March - week 13 - Rhode Island - the Ocean State

13 Rhode Island

Date admitted to the US – May 29, 1790
Postal abbreviation – RI
Capital – Providence
Area – 1,545.05  [50th largest in the US, the smallest state]
Population as of census 2010 – 1,052,567 [43rd largest in the US]
Population density per square mile – 1,018.10  [3rd largest in the US]
Area codes – 401
Zip codes – 02801 - 02940
Number of counties – 5
State nickname –  The Ocean State, Little Rhody
State motto – "Hope" 

State Flag of Rhode Island

Fun facts –
-Rhode Island is the smallest state in the US, and the last of the original 13 colonies to become a state. Its distance North to South is 48 miles and East to West is 37 miles.
-Rhode Island never ratified the 18th Amendment - prohibition.
-Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island, was banished from Plymouth, Massachusetts because of his "extreme views" concerning freedom of speech and religion. These “extreme views” became the basis for the Bill of Rights.

Law Schools
Roger Williams University School of Law 

Military facts
Military Schools
Military Bases

A to Z Theme Reveal 2018

This is my fourth year participating in the A to Z Challenge.  I found out about the challenge two days before April 2015 [Ack!  Mad rush to write 26 posts!] from Colin D. Smith, who writes really good flash fiction.  Everyone head on over to his blog and check out his A to Z posts.
 
Another great blogger who participates in the Challenge is John Davis Frain.  Last year for the Challenge, he killed himself 26 times.  Fortunately he has more lives that a cat.  Please head on over to his blog and see if he's still alive.

My challenge themes so far:
2015 – Definitions of legal terms
2016 – Definitions of military terms
2017 – Supreme Court cases that changed life in the US
2018 – ?????

As you may have noticed, the pattern is legal => military => legal, so that means this year is ...

=> military

This year I'm expanding a little on military definitions.  They will be more like military encyclopedia entries.

A is for ASVAB.  Do you know what ASVAB stands for?  What it's used for?  Which branches of the military use it?  Is it a weapon?  A battle maneuver?  Just another obnoxious acronym?  Visit my blog on April 1 to find out if you're right!

March - Week 12 - North Carolina - the Tar Heel State

12 North Carolina

Date admitted to the US – November 21, 1789
Postal abbreviation – NC
Capital – Raleigh
Area – 53,818.51 [28th largest in the US]
Population as of census 2010 – 9,535,483 [10th largest in the US]
Population density per square mile – 196.1 [18th largest in the US]
Area codes – 252, 336, 704, 828, 910, 919, 980
Zip codes – 27006 - 28909
Number of counties – 100
State nickname –  Tar Heel State
State motto – "Esse Quam Videri" (To Be Rather Than to Seem) 

State Flag of North Carolina

Fun facts –
-The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill is the oldest State University in the United States
-In 1903 the Wright Brothers made the first successful powered flight by man at Kill Devil Hill near Kitty Hawk.
-The first English colony in America, founded by Walter Raleigh was located on Roanoke Island.
-The first English child born in America, Virginia Dare, was born in Roanoke in 1587.
-At 6,684 feet above sea level, Mount Mitchell in the Blue Ridge Mountains is the highest peak east of the Mississippi River.
-Krispy Kreme Doughnut was founded in Winston-Salem.
-Pepsi was invented and first served in New Bern in 1898.
-North Carolina state highway system currently has 77,400 miles of roads, the largest state-maintained highway system in the United States.

Law Schools
-Campbell University, Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law
-Duke University School of Law
-Elon University School of Law
-North Carolina Central University School of Law
-University of North Carolina School of Law
-Wake Forest University School of Law

Military facts
Military schools
Military bases

March - Week 11 - New York - the Empire State

11 New York

Date admitted to the US – July 26, 1788
Postal abbreviation – NY
Capital – Albany
Area – 54,556  [27th largest in the US]
Population as of census 2010 – 19,378,102 [3rd largest in the US]
Population density per square mile – 411.2 [7th largest in the US]
Area codes – 212, 315, 347, 516, 518, 607, 631, 646, 716, 718, 845, 914, 917
Zip codes – 00501 - 14925
Number of counties – 62
State nickname –  The Empire State
State motto – Excelsior (Ever Upwards)

State Flag of New York

Fun facts –
-New York City has 722 miles of subway track
-The New York Post, established in 1803, is the oldest running newspaper in the United States
-The first capital of the United States was New York City
-Joseph C. Gayetty of New York City invented toilet paper in 1857
-New York was the first state to require license plates on cars

Law Schools
-Albany Law School of Union University
-Brooklyn Law School
-University at Buffalo Law School, The State University of New York (SUNY)
-Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University
-City University of New York School of Law (CUNY)
-Columbia University School of Law
-Cornell Law School
-Fordham University School of Law
-Hofstra University School of Law
-New York Law School
-New York University School of Law
-Pace University School of Law
-St. John’s University School of Law
-Syracuse University College of Law
-Touro College—Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center 

Military facts:
Military schools 
Military bases 

March - week 10 - Virginia - Old Dominion State

10 Virginia

Date admitted to the US – June 25, 1788
Postal abbreviation – VA
Capital – Richmond
Area – 42,774.20  [35th largest in the US]
Population as of census 2010 – 8,001,024 [12th largest in the US]
Population density per square mile – 202.6 [15th largest in the US]
Area codes – 276 , 434, 540, 571, 703, 757, 804
Zip codes – 20101 - 24658
Number of counties – 95
State nickname –  Old Dominion State
State motto – "Sic Semper Tyrannis" (Thus Always to Tyrants) 

State Flag of Virginia

Fun facts –
-Jamestown was the first English settlement in the US.  Virginia is known as "the birthplace of a nation".
-The present state capital in Richmond was also the capital of the Confederacy.
-On March 9, 1862 at Hampton Roads, Virginia, the USS Monitor and the USS Merrimac met in the first battle between metal armored vessels and changed for all time the nature of naval warfare.
-The states of Kentucky & West Virginia were formed from sections of Virginia.
-About half of all the people in the US live within 500 miles of the capital of Virginia.
-More than half the battles of the civil war were fought in Virginia.
-In Virginia more than 25% of workers are employed by the US government.
-Virginia is the home base for the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet.
-The tomb of the Unknown Soldier is in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
-The Pentagon building in Arlington is the largest office building in the world, with nearly 68,000 miles of internal telephone lines.
-The first Thanksgiving in North America was held in Virginia in 1619.
-Yorktown is the site of the final victory of the American Revolution.
-Virginia has been dubbed the "Internet Capital of the World".
-The Atlantic headquarters of NATO is located in Norfolk, Virginia.
-Robert E. Lee surrendered his men to Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865 at the Appomattox Court House, ending the American Civil War.
-Patrick Henry made his "Give me Liberty or Give me Death" speech in St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia.

Law Schools
Appalachian School of Law
College of William and Mary Law School
George Mason University, Antonin Scalia Law School
Liberty University School of Law
Regent University School of Law
University of Richmond School of Law
University of Virginia School of Law
Washington and Lee School of Law

Military facts
Military Bases
Military Schools