September 24, 2015

After meeting with Cuba’s President Raul Castro in the Revolution Palace in Havana, Cuba, on September 20, Pope Francis is now in the United States, making stops in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Philadelphia. Credit: © Tony Gentile, AP Photo

In his first visit to the United States, Pope Francis arrived at an Air Force base outside Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, September 22. There he was met by U.S. President Barack Obama and the First Family, Vice President Joe Biden and his family, Roman Catholic schoolchildren, and many clergy members of the Roman Catholic Church. After a brief meeting with President Obama, the pope climbed into a small Fiat hatchback (instead of a limousine) and traveled to his place of residence during his time in the capital, the home of the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States.

Yesterday, September 23, President Obama held a welcoming ceremony for the pontiff (pope) on the South Lawn of the White House. He then appeared in a parade and met with Catholic bishops. The largest event of the day was a Mass said by the pope at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. During this service, Francis canonized Junípero Serra (1713-1784), a Franciscan missionary who in 1769 founded the first mission in present-day California. This was the first canonization (proclaiming a person to be a saint in the Church) ever held in the United States. It was not without controversy. American Indian groups protested that Serra and the missions he helped found were responsible for the deaths of many Native American peoples.

Today, the pope addressed a joint meeting of Congress. The event filled the House of Representatives and thousands watched it on huge televisions set up on the lawn of the Capitol. Francis spoke on such topics as climate change and the environment, poverty and income inequality, and immigration. About the latter, he stated:

“In recent centuries, millions of people came to this land to pursue their dream of building a future in freedom. We, the people of this continent, are not fearful of foreigners, because most of us were once foreigners. I say this to you as the son of immigrants, knowing that so many of you are also descended from immigrants.”

This evening, the pope leaves for New York City where we will address the UN General Assembly and say Mass at Madison Square Garden.

Other Behind the headline article

• Francis in Cuba (September 22, 2015)

UPDATE:

September 24, 2012

The new panda cub born at the National Zoo died on September 23, just one week after its birth, zoo officials have announced. A preliminary examination found that the cub had high levels of fluid in her abdomen and irregularities in her liver. But zoo officials cautioned that these conditions may not have directly contributed to the death of the cub, which was a female. The new cub was the sixth giant panda cub to die at the zoo since the 1980′s. A seventh cub was stillborn. The only cub born at the National Zoo to survive into maturity has been Tai Shan, who was born in 2005 and was returned to China in 2010.

September 19, 2012

A panda cub was born on September 16 at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Mei Xiang, the mother panda, “is cradling her cub closely, and she looks so tired, but every time she tries to lay down, the cub squawks and she sits right up and cradles the cub more closely,” reported the zoo’s chief veterinarian, Suzan Murray, in a statement issued to the media. “She is the poster child for a perfect panda mom.” The National Zoo is part of the Smithsonian Institution. The father is Tian Tian, who also lives at the zoo.

The birth of a panda cub is a cause for celebration as well as worry. A newborn panda is about the size of a stick of butter, weighs between 3 and 5 ounces (85 and 140 grams), and is utterly helpless. It is at risk of infection and is often accidentally crushed by its mother. The zoo’s first pandas–Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing, gifts to the United States from China in 1972–produced five cubs, but none lived more than a few days. A mother panda must make sure that the hairless cub is kept warm and is nursing sufficiently.

The giant panda commonly weighs from 200 to 300 pounds (90 to 140 kilograms). It often eats sitting upright with its hind legs stretched out. (c) Tom & Pat Leeson, Photo Researchers

Zookeepers are staying at a safe distance from Mei Xiang and her cub. They want the mother to raise her cub naturally. It will probably be several weeks before she leaves it alone long enough for veterinarian Murray and her team to give it a checkup. The zoo’s only other living cub, Tai Shan, was born to Mei Xiang and Tian Tian in 2005. Tai Shan left the zoo for China in 2010.

Mei Xiang is a giant panda, a type of mammal that is native to central China. The giant panda eats only a certain type of bamboo shoot, stem, or leaf and is in danger of extinction.

Additional World Book articles:

• Endangered species
• Zoo (1972) (a Back in Time article)
• Conservation (1983) (a Back in Time article)

The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated on October 16, with President Barack Obama and his family in attendance. The memorial honors the life and work of the famed American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., who was assassinated in 1968.

The Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial

The entrance to the memorial consists of two towering granite blocks, which represent the “Mountain of Despair.” Beyond is a 30-foot (9-meter) carving of King, called the “Stone of Hope.” Both “Mountain of Despair” and “Stone of Hope” are from King’s famous “I have a dream” speech: “With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.”

Additional World Book articles:

• African Americans
• Civil Right Movement
• March on Washington
• Back in Time (Civil rights 1968)

A 5.8-magnitude earthquake that struck eastern Virginia shakes the East Coast of the United States. The quake is felt as far north as New Hampshire, as far south as the Carolinas, and as far west as Illinois. In Washington, D.C., government buildings, including the Capitol and White House, are evacuated, filling the streets of the capital with thousands of government workers. Several buildings in New York City are also evacuated, with employees standing in the streets in midtown Manhattan.

The quake, which struck 3 miles (4.9 kilometers) below the surface, occurred in the Central Virginia Seismic Zone. The United States Geological Survey (UGS) describes this region as an area of bedrock that “was assembled as continents collided to form a supercontinent [Pangaea] about 500-300 million years ago, raising the Appalachian Mountains.” Geologists believe the region is riddled with many small, unknown faults.

The last moderate quake in the seismic zone, which had a moment magnitude of 4.8, occurred in 1875. Small earthquakes that cause little or no damage are felt in the zone every one to two years.

Additional World Book articles:

• Earthquakes
• Pangaea