White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. It has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800.

The house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia Creek sandstone in the Neoclassical style. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he (with architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe) expanded the building outward, creating two colonnades that were meant to conceal stables and storage. However, in 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by the British Army in the Burning of Washington, destroying the interior and charring much of the exterior. Reconstruction began almost immediately, and President James Monroe moved into the partially reconstructed Executive Residence in October 1817. Construction continued with the addition of the South Portico in 1824 and the North in 1829.

Science fair

A science fair experiment is generally a competition where contestants present their science project results in the form of a report, display board, and models that they have created. Science fairs allow students in elementary, middle and high schools to compete in science and/or technology activities.

Although writing assignments that take a long time to complete and require multiple drafts are fairly common in US schools, large projects in the sciences (other than science fairs) are rare. Science fairs also provide a mechanism for students with intense interest in the sciences to be paired with mentors from nearby colleges and universities, so that they can get access to instruction and equipment that the local schools could not provide.

In the United States, science fairs first became popular in the early 1950s, with the ISEF, then known as the National Science Fair. Interest in the sciences was at a new high after the world witnessed the use of the first two atomic weapons and the dawn of television. As the decade progressed, science stories in the news, such as Jonas Salk’s vaccine for polio and the launch of Sputnik, brought science fiction to reality and attracted increasing numbers of students to fairs.

USA Science and Engineering Festival

USA Science & Engineering Festival is a science festival held in Washington, D.C., that is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in the United States. It was founded by serial entrepreneur Larry Bock and Ray O. Johnson, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of the Lockheed Martin Corporation. Due to the festival sponsors, including the founding and presenting host Lockheed Martin, the festival is free and open to the public.

The inaugural event was held from October 10, 2010, through October 24, 2010, the second festival was April 27–29, 2012 (attended by a quarter million visitors) and the third festival attracted over 325,000 visitors on April 24–27, 2014. The 3rd festival featured the first ever X-STEM Symposium on April 24, 2014, presented by Northrop Grumman Foundation and MedImmune, with interactive presentations and workshops by an exclusive group of visionaries who aim to empower and inspire kids about STEM careers. The 4th festival will be held on April 16-17, 2016, and the next X-STEM Symposium will be held as a standalone event on April 28, 2015 and will feature presentations and workshops by leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, including Dean Kamen, leader of the STEM Outreach Movement, engineer and entrepreneur Dr. Irwin M. Jacobs, and producer and cinematographer Louie Schwartzberg.

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II (US ⁱ/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician serving as the 44th President of the United States, the first African American to hold the office. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he served as president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney and taught constitutional law at University of Chicago Law School between 1992 and 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, and ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for the United States House of Representatives in 2000 against incumbent Bobby Rush.

In 2004, Obama received national attention during his campaign to represent Illinois in the United States Senate with his victory in the March Democratic Party primary, his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July, and his election to the Senate in November. He began his presidential campaign in 2007 and, after a close primary campaign against Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2008, he won sufficient delegates in the Democratic Party primaries to receive the presidential nomination. He then defeated Republican nominee John McCain in the general election, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Nine months after his inauguration, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Henry Cole

Sir Henry Cole (15 July 1808 – 18 April 1882) was an English civil servant and inventor who facilitated many innovations in commerce and education in 19th century Britain. Cole is credited with devising the concept of sending greetings cards at Christmas time, introducing the world's first commercial Christmas card in 1843.

Biography

Henry Cole was born in Bath, and educated at Christ's Hospital in London. He began his career at the age of 15 at the Record Commission. His criticisms of the Commission's activities were an important factor in the debates that led to the Public Record Office Act 1838, and the establishment of the new Public Record Office, in which Cole was appointed an Assistant Keeper.

From 1837 to 1840, he worked as an assistant to Rowland Hill and played a key role in the introduction of the Penny Post. He is sometimes credited with the design of the world's first postage stamp, the Penny Black.

In 1843, Cole introduced the world's first commercial Christmas card, commissioning artist John Callcott Horsley to make the artwork.