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Battle of Iwo Jima Facts, Significance, Photos, & Map

 Battle of Iwo Jima Date 19 February – 26 March 1945 (1 month and 1 week) Location  Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, Japan Result  American victory USAAF fighter aircraft able to escort B-29's on missions to Japan. Americans gain an emergency landing base for damaged aircraft returning from missions on Japan. Belligerents  United States  Japan Commanders and leaders U.S. Navy: Chester W. Nimitz Raymond A. Spruance Marc A. Mitscher William H. P. Blandy U.S. Marine Corps: Holland M. Smith Harry Schmidt Graves B. Erskine Clifton B. Cates Keller E. Rockey Tadamichi Kuribayashi † Takeichi Nishi † Sadasue Senda † Rinosuke Ichimaru † Units involved American: Ground units: V Amphibious Corps 3rd Marine Division 4th Marine Division 5th Marine Division 147th Infantry Regiment (separate) Aerial units: Seventh Air Force Naval units: 5th Fleet Joint Expeditionary Force (TF 51) Amphibious Support Force (TF 52) Attack Force (TF 53) Expeditionary Troops (TF 56) Fast Carrier Force (TF 58) 31st Naval Con
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Golden Eagle facts, size & habitat

 Golden Eagle Range of golden Eagle Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Accipitriformes Family: Accipitridae Genus: Aquila Species: A. chrysaetos golden eagle, (Aquila chrysaetos), dark brown eagle of the family Accipitridae, characterized by golden lanceolate nape feathers (hackles), dark eyes, yellow cere, gray beak, fully feathered legs, large yellow feet, and great talons. Its wingspread reaches 2.3 metres (almost 8 feet). It is the national bird of Mexico. In North America the golden eagle ranges from central Mexico along the Pacific coast and through the Rocky Mountains as far north as Alaska and Newfoundland. Small numbers range through the Appalachian Mountains as far south as North Carolina. The golden eagle is protected by federal law throughout the United States, but special permits for the shooting of eagles are issued in areas where the birds are believed to kill lambs. Ornithologists estimate that the world’s population of golde

Valentine’s Day Definition, History, & Traditions

 Valentine's Day Also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine Observed by People in many countries; Anglican Communion  Lutheran Church  Traditionalist Catholicism  Type Christian, romantic, cultural, commercial observance Significance Feast day of Saint Valentine; the celebration of love and affection Observances Sending greeting cards and gifts, dating, church services, novenas Date February 14 (fixed by the Western Christian Church) July 6 (fixed by the Eastern Orthodox Church) July 30 (fixed by the Eastern Orthodox Church) Frequency Annual Valentine’s Day, also called St. Valentine’s Day, holiday (February 14) when lovers express their affection with greetings and gifts. Given their similarities, it has been suggested that the holiday has origins in the Roman festival of Lupercalia, held in mid-February. The festival, which celebrated the coming of spring, included fertility rites and the pairing off of women with men by lottery. At the end of the 5th c

Ice Age facts, history & humans

 Ice Age An ice age is a period in which the earth's climate is colder than normal, with ice sheets capping the poles and glaciers dominating higher altitudes. Within an ice age, there are varying pulses of colder and warmer climatic conditions, known as 'glacials' and 'interglacials'. Even within the interglacials, ice continues to cover at least one of the poles. In contrast, outside an ice age temperatures are higher and more stable, and there is far less ice all around. The earth has thus far made it through at least five significant ice ages. One glance at our icy poles and frozen peaks makes it clear that our current epoch (the Holocene, c. 12,000-present day) actually represents an interglacial within the ice age that spans the Quaternary geological period, which started around 2,6 million years ago and encompasses both the Pleistocene (c. 2,6 million years ago - c. 12,000 years ago) and the Holocene epochs. This entire period is characterised by cycles of up

Ashoka Biography, History, Religion, India, & Buddhism

 Ashoka Born c. 304 BCE Pataliputra, Mauryan Empire (adjacent to present-day Patna, Bihar, India) Died 232 BCE (aged c. 71 – 72) Pataliputra (modern-day Patna), Bihar, India Spouses Devi (Sri Lankan tradition) Karuvaki (own inscriptions) Padmavati (North Indian tradition) Asandhimitra (Sri Lankan tradition) Tishyaraksha (Sri Lankan and North Indian tradition) Issue Mahendra (Sri Lankan tradition) Sanghamitra (Sri Lankan tradition) Tivala (own inscriptions) Kunala (North Indian tradition) Charumati Dynasty Maurya Father Bindusara Mother Subhadrangi or Dharma Religion Buddhism Ashoka, also spelled Aśoka, (died 238? BCE, India), last major emperor of the Mauryan dynasty of India. His vigorous patronage of Buddhism during his reign (c. 265–238 BCE; also given as c. 273–232 BCE) furthered the expansion of that religion throughout India. Following his successful but bloody conquest of the Kalinga country on the east coast, Ashoka renounced armed conquest and adopted a policy that he called “

Hedgehog facts, diet, habitat & types

 Hedgehog COMMON NAME:  Hedgehog SCIENTIFIC NAME:  Erinaceus europaeus TYPE:  Mammals DIET:  Carnivore SIZE:  Head and body:  5 to 12 inches;  tail:  1 to 2 inches WEIGHT:  14 to 39 ounces SIZE RELATIVE TO A TEACUP: Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Eulipotyphla Family: Erinaceidae Subfamily: Erinaceinae Genera: Atelerix Erinaceus Hemiechinus Mesechinus Paraechinus hedgehog, (subfamily Erinaceinae), any of 15 Old World species of insectivores possessing several thousand short, smooth spines. Most species weigh under 700 grams (1.5 pounds), but the common western European hedgehog can grow to 1,100 grams. Body length is 14 to 30 cm (5.5 to 12 inches), and there is a stumpy and sparsely furred tail measuring 1 to 6 cm. In addition to the three species of Eurasian hedgehogs (genus Erinaceus), there are four African hedgehogs (genus Atelerix), six desert hedgehogs (genus Hemiechinus), and two steppe hedgehogs (genus Mesechinus). European he

Dragonfly Description, Anatomy, Habitat, Life Cycle, & Facts

 Dragonfly Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Odonata Suborder: Epiprocta Infraorder: Anisoptera Families Aeshnoide Aeshnidae (hawkers or darners) Austropetaliida Gomphidae (clubtails) Petaluridae (petaltails) Cordulegastroide Chlorogomphida Cordulegastridae (spiketails) Neopetaliida Libelluloide Corduliidae (emeralds) Libellulidae (skimmers, etc) Macromiidae (cruisers) Synthemistidae (tigertails) dragonfly, (suborder Anisoptera), also called darner, devil’s arrow, or devil’s darning needle, any of a group of roughly 3,000 species of aerial predatory insects most commonly found near freshwater habitats throughout most of the world. Damselflies (suborder Zygoptera) are sometimes also called dragonflies in that both are odonates (order Odonata). Distinguishing characteristics and flight behaviour Dragonfly species (Anisoptera) are characterized by long bodies with two narrow pairs of intricately veined, membranous wings that, while genera