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Merry Christmas to anyone who reads this!!

29th December 1845 (178 years ago) – The United States annexes the Republic of Texas and admits it as the 28th state

The Texas annexation was the 1845 annexation of the Republic of Texas into the United States. Texas was admitted to the Union as the 28th state on December 29, 1845.

The Republic of Texas declared independence from the Republic of Mexico on March 2, 1836. It applied for annexation to the United States the same year, but was rejected by the United States Secretary of State. At that time, the majority of the Texian population favored the annexation of the Republic by the United States. The leadership of both major U.S. political parties (the Democrats and the Whigs) opposed the introduction of Texas — a vast slave-holding region — into the volatile political climate of the pro- and anti-slavery sectional controversies in Congress. Moreover, they wished to avoid a war with Mexico, whose government had outlawed slavery and refused to acknowledge the sovereignty of its rebellious northern province. With Texas's economic fortunes declining by the early 1840s, the President of the Texas Republic, Sam Houston, arranged talks with Mexico to explore the possibility of securing official recognition of independence, with the United Kingdom mediating.

In 1843, U.S. President John Tyler, then unaligned with any political party, decided independently to pursue the annexation of Texas in a bid to gain a base of support for another four years in office. His official motivation was to outmaneuver suspected diplomatic efforts by the British government for the emancipation of slaves in Texas, which would undermine slavery in the United States. Through secret negotiations with the Houston administration, Tyler secured a treaty of annexation in April 1844. When the documents were submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification, the details of the terms of annexation became public and the question of acquiring Texas took center stage in the presidential election of 1844. Pro-Texas-annexation southern Democratic delegates denied their anti-annexation leader Martin Van Buren the nomination at their party's convention in May 1844. In alliance with pro-expansion northern Democratic colleagues, they secured the nomination of James K. Polk, who ran on a pro-Texas Manifest destiny platform.

In June 1844, the Senate, with its Whig majority, soundly rejected the Tyler–Texas treaty. Later that year, the pro-annexation Democrat Polk narrowly defeated anti-annexation Whig Henry Clay in the 1844 presidential election. In December 1844, lame-duck (outgoing) President Tyler called on Congress to pass his treaty by simple majorities in each house. The Democratic-dominated House of Representatives complied with his request by passing an amended bill expanding on the pro-slavery provisions of the Tyler treaty. The Senate narrowly passed a compromise version of the House bill, designed to provide President-elect Polk the options of immediate annexation of Texas or new talks to revise the annexation terms of the House-amended bill.

On March 1, 1845, President Tyler signed the annexation bill, and on March 3 (his last full day in office), he forwarded the House version to Texas, offering immediate annexation. When Polk took office at noon the following day, he encouraged Texas to accept Tyler’s offer. Texas ratified the agreement with popular approval from Texians. The bill was signed by President Polk on December 29, 1845, accepting Texas as the 28th state of the Union. Texas formally joined the union on February 19, 1846, prompting the Mexican–American War in April of that year.

Lintarn wrote:

Hi everyone! Really excited to be here!!

Nice to have you here too! Welcome :)
Feel free to stop by Discord and meet everyone

Happy New Year to everyone from Canada! Hope you all had some great holidays!

Lintarn wrote:

Thanks!

I don’t do Discord. Will that limit my ability to fully participate in the region?

Not at all! Our community is structured such that you'll still have access to elections, legislative votes, and the roleplay. Our Discord server simply facilitates communication between community members.

Happy New Year, FNF!

Hello, sorry to bother you, could you please vote my new elections? I recently reached 750 million citizens, and am deciding who should be leader. Thank you for your time!

Vote at the following links:
- Presidential election: https://strawpoll.com/BJnX8AerXnv
- Legislative election: https://strawpoll.com/e7ZJGA4OYy3
Vote ends in two days!

5th January 1933 (91 years ago) – Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the 1.6 km (1 mile) wide strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula—to Marin County, carrying both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 across the strait. It also carries pedestrian and bicycle traffic, and is designated as part of U.S. Bicycle Route 95. Recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the Wonders of the Modern World, the bridge is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco and California.

Before the bridge was built, the only practical short route between San Francisco and what is now Marin County was by boat across a section of San Francisco Bay. A ferry service began as early as 1820, with a regularly scheduled service beginning in the 1840s for the purpose of transporting water to San Francisco.

Many wanted to build a bridge to connect San Francisco to Marin County. San Francisco was the largest American city still served primarily by ferry boats. Because it did not have a permanent link with communities around the bay, the city's growth rate was below the national average. Many experts said that a bridge could not be built across the 2,000-metre (6,700-foot) strait, which had strong, swirling tides and currents, with water 113 m (372 ft ) deep at the center of the channel, and frequent strong winds. Experts said that ferocious winds and blinding fogs would prevent construction and operation.

The idea of a fixed link between San Francisco and Marin had gained increasing popularity during the late 19th century, but it was not until the early 20th century that such a link became feasible. A suspension-bridge design was chosen, using recent advances in bridge design and metallurgy.

Joseph Strauss served as chief engineer for the project, with Leon Moisseiff, Irving Morrow and Charles Ellis making significant contributions to its design.

Construction began on 5 January 1933. The project cost more than $35 million ($590 million in 2022 dollars), and was completed ahead of schedule and $1.3 million under budget (equivalent to $27.7 million today). The Golden Gate Bridge construction project was carried out by the McClintic-Marshall Construction Co., a subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel Corporation founded by Howard H. McClintic and Charles D. Marshall, both of Lehigh University.

Strauss innovated the use of movable safety netting beneath the men working, which saved many lives. Nineteen men saved by the nets over the course of the project formed the Half Way to Hell Club. Nonetheless, eleven men were killed in falls, ten on 17 February 1937, when a scaffold (secured by undersized bolts) with twelve men on it fell into and broke through the safety net; two of the twelve survived the 61 m (200 foot) fall into the water.

The bridge opened to the public on 27 May 1937 and has undergone various retrofits and other improvement projects in the decades since.

The color of the bridge is officially an orange vermilion called international orange. The color was selected by consulting architect Irving Morrow because it complements the natural surroundings and enhances the bridge's visibility in fog.

The Golden Gate Bridge is described in Frommer's travel guide as "possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world." At the time of its opening in 1937, it was both the longest and the tallest suspension bridge in the world, titles it held until 1964 and 1998 respectively. Its main span is 1,280 m (4,200 feet) and its total height is 227 m (746 feet).

Hello everyone at FNR, I'm Habsenburg, a small nation that has just "become an adult" I came from lands far from what an eagle's eye could see, I came from REGIONLESS, my eternal home, and I'm happy to participate in this new region, Regionless was great, full of good people, with stories, and nations much older than me, I am a "teenage nation" among all the Methuselahs around the world, and with this letter I say a simple hello to everyone From here, I will try to make my best home here, and I will also try to participate a little in the RP here, I will try to fit in quickly, but I'm not sure 👋
(I don't know how to speak english very well, so, wait for the worse, and i was using Google translate before)

Habsenburg wrote:

Hello everyone at FNR, I'm Habsenburg, a small nation that has just "become an adult" I came from lands far from what an eagle's eye could see, I came from REGIONLESS, my eternal home, and I'm happy to participate in this new region, Regionless was great, full of good people, with stories, and nations much older than me, I am a "teenage nation" among all the Methuselahs around the world, and with this letter I say a simple hello to everyone From here, I will try to make my best home here, and I will also try to participate a little in the RP here, I will try to fit in quickly, but I'm not sure 👋
(I don't know how to speak english very well, so, wait for the worse, and i was using Google translate before)

Welcome to FNR! We are very welcoming here.

Oh hey guys

My Nation wrote:

What's up?

Not much

Orcuo wrote:

Behold.

page=dispatch/id=1982820

"Gay" ☠️