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Female World War II pilots receive overdue honors
President Barack Obama signs a bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Women Air Force Service Pilots, established during World War II, in the Oval Office in Washington, D.C., July 1, 2009. From left, the pilots are: Bernice Falk Haydu, Elaine Danforth Harmon and Lorraine H. Rodgers. U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida is at far right. Behind the president are active duty Air Force pilots. White House photo by Pete Souza
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USDA stresses food safety during Fourth of July weekend
The Fourth of July weekend will find many people celebrating with tasty food from the grill. The chef of your household might have the skills to cook the perfect burger, but does he or she know the food safety "drills of the grill?" To help families across the country enjoy a happy, but safe, fourth of July, USDA is providing food safety recommendations for outdoor cooking celebrations that typically mark the holiday weekend.
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Sherman landmark to have new look
One of Sherman's most famous landmarks for more than a half century at the American Legion Post 29 parking lot along Sam Rayburn Freeway, the F86L Sabrejet will soon become a permanent static display at North Texas Regional Airport-Perrin Field.
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Fireworks caution required as temperatures heat up, vegetation dries down
The Texas Forest Service warns that carelessness with fireworks and other outdoor activities can lead to a wildfire, especially with summer in full swing, and grasses, shrubs and trees drying out.
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Many, perhaps most, nearby sun-like stars may form rocky planets
University of Arizona, Tucson, astronomer Michael Meyer and his colleagues used NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to determine whether planetary systems like ours are common or rare in our Milky Way galaxy. They found that at least 20 percent, and possibly as many as 60 percent, of stars similar to the sun are candidates for forming rocky planets.
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On this day -- July 4
1826 – death of Thomas Jefferson on the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was the third President of the United States (1801–1809), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States. Major events during his presidency include the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806). As a political philosopher, Jefferson was a man of the Enlightenment and knew many intellectual leaders in Britain and France. He idealized the independent yeoman farmer as exemplar of republican virtues, distrusted cities and financiers, and favored states' rights and a strictly limited federal government. Jefferson supported the separation of church and state and was the author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1779, 1786). He was the eponym of Jeffersonian democracy and the co-founder and leader of the Democratic-Republican Party, which dominated American politics for a quarter-century. Jefferson served as the wartime Governor of Virginia (1779–1781), first United States Secretary of State (1789–1793), and second Vice President (1797–1801). A polymath, Jefferson achieved distinction as, among other things, a horticulturist, statesman, architect, archaeologist, paleontologist, inventor, and founder of the University of Virginia. When President John F. Kennedy welcomed forty-nine Nobel Prize winners to the White House in 1962 he said, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House – with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." To date, Jefferson is the only president to serve two full terms in office without vetoing a single bill of Congress. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the second and third President of the United States respectively, both died on July 4, 1826---exactly the fiftieth anniversary of signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, of which they were both signatories, to the day. Jefferson has been consistently ranked by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. presidents.
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McKinney celebrates Fourth of July with Red, White and BOOM!
“This hometown event was extremely successful last year. In these tough economic times, it’s more important than ever to have fun, free events for our residents and their families,” said City Manager Frank Ragan. “This is truly a hometown, community event to celebrate the most important civic holiday, and what we have planned will make it special for everyone attending.”
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Historian Randy Farmer reflects on 'Crime, the Underground Economy and Revolution in the 19th century Fannin County'
The meeting sponsored by the Fannin County Historical Commission and Bonham Public Library on Friday, June 26, was near standing room only in attendance. Randy Farmer, former Fannin County resident, spoke on “Crime, the Underground Economy and Revolution in the 19th century Fannin County."
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14th Annual Killis Melton Ice Cream Crank-Off to be held at Chestnut Square Historic Village in McKinney on July 4th
Start out your Independence Day holiday with the 14th annual Killis Melton Ice Cream Crank-off presented by Chestnut Square Historic Village and McKinney Main Street. From 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on July 4th, visitors to the Chestnut Square Historic Village can sample fresh, unique and homemade ice cream.
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Footsteps & Fingerprints hold its annual Fourth of July Parade
There will be parades all across America on Saturday to celebrate Independence Day on July 4th, but one group of young patriots in Bonham just couldn't wait that long.
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Salt finding from NASA's Cassini hints at ocean within Saturn moon
For the first time, scientists working on NASA's Cassini mission have detected sodium salts in ice grains of Saturn's outermost ring.
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On this day -- July 3
1886 – Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent Motorwagen – the first purpose-built automobile. The Karl Benz Patent Motorwagen (or motorcar), built in 1885, is widely regarded as the first automobile, that is, a vehicle designed to be propelled by a motor. After developing a successful gasoline-powered two-stroke piston engine in 1873, Benz focused on developing a motorized vehicle while maintaining a career as a designer and manufacturer of stationary engines and their associated parts. The Benz Patent Motorwagen was a three-wheeled automobile with a rear-mounted engine. The vehicle contained many new inventions. It was constructed of steel tubing with woodwork panels. The steel-spoked wheels and solid rubber tires were Benz's own design. Steering was by way of a toothed rack that pivoted the unsprung front wheel. Fully-elliptic springs were used at the back along with a live axle and chain drive on both sides. A simple belt system served as a single-speed transmission, varying torque between an open disc and drive disc. Bertha Benz, the wife of the inventor, chose to publicize the Patent Motorwagen in a unique manner -— she took the automobile, supposedly without her husband's knowledge, and drove it on the first long-distance automobile trip to demonstrate its feasibility as a means to travel long distances. That trip occurred on August 5, 1888, when Bertha Benz drove her sons Eugen and Richard (fifteen and fourteen years old) from Mannheim through Weinheim, Heidelberg, Wiesloch, and Durlach, to her hometown of Pforzheim. As well as being the driver, she acted as mechanic on the drive, cleaning the carburetor (First model of Motorwagen had not been built with a carburetor, rather a basin of fuel soaked fibers that supplied fuel to the cylinder by evaporation) with her hat pin and using a garter to insulate a wire. She refueled in Wiesloch and replaced the brake lining several times along the journey. After sending a telegraph message to her husband of her arrival in Pforzheim, she spent the night at the home of her mother and returned home the next day. The trip covered 112 miles in total. The historic drive by Bertha Benz is celebrated annually in the Mannheim region in Germany with a parade of antique automobiles on a special holiday.
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