|
Japanese surprise attack on U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor
brings U.S. into World War II; U.S. and Britain declare
war on Japan.
The first U.S. Lend-Lease shipment of food sent to
Britain.
Germany attacks the Balkans and Russia.
About Arkansas
Nickname: The Natural State
Origin of name: From the Quapaw Indians
Flower: Apple
Blossom (1901)
Bird: Mockingbird (1929)
Hot Springs National Park and Buffalo National River in
the Ozarks are major state attractions
Spaniard Hernando de Soto was among the early European
explorers to visit the territory in the mid-16th
century, but it was a Frenchman, Henri de Tonti, who in
1686 founded the first permanent white settlementthe
Arkansas Post. In 1803 the area was acquired by the U.S.
as part of the Louisiana Purchase.
Part of the Territory of Missouri from 1812, the area
became a separate entity in 1819 after the first large
wave of settlers arrived. The next several decades were
marked by the development of the cotton industry and the
spread of the Southern plantation system west into
Arkansas. Arkansas joined the Confederacy in 1861, but
from 1863 the northern part of the state was occupied by
Union troops.
Selected famous natives and residents:
G. M. Broncho Billy Anderson actor;
Helen Gurley Brown editor;
Dale Bumpers governor and senator;
Glen Campbell singer;
Hattie Caraway first elected woman senator;
Johnny Cash singer;
William Jefferson Clinton former president;
William Darby founder of the Darby Rangers;
Dizzy Dean baseball player;
Orval Faubus governor;
J. William Fulbright former senator;
John Grisham author;
Tess Harper actress;
Scott Joplin composer;
Alan Ladd actor;
Douglas MacArthur general;
Patsy Montana singer;
Isaac C. Parker judge;
Sam Walton founder of Wal-Mart;
William C. Warfield concert singer and actor. |
