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The territory of Maine has been inhabited by
Indigenous populations for thousands of years after the glaciers retreated during the
last ice age. At the time of European arrival, several
Algonquian-speaking nations governed the area and these nations are now known as the
Wabanaki Confederacy. The first European settlement in the area was by the French in 1604 on
Saint Croix Island, founded by
Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons. The first English settlement was the short-lived
Popham Colony, established by the
Plymouth Company in 1607. A number of English settlements were established along the coast of Maine in the 1620s, although the rugged climate and conflict with the local
Indigenous people caused many to fail. As Maine entered the 18th century, only a half dozen European settlements had survived.
Loyalist and
Patriot forces contended for Maine's territory during the
American Revolution. During the
War of 1812, the largely undefended eastern region of Maine was occupied by British forces with the goal of annexing it to
Canada via the
Colony of New Ireland, but returned to the United States following failed British offensives on the northern border, mid-Atlantic and south which produced a
peace treaty that restored the pre-war boundaries. Maine was part of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts until 1820 when it voted to secede from Massachusetts to become a separate state. On March 15, 1820, under the
Missouri Compromise, it was
admitted to the Union as the 23rd state.
Smith attracted extensive media attention in both countries as a "
Goodwill Ambassador", becoming known as America's Youngest Ambassador and subsequently participating in
peacemaking activities in Japan. With the assistance of her father, Arthur (an academic), she wrote a book titled Journey to the Soviet Union, which chronicled her visit to the country. She later became a child actress, hosting a child-oriented special on the
1984 United States presidential election for
The Disney Channel and playing a co-starring role in the television series Lime Street. Smith died at the age of 13 in 1985, onboard
Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808, which crashed short of the runway on final approach to the
Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport in Maine. (Full article...)
Image 2
The unnamed hurricane at peak intensity on November 1
The 1991 Perfect Storm, also known as The No-Name Storm (especially in the years immediately after it took place) and the Halloween Gale/Storm, was a damaging and deadly
nor'easter in October 1991. Initially an
extratropical cyclone, the storm absorbed
Hurricane Grace to its south and evolved into a small unnamed
hurricane later in its life. Damage from the storm totaled over $200 million (1991 USD) and thirteen people were killed in total, six of which were an outcome of the sinking of Andrea Gail, which inspired the
book and later
movie, The Perfect Storm. The nor'easter received the name, playing off the
common expression, after a conversation between Boston
National Weather Service forecaster
Robert Case and author
Sebastian Junger.
The initial
area of low pressure developed off the coast of
Atlantic Canada on October 28. Forced southward by a
ridge to its north, it reached its peak intensity as a large and powerful
cyclone. The storm lashed the east coast of the United States with high waves and
coastal flooding before turning to the southwest and weakening. Moving over warmer waters, the system transitioned into a
subtropical cyclone before becoming a tropical storm. It executed a loop off the
Mid-Atlantic states and turned toward the northeast. On November 1, the system evolved into a full-fledged hurricane, with peak sustained winds of 75 miles per hour (120 km/h), although the
National Hurricane Center left it unnamed to avoid confusion amid media interest in the precursor extratropical storm. The system was the twelfth and final tropical cyclone, the eighth tropical storm, and fourth hurricane in the
1991 Atlantic hurricane season. The tropical system weakened, striking Nova Scotia as a tropical storm before dissipating. (Full article...)
John Neal (August 25, 1793 – June 20, 1876) was an American writer, critic, editor, lecturer, and activist. Considered both eccentric and influential, he delivered speeches and published essays, novels, poems, and short stories between the 1810s and 1870s in the United States and Great Britain, championing
American literary nationalism and
regionalism in their earliest stages. Neal advanced the development of
American art, fought for
women's rights, advocated the end of
slavery and racial prejudice, and helped establish the
American gymnastics movement.
The first American author to use natural
diction and a pioneer of
colloquialism, Neal is the first to use the phrase son-of-a-bitch in a work of fiction. He attained his greatest literary achievements between 1817 and 1835, during which time he was America's first daily newspaper columnist, the first American published in British
literary journals, author of the first history of
American literature, America's first
art critic, a short story pioneer, a children's literature pioneer, and a forerunner of the
American Renaissance. As one of the first men to advocate women's rights in the US and the first American lecturer on the issue, for over fifty years he supported female writers and organizers, affirmed intellectual equality between men and women, fought
coverture laws against women's economic rights, and demanded
suffrage, equal pay, and better education for women. He was the first American to establish a public gymnasium in the US and championed athletics to regulate violent tendencies with which he himself had struggled throughout his life. (Full article...)
The Yankee (later retitled The Yankee and Boston Literary Gazette) was one of the first cultural publications in the United States, founded and edited by
John Neal (1793–1876), and published in
Portland, Maine as a weekly periodical and later converted to a longer, monthly format. Its two-year run concluded at the end of 1829. The magazine is considered unique for its independent journalism at the time.
Neal used creative control of the magazine to improve his social status, help establish the American
gymnastics movement, cover
national politics, and critique
American literature,
art,
theater, and social issues. Essays by Neal on American art and theater anticipated major changes and movements in those fields realized in the following decades. Conflicting opinions published in The Yankee on the
cultural identity of
Maine and
New England presented readers with a complex portrait of the region. (Full article...)
A commemorative coin craze in 1936 saw some coins authorized by the
United States Congress that were of mainly local significance; the York County issue was one of these. Legislation permitting the half dollar passed Congress without opposition in the first half of 1936. Maine artist Walter H. Rich designed the issue; his work has garnered mixed praise and dislike from numismatic authors. (Full article...)
Officials in Maine wanted a commemorative
half dollar to circulate as an advertisement for the centennial of the state's admission to the Union, and of the planned celebrations. A bill to allow such a coin passed Congress without opposition, but then the state's centennial commission decided to sell the coins for $1, double the face value. The
Commission of Fine Arts disliked the proposed design, and urged changes, but Maine officials insisted, and de Francisci converted the sketches to plaster models, from which
coinage dies could be made. (Full article...)
Image 8
Neal Dow (March 20, 1804 – October 2, 1897) was an American
Prohibition advocate and politician. Nicknamed the "Napoleon of
Temperance" and the "Father of Prohibition", Dow was born to a
Quaker family in
Portland, Maine. From a young age, he believed
alcohol to be the cause of many of society's problems and wanted to ban it through legislation. In 1850, Dow was elected president of the Maine Temperance Union, and the next year he was elected
mayor of Portland. Soon after, largely due to Dow's efforts, the
state legislature banned the sale and production of alcohol in what became known as the
Maine law. Serving twice as mayor of Portland, Dow enforced the law with vigor and called for increasingly harsh penalties for violators. In 1855,
his opponents rioted and he ordered the
state militia to fire on the crowd. One man was killed and several wounded, and when public reaction to the violence turned against Dow, he chose not to seek reelection.
Dow was later elected to two terms in the
Maine House of Representatives, but retired after a financial scandal. He joined the
Union Army shortly after the outbreak of the
American Civil War in 1861, eventually attaining the rank of
brigadier general. He was wounded at the
siege of Port Hudson and later captured. After being
exchanged for another officer in 1864, Dow resigned from the military and devoted himself once more to prohibition. He spoke across the United States,
Canada, and Great Britain in support of the cause. In
1880, Dow headed the
Prohibition Party ticket for President of the United States. After losing the election, he continued to write and speak on behalf of the prohibition movement for the rest of his life until his death in Portland at the age of 93. (Full article...)
This is a
Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.
Image 1
R.D. Hume in the 1890s
Robert Deniston Hume (October 31, 1845 – November 25, 1908) was a
cannery owner, pioneer
hatchery operator, politician, author, and self-described "pygmy monopolist" who controlled
salmon fishing for 32 years on the lower
Rogue River in U.S. state of
Oregon. Born in
Augusta, Maine, and reared by foster parents on a farm, Hume moved at age 18 to
San Francisco to join a salmon-canning business started by two of his brothers. They later re-located to
Astoria on the
Columbia River, where they prospered. After the death of his first wife and their two young children, Hume moved again and started anew in
Gold Beach, at the mouth of the Rogue.
In 1877 Hume bought rights to a Rogue River
fishery, then built a
salmon cannery and many other structures and acquired all of the
tidelands bordering the lower 12 miles (19 km) of the river. He remarried, invested in a small fleet of ships and a salmon hatchery and expanded his business interests to include a store, hotel, newspaper, and many other enterprises in Gold Beach and in the nearby community of
Wedderburn, which he founded. Canning, shipping, and selling hundreds of tons of salmon over the years, he became known as the Salmon King of Oregon. (Full article...)
Tropical Storm Floyd near landfall in southern New York
The effects of Hurricane Floyd in New England stretched across the region from
Connecticut to
Maine and included two casualties. Floyd, once a large and powerful hurricane, made landfall in
North Carolina and weakened as it tracked northward along the
U.S. East Coast. By September 17, 1999, the storm, downgraded in strength to a tropical storm, was situated over New England. It produced heavy rainfall and gusty winds throughout the entire region, leading to widespread downing of trees and extensive power outages before it moved away later that day. In
Danbury, Connecticut, Floyd triggered severe flooding, considered the worst in 40 years, that damaged hundreds of homes. Precipitation in some areas amounted to 10 in (250 mm), with wind gusts approaching hurricane force in
Massachusetts. Damage totaled $4.819 million. (Full article...)
The outcome of the referendum was reversed three years later when voters approved
2012 Maine Question 1, which legalized same-sex marriage in the state again. (Full article...)
Image 6
Nichols in 2012
Rachel Nichols is an American actress and model. Nichols began modeling while attending
Columbia University in New York City in the late 1990s, and transitioned into acting by the early 2000s; she had a part in the romantic drama Autumn in New York (2000) and a one-episode role in the fourth season of Sex and the City (2002). Her first major role was in the comedy Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003), and she went on to achieve wider recognition playing
Rachel Gibson in the final season of the action television series Alias (2005–2006) and for her role in the horror film The Amityville Horror (2005).
By upholding a
declaratory judgement of the
United States District Court for the District of Maine, the First Circuit cleared the way for the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot to oblige the federal government to bring a land claim on their behalf for approximately 60% of Maine, an area populated by 350,000 non-Indians. According to the
Department of Justice, the suit was "potentially the most complex litigation ever brought in the federal courts with social and economic impacts without precedent and incredible potential litigation costs to all parties." The decision led to the passage of the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act in 1980, allocating $81.5 million for the benefit of the tribes, in part to allow them to purchase lands in Maine, and extinguishing all
aboriginal title in Maine. The settlement was reached "after more than a decade of enormously complex litigation and negotiation." (Full article...)
The trail was first proposed in 1921 and completed in 1937. Improvements and changes have continued since then. It became the Appalachian National Scenic Trail under the
National Trails System Act of 1968. (Full article...)
With an enrollment of approximately 11,500 students, UMaine is the state's largest college or university. The University of Maine's athletic teams, nicknamed the
Black Bears, are Maine's only
Division I athletics program.
Maine's men's ice hockey team has won two national championships. (Full article...)
This list was generated from
these rules. Questions and feedback
are always welcome! The search is being run daily with the most recent ~14 days of results. Note: Some articles may not be relevant to this project.
... that Maine state legislator Tracy Quint introduced a bill that would have banned all
COVID-19 vaccination mandates in Maine until 2024?
... that John Bunker was inspired to propagate old apple tree varieties after encountering Black Oxford apples while managing the
food co-op in
Belfast, Maine?
... that among the special events broadcast by the Maine Television Network during its brief existence were a fashion show, a basketball tournament, and an
ordination ceremony?
... that in 2009, residents of Maine voted to repeal a law that would have legalized same-sex marriage?
... that
Brooklyn's West Street Foundry, owned by Wilson Small, built the engine for Error: {{
Ship}} missing prefix (
help), which on debut in 1853 was the largest and fastest steamboat in
Maine coastal service?
The list below, for each city, shows the population in 2010, the population estimate of 2019, the growth/shrinking percentage between the three, and the date of incorporation as a city.