California-famous cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco
Attractive places:
Los Angeles-2nd largest
- Hollywood-center of film industry, Beverly Hills
- Oscars are awarded there by the American Film Academy
- the biggest ZOO in the world
- center of crime
San Francisco- the Alcatraz prison
- hilly relief and cable cars
- city of homosexuals
- Chinatown-largest settlement outside Asia
- Berkeley University
Philadelphia- one of the oldest cities
- used to be the first US capital
- Declaration of Independence was signed there
New Orleans- jazz was born here
Houston--NASA centre and Johnson Space Centre
Florida-tourist area with attractive beaches on Miami
- Cape Canaveral-spaceships are launched off there
Chicago-on the lake Michigan
- First skyscraper was built there
- Sears Tower-used to be the highest skyscraper in the USA
- centre of steel and and iron industries
Detroit-centre of car industry (Pontiac,Chevrolet,Ford, Chrysler,Cadillac)
Basic facts from American history:
- the American continent was discovered first around year 1000 by Vikings (from Iceland). No permanent settlement was founded
- 1492-Christopher Columbus landed there in search for new journey to India.America became known to the Europeans
- 1607-First permanent English settlement was founded in Jamestown, Virginia
- 1620-beginning of extensive collonization- the ship named Mayflower brought 102 English people to northeast and they founded the colony Plymouth.. They called themselves the Pylgrim Fathers- they were puritans, wanted a reform in the Church of England. The first winter was hard, many of them died.In spring they planted corn and other plants with the help of Indians and in October 1621 they celebrated their first harvest.They called it Thanksgiving.
The first 13 collonies were formed and were under the British control.They wanted their independence from Britain.Britain raised taxes on imported goods, sugar,cofee etc. It led to the Boston Tea Party- in 1773 a group of patriots dressed as Indians threw bags of tea into the Boston Harbour in protest of unfair taxes.It was the first event leading to
the War of Independence (1775-1783)
It began in 1775.
Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th, 1776 by all 13 collonies. It was mainly written by Thomas Jefferson.
In 1783 Britain signed peace treaty and officially recognized the independence of USA
In 1787-the Constitution of the USA was adopted.George Washington became the first American president.
the Civil War (1861-1865)
Conflicts and sharp differences between industrial north and agricultural, slaves using south led to the civil war.South protested against A.Lincoln being the president of the USA
South-Confederation under President Jefferson Davis
North-Union under President Abraham Lincoln-victory
Emancipation Proclamation-1863-it abolished slavery.
-was written by A. Lincoln
the World War I,II-thought against Germany with France and England
WWI-pres. Woodrow Wilson
WWII-pres. Harry Truman-ordered to drop atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan
the Cold War- era of mistrust between the US and Soviet Union and constant threat of nuclear weapons usage on both sides
1960- social unrest and the civil rights movements
-American blacks demanded an end to racial discrimination with their civil rights leader Martin Luther King, who was assassinated in 1968
the Vietnam War- against Northern Vietnam brought internal unrest and moral crisis
