A widely held belief, reported as fact in supposedly reliable reference books, is that the original Uncle Sam was one Sam Wilson, a meat packer in Troy, New York, who supplied rations to the U.S. military during the War of 1812. Wilson was a subcontractor to one Elbert Anderson, and the letters "E.A. — U.S." were stamped on all the pair's army-bound grub. On being asked what the letters stood for (the abbreviation U.S. supposedly was unfamiliar at the time), one of Sam's workers joshed that it stood for "Elbert Anderson and Uncle Sam," meaning the jovial Wilson himself. The joke was quickly picked up by Wilson's other employees. Many of these men later served in the army during the war, and the story spread from there. This tale appears to have first found its way into print in 1842. Very neat, but is it true? On the surface it might seem so. Researchers have established that Elbert Anderson and Sam Wilson did exist and did supply meat to the government during the War of 1812. What's more, the earliest known reference to Uncle Sam in the sense of the U.S. government appeared in 1813 in the Troy Post. But there are reasons to doubt. For one thing, the Uncle Sam = Sam Wilson story didn't see print until 30 years after the event, which seems suspiciously tardy. Second, the notion that someone in 1812 would have to ask what "U.S." stood for is hard to swallow — the available evidence shows that the initials were then in common use. Third, there's something odd about the newspaper evidence. Sam Wilson was a leading citizen of Troy, New York. Yet none of the newspapers in his hometown seem to have had any knowledge of his connection to Uncle Sam until very late in the day. The 1813 reference in the Troy Post says nothing about Wilson, noting merely that "the letters U.S. on the government waggons, & are supposed to have given rise to [Uncle Sam]." In 1816 the Post reprinted a story from Philadelphia claiming that Uncle Sam originated in the initials USLD, meaning United States Light Dragoons, a regiment of which had been formed in 1807. The account said that on being asked what the USLD on their caps stood for, the soldiers said "Uncle Sam's Lazy Dogs." In 1817 the Post took up the matter again, this time reverting to the original explanation that Uncle Sam was simply a jocular expansion of the letters U.S. When Sam Wilson died in 1854, none of the newspaper obituaries by Troy writers mentioned the Uncle Sam connection. So where did Uncle Sam originate? Nobody knows for sure, but it's likely the original explanation in the Troy Post was correct: there was never an actual Uncle Sam; instead the name was just a wiseguy expansion of the initials U.S. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/621/whats-the-origin-of-uncle-sam

On September 15, 1961, the 87th Congress of the United States passed a joint resolution: The bill saluted the "strength and idealism that characterized the life of Samuel Wilson" and recognized Samuel Wilson of Troy, New York, as the progenitor of the American national symbol Uncle Sam. The bill was signed by President John F. Kennedy. Also, the New York State legislature passed a resolution recognizing Samuel Wilson as Uncle Sam and Governor Nelson Rockefeller declared his birthday, September 13, Uncle Sam Day. President Ronald Reagan designated September 13 as Uncle Sam Day, and the resolution was passed on November 9th, 1988. http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=8601

I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.
Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) Argentine poet, essayist, and short-story writer

The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit was the territorial capital. Michigan Territory was established by an act of the United States Congress on January 11, 1805, effective June 30 of that year. The act defined the territory as "all that part of the Indiana Territory, which lies North of a line drawn east from the southerly bend or extreme of lake Michigan, until it shall intersect lake Erie, and East of a line drawn from the said southerly bend through the middle of said lake to its northern extremity, and thence due north to the northern boundary of the United States." A historical marker at a roadside park, approximately three miles east of Naubinway at
46°05′50″N 85°23′51″W46.09722°N 85.3975°W commemorates the northernmost point of Lake Michigan, which is located approximately one mile west of the park. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Territory

The first wave of migrants into Iowa were the Winnebago, Sauk, and Fox, driven there by the US Army, which was clearing Wisconsin and Illinois of their Indian populations to make way for white farmers . Although President Andrew Jackson had intended that Louisiana Territory lying north of Missouri should forever be Indian land, the occupation of Iowa by the Indians was brief. Following the abortive attempt by an aging Sauk chieftain, Black Hawk, to win his lands in Illinois, the Sauk and Fox were driven westward in 1832 and forced to cede their lands in eastern Iowa to the incoming white settlers. Placed under the territorial jurisdiction of Michigan in 1834, and then two years later under the newly created Territory of Wisconsin, Iowa became a separate territory in 1838. The first territorial governor, Robert Lucas, extended county boundaries and local government westward, planned for a new capital city to be located on the Iowa River, resisted Missouri's attempt to encroach on Iowa territory, and began planning for statehood by drawing boundary lines that included not only the present State of Iowa but also southern Minnesota up to present-day Minneapolis.
http://www.city-data.com/states/Iowa-History.html

Robert Lucas (1781–1853) was the 12th Governor of the U.S. state of Ohio, serving from 1832 to 1836. He served as the first Governor of Iowa Territory from 1838 to 1841. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Lucas_(governor)

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Rube Goldberg machines make accomplishing a simple task — like putting a stamp on an envelope — an over-engineered marathon of moving parts. This year’s Rube Goldberg Machine Contest held at Purdue University featured one of the most complex contraptions yet: The Purdue Society of Professional Engineers created a machine that blew up and popped a balloon in a winding 300 steps, breaking the team’s own Guinness world record for largest Rube Goldberg machine. Based on the work of famous American cartoonist Rube Goldberg, there’s no shortage of elaborate Rube Goldberg machines. But none are more complex — in terms of total sequenced steps — than the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers’ latest creation. A 14-person team made up of Purdue undergraduates and one graduate student spent some 5,000 hours over six months designing and building the new record-breaking contraption. Link to more information and the video at: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/04/record-breaking-rube-goldberg-machine-pops-balloon-in-300-steps/