FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Vermont (/vərˈmɒnt/ (listen)) is a state in the New England region of the United States. It borders the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. Vermont is the only state in New England that does not border the Atlantic Ocean. Vermont is the second-least-populated U.S. state after Wyoming and the sixth-smallest by area of the 50 U.S. states with a recorded population of 643,503 according to the 2020 U.S. census. The state capital is Montpelier, the least-populous state capital in the United States. The most-populous city, Burlington, is the least-populous city to be the most-populous city in a state.

For some 12,000 years, indigenous peoples have inhabited this area. The historically competitive tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Abenaki and Iroquoian-speaking Mohawk were active in the area at the time of European encounter. During the 17th century, French colonists claimed the territory as part of the Kingdom of France‘s colony of New France. After the Kingdom of Great Britain began to settle colonies to the south along the Atlantic coast, the two nations competed in North America in addition to Europe. After being defeated in 1763 in the Seven Years’ War, France ceded its territory east of the Mississippi River to Great Britain.

Thereafter, the nearby British Thirteen Colonies, especially the provinces of New Hampshire and New York, disputed the extent of the area called the New Hampshire Grants to the west of the Connecticut River, encompassing present-day Vermont. The provincial government of New York sold land grants to settlers in the region, which conflicted with earlier grants from the government of New Hampshire. The Green Mountain Boys militia protected the interests of the established New Hampshire land grant settlers against the newly arrived settlers with land titles granted by New York. Ultimately, a group of settlers with New Hampshire land grant titles established the Vermont Republic in 1777 as an independent state during the American Revolutionary War. The Vermont Republic abolished slavery before any of the other states.

Vermont was admitted to the newly established United States as the fourteenth state in 1791. During the mid-19th century, Vermont was a strong source of abolitionist sentiment, although it was also tied to King Cotton through the development of textile mills in the region, which relied on southern cotton. It sent a significant contingent of soldiers to participate in the American Civil War.

The geography of the state is marked by the Green Mountains, which run north–south up the middle of the state, separating Lake Champlain and other valley terrain on the west from the Connecticut River valley that defines much of its eastern border. A majority of its terrain is forested with hardwoods and conifers, and a majority of its open land is devoted to agriculture. The state’s climate is characterized by warm, humid summers and cold, snowy winters.

Vermont’s economic activity of $34 billion in 2018 ranked last on the list of U.S. states and territories by GDP but 34th in GDP per capita. In 2000, the state legislature was the first to recognize civil unions for same-sex couples.

TODAY’S ALMANAC

Question of the Day

How can I make my nearly pot-bound clivia bloom? It’s about 12 years old and has never flowered.If the plant hasn’t bloomed in 12 years, it may be impossible to get it to do so, but we’d certainly try. Keep the plant cool; it likes temperatures around 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Water it sparingly, and don’t worry about fertilizer. Clivias like to be root-bound, so repot it only when absolutely necessary. Should you get the plant to flower (which will occur toward the beginning of summer), place it outside, where it can enjoy the sunshine and heat (water it well), then bring it back inside in the fall and follow the low-water, cool-temperature routine. If you’d like to experiment, try dividing the plant. We don’t know if this will help it flower, but it’s worth a shot.

Advice of the Day

If you forget to wash the spider (frying pan), it’s a sure sign of company coming.

Home Hint of the Day

Sharpening your garden tools can make a difference in how well they work. Sharpen a shovel by filing the inside edge — the one that holds the soil — in the direction that’s away from the handle. Then turn it over and lightly file the burr off the back.

Word of the Day

Perigean TideA monthly tide of increased range that occurs when the Moon is at perigee (closest to Earth).

Puzzle of the Day

Why is the inside of everything so mysterious?Because we cannot make it out.

Born

• Antonio Vivaldi (composer) – 1678
• Benjamin Waterhouse (physician) – 1754
• Knute Rockne (football coach) – 1888
• John Garfield (actor) – 1913
• Alan Sillitoe (novelist) – 1928
• Alice Mitchell Rivlin (government official) – 1931
• Miriam Makeba (singer) – 1932
• Barbara McNair (singer) – 1934
• Kay Lenz (actress) – 1953
• Catherine O’Hara (actress) – 1954
• Patricia Heaton (actress) – 1958
• Jason Sellers (country singer) – 1971
• Landon Donovan (soccer player) – 1982
• Andrea Bowen (actress) – 1990

Died

• John Candy (comedian) – 1994
• Minnie Pearl (comedienne & singer) – 1996
• George Pake (computer pioneer) – 2004
• Horton Foote (playwright & screenwriter) – 2009
• Luke Perry (actor) – 2019

Events

• William Penn was given a charter for lands in the New World by King Charles II– 1681
• The first Congress met in NY– 1789
• Vermont became the 14th state of the Union– 1791
• George Washington was inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States in Philadelphia; John Adams became Vice President. George Washington’s second inaugural address was the shortest on record—135 words. It took him only two minutes to read it.– 1793
• John Adams was inaugurated as the second U.S. President; Thomas Jefferson became Vice President– 1797
• Thomas Jefferson became the first president to be inaugurated in the new U.S. capital of Washington, D.C.; Aaron Burr became Vice President– 1801
• James Madison inaugurated as 4th U.S. President– 1809
• James Monroe inaugurated as 5th U.S. President– 1817
• John Quincy Adams inaugurated as 6th U.S. President– 1825
• Andrew Jackson inaugurated as the 7th U.S. President– 1829
• John Quincy Adams returned to the House of Representatives. He was the first former president to do so and served for nine consecutive terms– 1831
• Martin Van Buren inaugurated as the 8th U.S. President– 1837
• William H. Harrison inaugurated as 9th U.S. President; upon his death a month later, the vice president, John Tyler, became the 10th U.S. President– 1841
• James Polk inaugurated as 11th U.S. President– 1845
• Franklin Pierce became the 14th U.S. President– 1853
• James Buchanan became the 15th U.S. President– 1857
• Abraham Lincoln became the 16th U.S. President– 1861
• Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated for a second term as U.S. President; Vice President, Andrew Johnson– 1865
• Ulysses S. Grant became the 18th U.S. President– 1869
• Benjamin Harrison was sworn in as the 23rd U.S. President– 1889
• Rep. Jeanette Rankin became first woman in Congress– 1917
• In his first inaugural speech, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt told his fellow Americans that, … the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, referring to the Great Depression.– 1933
• Nuclear-power plant began operation in Antarctica– 1962
• Earthquake destroyed parts of Bucharest Romania, and nearby area, leaving 1,500 dead– 1977
• Voyager I spacecraft revealed rings of Jupiter– 1979
• Bertha Wilson became the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada– 1982
• Machinists strike Eastern Airlines. Pilots and flight attendants honor picket lines– 1989
• British Prime Minister Gordon Brown awarded an honorary knighthood to U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy– 2009

Weather

• Southern New Hampshire received four feet of snow in nine days– 1717
• Deadly avalanche occurred at Rogers Pass in British Columbia– 1910
• Snow in Oahu, Hawaii– 1953
• Blizzard hit Cape Cod, Massachusetts– 1960

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