Heavens Angels Around The World

Angel Lady Di

Maine:
Will Rogers once quipped, "Did you ever see a place that looks like it was built just to enjoy? Well, this whole state of Maine looks that way to me."

In essence, the landscape of Maine is a by-product of the Ice Age, as a massive glacier cut the straight coastline into hundreds of bays, inlets and harbors. The receding ice sheet also formed the 2,000 or so rocky islands found off the coast.

It is now believed that five hundred years before Columbus "discovered" America, Leif Ericson and a crew of 30 Viking sailors explored the Maine coast, landed, and may have tried to establish a settlement.

Popham, the first European colony on this rugged land, lasted only one winter. It was followed by numerous English settlements in the 1620s.

It's a state of pine forests, fast-flowing rivers, picturesque towns, and an economy that mainly revolves around the bountiful Atlantic Ocean.

Maine is famed for shipbuilding, historic lighthouses, paper production, potato farming, lobster and fishing villages, and an incredible, rustic beauty found no where else on the planet.

Maine

The current version of the Maine flag was officially adopted is 1909. It features a centered coat of arms (adopted in 1820) on a dark blue field.

The coat of arms pictures a farmer (with scythe) and a seaman (with anchor) representing the agricultural and maritime industries.

The shield between them includes a pine tree, a moose (the state animal of Maine), green grass, a tranquil sky, and deep blue water

At the top is a yellow star (representing the North Star, as Maine was the northernmost state when it entered the Union) and a ribbon that reads, "DIRIGO," which means "I direct" in Latin. Below, a ribbon reads, "MAINE."

Official name: Maine
Capital: Augusta
Statehood: March 15, 1820 the 23rd state
State nickname: The Pine Tree State
Name for residents: Mainers
State motto: Dirigo (I lead)
Abbreviation: ME

Maine's Historical Event's:

1524 Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano arrives on the Maine coast.
1604 A French settlement is established on St. Croix Island.
1607 George Popham establishes a colony at the mouth of the Kennebec River.
1614 Captain John Smith explores and maps Maine's coastline.
1622 The Council for New England grants the land between the Merrimack and Kennebec rivers to John Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges.
1629 Mason and Gorges divide their land holdings. Gorges takes the eastern part, which he calls the province of Maine.
1677 Massachusetts buys the title to Maine from Gorges's heirs.
1763 A treaty is signed to end the French and Indian War, ending battles between Maine settlements and Native Americans.
1775 Residents of Machias capture a British frigate during the Americn Revolution.
1779 British forces capture the town of Castine and control the Maine coast for the rest of the American Revolution.
1812-1815 The eastern part of Maine is controlled by the British in the War of 1812.
1820 Maine is admitted to the Union as part of the Missouri Compromise (March 15).
1851 The state legislature passes the nation's first prohibition act, the Maine Law.
1934 The state's prohibition law is repealed.
1954 Democrat Edmund Muskie is elected governor, ending Republican domination of state politics since the American Civil War.
1972 The Penobscot and Passamaquoddy peoples claim nearly two-thirds of the land area of Maine in a suit filed against the state.
1980 Settlement of the 1972 Native American lawsuit awards the two native groups $81.5 million.

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