Second Empire homes were a modern Victorian-era style that started in France before spreading through the Northeastern and Midwestern United States. Second Empire architecture features similar ornate Victorian trends, though generally offers a simplified Victorian aesthetic.

These elements help identify a Second Empire home:

• Uniquely shaped Mansard Roof
• Decorative window framing and dormers
• Decorative rails or balustrades around terraces and staircases
• Iron roof crest and eaves with support brackets

Second Empire homes are also easy to identify since they’re the only Victorian-era style that often features a symmetrical, rectangular floor plan.

Federal-style homes became popular after the American Revolution and were a refined upgrade to the popular Georgian house style. They have the same recurring shape and symmetry as other Colonial house styles, but their delicate ornamentation sets them apart.

Federal Colonial homes often feature:

• A layout built around a central hall
• An elliptical fanlight and two flanking lights (windows) around the door
• Paladin or tripartite windows

The elliptical fanlights and paladin windows are key distinguishing features from Georgian-style homes.

1. From this valley they say you are going, I will miss your bright eyes and sweet smile, For they say you are taking the sunshine, that brightens our pathways awhile. (CHORUS) Come and sit by my side if you love me, do not hasten to bid me a-dieu, but remember the Red River Valley, and the cowboy who loved you so true.

2. I’ve been thinking a long time, my darlin’, Of the sweet words you never would say, now, alas, all my fond hopes must vanish. For they say you are going away. Repeat Chorus: Come and sit by my side if you love me, do not hasten to bid me a-dieu, but remember the Red River Valley, and the cowboy who loved you so true.

3. Do you think of the valley you’re leaving? Oh, how lonely and sad it will be! Do you think of the kind hearts you’re breaking, and the pain you are causing to me? Repeat Chorus: Come and sit by my side if you love me, do not hasten to bid me a-dieu, but remember the Red River Valley, and the cowboy who loved you so true.

4. I have promised you, darlin’, that never, will a word from my lips cause you pain; And my life, it will be yours forever If you only will love me again. Repeat Chorus: Come and sit by my side if you love me, do not hasten to bid me a-dieu, but remember the Red River Valley, and the cowboy who loved you so true.

The United States has 63 national parks, which are Congressionally-designated protected areas operated by the National Park Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior.[1] National parks are designated for their natural beauty, unique geological features, diverse ecosystems, and recreational opportunities. While legislatively all units of the National Park System are considered equal with the same mission, national parks are generally larger and more of a destination, and hunting and extractive activities are prohibited.[2] National monuments, on the other hand, are also frequently protected for their historical or archaeological significance. Eight national parks (including six in Alaska) are paired with a national preserve, areas with different levels of protection that are administered together but considered separate units and whose areas are not included in the figures below. The 423 units of the National Park System can be broadly referred to as national parks, but most have other formal designations.[3]

A bill creating the first national park, Yellowstone, was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872, followed by Mackinac National Park in 1875 (decommissioned in 1895), and then Rock Creek Park (later merged into National Capital Parks), Sequoia and Yosemite in 1890. The Organic Act of 1916 created the National Park Service "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."[4] Many current national parks had been previously protected as national monuments by the president under the Antiquities Act or as other designations created by Congress before being redesignated by Congress; the newest national park is New River Gorge, previously a National River, and the most recent entirely new park is National Park of American Samoa. A few former national parks are no longer designated as such, or have been disbanded. Fourteen national parks are designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS),[5] and 21 national parks are named UNESCO Biosphere Reserves (BR),[6] with eight national parks in both programs.

Thirty states have national parks, as do the territories of American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The state with the most national parks is California with nine, followed by Alaska with eight, Utah with five, and Colorado with four. The largest national park is Wrangell–St. Elias in Alaska: at over 8 million acres (32,375 km2), it is larger than each of the nine smallest states. The next three largest parks are also in Alaska. The smallest park is Gateway Arch National Park, Missouri, at 192.83 acres (0.7804 km2). The total area protected by national parks is approximately 52.2 million acres (211,000 km2), for an average of 829 thousand acres (3,350 km2) but a median of only 208 thousand acres (840 km2).[7]

The national parks set a visitation record in 2017, with more than 84 million visitors and set a further record in 2018 with a 0.1% increase.[8][9] Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee has been the most-visited park since 1944,[10] and had over 14 million visitors in 2021.[11] In contrast, only about 7,000 people visited the remote Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in Alaska in 2021.

Modern Tudor homes are inspired by Medieval European Tudor homes and often have a charming cottage aesthetic. They’re popular on the East Coast and in parts of the Midwest.

Tudor homes are an easy style to identify. They feature:

• Steeply pitched gable roofs
• Exposed and decorative half-timbering with stucco exterior
• Mixed-material brick or stone walls
• Casement windows in groups or with diamond shapes

The Tudor Revival reached peak popularity in the 1920s and is still widely popular today.

Queen Anne homes were popularized in the later Victorian era, beginning around 1880. This style is the quintessential Victorian home for many, with ornate woodworking and decor inside and out.

Queen Anne homes have key regional differences across the country, but maintain these essentials:

• Textured walls with decorative shingles or half-timbering
• Large round or polygonal tower at the home’s corner
• Steeply pitched and asymmetrical roof
• Decorative spindles on porches and trim
• Decorative single-pane or stained glass windows

Queen Anne architecture is most common in homes, but can also be seen in schools, churches, and office buildings.

Cape Cod homes are similar to the British or American Colonial homes, though they originated further north in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. These are often seen as the classic American family home since the style’s revival in the 20th Century.

Cape Cod homes are identified by their:

• Shingle exteriors
• Modest size and ornamentation compared to British Colonial homes
• Originally single-story homes
• Large central fireplaces
• Attic lofts (20th-century revival)
• Dormer windows (20th-century revival)

Cape Cod homes are built of local wood and stone to withstand the north-eastern weather. This exterior weathering provides an iconic weathered-blue color to these homes.

Around the 1820s, Americans experienced a renewed interest in classic Greek and Roman culture. This cultural shift was a natural fit for architects, who brought the Greek Revival house style to life.

Greek Revival architecture became popular in homes as well as businesses, banks, and churches. Prominent features include:

• Easy to identify shapes, including a rectangular building and triangular roofs
• Gable-front designs
• Large porches and protected entryways
• Greek-inspired columns both square and round

Greek Revival homes often have decorative trim and moulding around the front door and windows. These ornate features and columns are easy ways to identify Greek Revival architecture.

The American Farmhouse is a simple and timeless style. Farmhouses are designed to be practical first and foremost. They’re common across the US and often showcase regional variations, like wrap-around porches in the South.

Farmhouses have evolved with time and location, but often feature these elements:

• Rectangular floor plan
• Large front porches
• Natural wood and stone materials
• Few and small windows
• Formal front rooms separated from family rooms

Of course, the easiest way to identify a farmhouse is that they’ll often be situated on a large plot of farmland.

The Parthenon in Centennial Park, in Nashville, Tennessee, is a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens. It was designed by architect William Crawford Smith and built in 1897 as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition.

Today the Parthenon, which functions as an art museum, stands as the centerpiece of Centennial Park, a large public park just west of downtown Nashville. Alan LeQuire's 1990 re-creation of the Athena Parthenos statue in the naos (the east room of the main hall) is the focus of the Parthenon just as it was in ancient Greece. Since the building is complete and its decorations were polychromed (painted in colors) as close to the presumed original as possible, this replica of the original Parthenon in Athens serves as a monument to what is considered the pinnacle of classical architecture. The plaster replicas of the Parthenon Marbles found in the Treasury Room (the west room of the main hall) are direct casts of the original sculptures which adorned the pediments of the Athenian Parthenon, dating back to 438 BC. The surviving originals are housed in the British Museum in London and at the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the National Academy of Medicine (NAM).

As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Election to the National Academy is one of the highest honors in the scientific field. Members of the National Academy of Sciences serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation" on science, engineering, and medicine. The group holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code.

Founded in 1863 as a result of an Act of Congress that was approved by Abraham Lincoln, the NAS is charged with "providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology. … to provide scientific advice to the government 'whenever called upon' by any government department."[2]

The Academy receives no compensation from the government for its services.[3]

The Academy currently has 2,984 members and international members. Existing members elect new members for life. Up to 120 members are elected every year; up to 30 foreign citizens may be elected as international members annually. The election process begins with a formal nomination, followed by a vetting period, and culminates in a final ballot at the Academy's annual meeting in April each year. Members are affiliated with a section -- a specific scientific field -- in one of six so-called "classes": (1) Physical and Mathematical Sciences; (2) Biological Sciences; (3) Engineering and Applied Sciences; (4) Biomedical Sciences; (5) Behavioral and Social Sciences; and (6) Applied Biological, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.[6] Since its founding, the Academy has elected 6,457 members. Harvard University is associated with the most members (329), some 5% of the all-time total. The top ten institutions, half of which are Ivy League universities, account for nearly 28% of all members ever elected.[11]