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Die Heldin des Buches - eine "ältere Dame" aus Wien - hat einen Traum: eine Reise mit einem Greyhound-Bus durch Amerika...

During the first few months of the Revolutionary War, the British tried on several occasions to lift the siege of Boston with force, and the most memorable attempt was what became known as the Battle of Bunker Hill. On June 17, 1775, the British Navy fired on Charlestown from the Charles River and then landed an estimated 3,000 British regulars on the peninsula.

This is the text of an address given by the British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, to the American Club in London on April 12, 1917, on the subject of America's declaration of war against Germany. Lloyd George stated that President Woodrow Wilson's decision to go to war would bring instant succor to the Allies already engaged in the war against Germany and its allies.

Riots are an aspect of American history that do not show up much in history textbooks, except for famous disturbances like the Boston Tea Party or the infamous New York City draft riots of 1863. The reality is that the country has experienced thousands of riots, from early colonial times through to the present, and the issues leading up to some of the riots may seem quite peculiar to modern Americans. Americans have rioted over who was the best actor and to free pirates from jail.

While the battle had a profound impact, it has also been romanticized and mythologized beyond even epic proportions. Though often forgotten today (more than 250 years after the battle), the Battle of the Plains of Abraham was the culmination of a long siege, and the decisive action itself was an incredibly short affair at less than half an hour. Despite that brevity, both commanding generals were mortally wounded in the exchange, making British General James Wolfe a national hero on both sides of the Atlantic and French General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm a convenient scapegoat.

The first successful American colony in North America was settled in 1607 at Jamestown, Virginia. Though the Virginian colonists had difficulty in the beginning, by the late 1620s the Chesapeake area was thriving, having become a haven for those seeking economic opportunity in the new world.

The notorious Spanish Inquisition in the 15th century, the subject of multiple documentaries, movies, and other pop culture mediums, is remembered for its oppression, barbarous torture, and religious tyranny. It was roughly around this time that a period of European exploration began.

Oscar Wilde visited America in the year 1882. Interest in the Aesthetic School, of which Wilde was the most prominent representative, had spread to the United States, and Wilde decided to undertake an American lecture tour to explain the Aesthetic movement. Towards the end of September 1883 Wilde returned to England and immediately commenced a lecturing tour. His first visit was to Wandsworth Town Hall where he presented his "Impressions of America", the text of which was published in 1906.

Irish contributions to American life from corned beef and cabbage to submarines: These are just a few of the wonderful things that make America the warm-hearted, good-humored, flag-waving country that it has been for 250 years, and they all came from the grand green land of Ireland. Since Patrick Maguire stepped off the decks of Columbus’ Santa Maria ship in 1492 to drag his dinghy onto the shores of San Salvador, the Irish have had one foot in the muddy black soil and brilliant green grass of Ireland and one on the mountains and lakes and prairies of the Land of the Free.

Cabeza de Vaca's mode of transportation, afoot on portions of two continents in the early decades of the 16th century, fits one dictionary definition of the word "pedestrian". By no means, however, should the ancillary meanings of "commonplace" or "prosaic" be applied to the man or his remarkable adventures. Between 1528 and 1536, he trekked an estimated 2480 to 2640 miles of North American terrain from the Texas coast near Galveston Island to San Miguel de Culiacán near the Pacific Coast of Mexico.

La gente solía decir que «el sol nunca se pone en el Imperio británico» como forma de declarar la grandeza de Gran Bretaña. Pero fueron los portugueses quienes forjaron el primer imperio verdaderamente global. Los principales dominios de los portugueses envolvían el globo en línea recta, desde Brasil hasta Angola, desde Mozambique a la India y hasta Macao. Con sus dominios bajo múltiples husos horarios, el sol, de hecho, nunca se puso sobre el Imperio portugués.

In the Age of Exploration, the British began building an enormous and highly profitable foreign empire. While the British Empire initially lagged behind other European powers such as Spain and Portugal, it still managed to colonize the New World and discover highly-lucrative trade routes.

De entre todos los conflictos acaecidos en la historia de América, la guerra de 1812 es uno de los más singulares, y clave en el devenir americano. Fue una batalla llena de sorpresas e ironías - las debilidades de ambas partes en el conflicto a lo largo de los dos años de lucha constante terminarían por convertirse en sus respectivas fortalezas.

Considered by some to be far too old for one attempting to rejuvenate the career of a soldier, Baron Johann von de Kalb was a keen student of war with a steady mind and hand. Once able to prove his worth to the Continental Congress, he rose immediately to the rank of brigadier general under George Washington, served with distinction, and died heroically in the Battle of Camden, a battle in the South that foretold the eventual surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown.

Una de las fechas más significativas durante el reinado de los Reyes Católicos fue la del 12 de Octubre de 1492: el día en que Cristóbal Colón descubrió América. El hecho de que Cristóbal Colón (que no era Español de origen) acudiera a una corte extranjera para ofrecer sus servicios prueba que el descubrimiento de América no fue en modo alguno accidental.

Among America's countless monuments and landmarks, none embodies the principles of the nation quite like Lady Liberty, the colossal statue that stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. A gift from the French that was built and transported in the late 19th century, the Statue of Liberty has been a symbol of the United States' guarantee of individual freedom.

Creadas durante la Edad Media como instituciones socio económicas que promovían un trato justo en el cual los encomendados o siervos retribuían equitativamente en trabajo o especies a sus señores o encomenderos, las encomiendas se convirtieron en el eje de un sistema de trabajo forzado de los pueblos indígenas a favor de los conquistadores extranjeros a lo largo del proceso de colonización española de América y Filipinas.

Nel 1776 il Secondo Congresso Continentale delle 13 colonie inglesi del Nord America emana la Dichiarazione d'Indipendenza, che spiega e giustifica davanti al mondo intero la condotta ribelle degli Americani contro la madrepatria inglese. Inizia così la storia degli Stati Uniti d'America, l'avventura cioè di quella che sarà la prima potenza mondiale fino ai giorni nostri.

Of all the goals the Bolshevik Revolution aimed to bring about, perhaps nowhere were Russian promises delivered on more than in the success of the Soviet Space program of the 1950s and 1960s. As a result of Russian innovation and technology, but also due to incredible drive to modernize and compete with the United States for world power, Russia was finally and triumphantly modernized in the eyes of her own people and the world.

On March 19, 2013, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina became Pope Francis, the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church. His election to the papacy was notable in many ways. He became the first pope from the Americas, the first pope from the Southern Hemisphere, the first non-European pope in more than 1,200 years, the first Jesuit pope, and the first pope to choose the name Francis. Follow Pope Francis's journey to the papacy, from his days as a young chemist, to his studies of theology.