Portal:Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Portal

Wisconsin is a Great Lakes state in the United States. Its name is thought to be an adaptation of the Ojibwe word for "Red-stone place." Other theories are that it means "Gathering of the Waters" or "Great Rock."

It became the 30th state on May 29, 1848. According to the U.S. Census of 2004, Wisconsin's population was 5,509,026. Its capital is Madison and the largest city is Milwaukee.

Called "America's Dairyland," Wisconsin is best known for its cheese and the Green Bay Packers. The state is also noted for its historic breweries, bratwurst, and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

With its location between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, Wisconsin is home to a wide variety of geographical and glacial features. This varied landscape makes the state a popular vacation destination for outdoor recreation.

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The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR; AAR reporting marks CP, CPAA, CPI), known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a Canadian Class I railway operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited. Its rail network stretches from Vancouver to Montreal, and also serves major cities in the United States such as Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City. Its headquarters are in Calgary, Alberta.

The railway was originally built between eastern Canada and British Columbia between 1881 and 1885 (connecting with Ottawa Valley and Georgian Bay area lines built earlier), fulfilling a promise extended to British Columbia when it entered Confederation in 1871. It was Canada's first transcontinental railway. Now primarily a freight railway, the CPR was for decades the only practical means of long distance passenger transport in most regions of Canada, and was instrumental in the settlement and development of Western Canada. Its primary passenger services were eliminated in 1986 after being assumed by VIA Rail Canada in 1978. A beaver was chosen as the railway's logo because it is one of the national symbols of Canada and represents the hardworking character of the company. The object of both praise and damnation for over 120 years, the CPR remains an indisputable icon of Canadian nationalism.

Selected biography

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867 – 1959) was one of the most prominent and influential architects during the first half of the 20th century. He developed a series of highly individual styles over his extraordinarily long architectural career (spanning the years 1887-1959) and influenced the entire course of American architecture and building. To this day, he remains probably America's most famous architect.

Frank Lloyd Wright was born in the agricultural town of Richland Center, Wisconsin, United States, on June 8, 1867, of Welsh descent just two years after the end of the American Civil War. As a child he spent a great deal of time playing with the kindergarten educational blocks by Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel (known as Froebel Gifts) given to him by his mother, Anna Lloyd Jones. These consisted of various geometrically shaped blocks that could be assembled in various combinations to form three-dimensional compositions. Wright in his autobiography talks about the influence of these exercises on his approach to design. Many of his buildings are notable for the geometrical clarity they exhibit.

Wright began his formal education in 1885 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity International, Inc. Wisconsin Alpha chapter. He took classes part-time for three semesters, while apprenticing under a local builder and professor of civil engineering. In 1887, Wright left the university without taking a degree (although he was granted an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the university in 1955) and moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he joined the architectural firm of Joseph Lyman Silsbee. Within the year, he had left Silsbee to work for the firm of Adler & Sullivan.

Did you know...

...that Discovery World features a fully-functional sailing vessel modeled after a 19th century Great Lakes schooner?

...that Eleva, Wisconsin was originally named "New Chicago", but the village's grain elevator had the letters "ELEVA" painted on it before winter struck, and newcomers assumed the letters was the name of the village?

...that Little House Wayside site, on the lot where Laura Ingalls Wilder was born, features a replica of the house that was featured in her book Little House in the Big Woods?

...that the Crandon International Off-Road Raceway hosts the "World Championship Off-Road Races"?

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Articles:

• USS Wisconsin (BB-64)
• Xanadu House

Lists:

• List of Governors of Wisconsin
• List of Lieutenant Governors of Wisconsin
• List of U.S. states by date of statehood
• List of U.S. states by elevation
• List of areas in the National Park System of the United States

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WikiProjects

• WikiProject Wisconsin
• Wisconsin Highways
• WikiProject Cities
• WikiProject U.S. states

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