Agency set a new standard, cutting the amount of lead that can be released into the atmosphere by 90 percent.
16 Oct 2008 - United States economy The United States consumer price index remained unchanged during September as falling costs for clothes, gasoline and new cars helped to offset rising food and medical prices.
16 Oct 2008 - Industrial production in the United States fell by 2.8% due to the impact of hurricanes, a strike at Boeing and the credit crunch.
Almost every variety of religious tradition is represented. Americans have been chiefly associated with Abrahamic religion. Christianity has been predominant. The US is mostly Protestant, but there is a strong Catholic influence. Mormonism is centered in the US. There is only a little Orthodoxy. Judaism has had a comparatively minor influence. Islam has had a relatively minor influence. There is a strong element of secularism. Pagan religion is mostly of historical interest. European pagan traditions were dead when America was settled, and Asiatic pagan tradtions never had much hold. Elements of African religion were brought with African slaves, and Amerian Indian traditions had some influence. There has been something of a neopagan revival in recent times. Among the Asiatic religions, Indian religion including Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism has been most prominent. There has been little interest in Oriental religion or Persian religion. Religious organization is in general highly fragmented. There a great emphasis on the separation of church and state. I have barely begun to examine religious practice or belief.
International government is also significant. The United States has never been associated with traditional empires, but began as part of a colonial empire, and later established something of its own. It has been a vigorous participant in various modern compacts, including temporary alliances, Special organizations, and regional organizations. Among world governments, it did not participate in the League of Nations, but it was a founding member of the United Nations.
The United States has claimed at least three distinct national governments since its declaration of independence, but the latest is the longest-lasting, most extensive and important.
Local government consists principally of autonomous state governments, county or local governments, municipal governments, and Indian tribal governments.
Government activities including administration and succession are important. State relations such as espionage, diplomacy, and warfare are important. Government structure including political parties, judicial systems, legislative systems, executive systems, heads of state, and forms of government can be examined. Law in the United States is primarily based on Western law, but international law, tribal law, and Asiatic law may also have some connections.
26 Oct 2008 - United States Special Operations Forces, stationed in Iraq, launched a cross-border raid in Syria, attacking a civilian building under construction near Abu Kamal, Syria. The Syrian government stated 8 civilians were killed.
27 Oct 2008 - Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens was found guilty on all seven counts of lying on United States Senate financial documents.
27 Oct 2008 - The Washington, D.C. Metro announced it would randomly search "backpacks, gym bags and any other containers that riders carry with them onto the bus and rail system" during periods of increased threat.
27 Oct 2008 - Nine major US banks would receive a $US123 billion capital injection from the federal government, says a Treasury Department official.
27 Oct 2008 - Pakistani intelligence officials claimed that a US missile strike in South Waziristan had killed up to twenty people. The BBC claims that about 80 people were killed during US strikes into Pakistan over the past month.
27 Oct 2008 - Two Neo-Nazi white supremacists were arrested for plotting to assassinate US presidential candidate Barack Obama.
October 28 - Global financial crisis: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 889.35 points, 10.88%, and brought the total above 9,000 points in the market's 2nd best day ever.
29 Oct 2008 - The United States Treasury Department spent US $125 billion of its $700 billion bailout fund on nine banks, some of whom had argued that they did not need the money.
3 Nov 2008 - A report issued by an independent investigator hired by the Alaska Personnel Board found that Republican Vice Presidential candidate and Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin did not violate the law with regards to the so called "Troopergate scandal". However, a previous, separate legislative investigation concluded that she did abuse her office.
4 Nov 2008 - United States general elections: Democrat Barack Obama won the 2008 United States presidential election after beating Republican John McCain, becoming the first African American to be elected to the office of President of the United States.
4 Nov 2008 - The Democratic Party picked up at least five seats in the Senate and retained control of the House of Representatives.
5 Nov 2008 - California Proposition 8, a referendum that amended the State Constitution, passed and defined marriage as being between a man and a woman, thus ending same-sex marriage in California.
10 Nov 2008 - Reports surfaced that a United States nuclear weapon was lost somewhere in the ice after the January 21, 1968 crash of a B-52 Stratofortress outside Thule Air Base, Greenland.
14 Nov 2008 - General Ann E. Dunwoody becamee the first female four-star general in the history of the United States Army.
14 Nov 2008 On STS-126, the Space Shuttle Endeavour was to use the MPLM Leonardo to deliver experiment and storage racks to the International Space Station. [The launch was delayed for a day]
15 Nov 2008 - Space Shuttle Endeavour was launched in mission STS-126 to increase the crew capacity of the International Space Station to six members. (CNN)
16 Nov 2008 - United States President-elect Barack Obama resigned his Senate seat.
17 Oct 2008 - U.S. Congressman Vito Fossella (R- NY) was convicted of drunken driving.
17 Oct 2008 - The United States Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s order requiring state officials in Ohio to supply information that would have made it easier to challenge prospective voters.
17 Oct 2008 - The United States State Department claimed that North Korea had stepped up disablement of its nuclear reactor and allowed surveillance of its nuclear facility to resume.
17 Oct 2008 - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared that the beluga whale of Alaska's Cook Inlet is an endangered species.
18 Oct 2008 - United States President George W. Bush met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso to discuss a proposal for a summit of world leaders to discuss the current economic crisis.
19 Oct 2008 - Retired General and former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for President of the United States.
23 Oct 2008 - The New York City Council voted 29–22 in favor of extending the term limit on the office of the Mayor to three consecutive four-year terms from two consecutive four-year terms. This allows current Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run for office again in the next mayoral election in November 2009.
Economic systems including firms and networks can be examined. Economic system types such as traditional, command, and market driven systems can be connected. Economic system behavior such as growth, decline, and cycles can be connected. Industries including companies, and agriculture, extraction and manufacturing, building and construction, social and medical, transportation, communications, and commercial and financial services will be highly important. Economic activities such as production, consumption, and distribution and exchange will be important.
c. 1863 - 1883 Edison invents or improves numerous electrical and communication devices and begins building electrical power networks.
c. 1875 Bell invents the telephone.
1903 Ford establishes the Ford Motor Company.
7 Nov 2008 - Unemployment in the United States reached its highest rate in 14 years.
There is an emphasis on research and on teaching. Cultural institutions such as museums, libraries, and activity venues are all important and prominent. Educational organization including course material, stidents, faculty, and administration will be important. Particular schools include systems of primary education, secondary education, and higher education.
1729 - 1757. Franklin establishes reputation as printer, civic leader, inventor, and scientist, especially noted for his work with electricity and weather.
1801 - 1805 Jefferson as 3rd president of US purchases large section of North America from Napoleon and orders its exploration.
26 Oct 2008 - A shooter killed two people and injured another at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas.
14 Nov 2008 - The Montecito Tea Fire in California burned 2,500 acres and damaged more than 100 homes and the campus of Westmont College.
Family structure including marriage, parenting, kinship, and particular families will be a vital part of studies of the United States.