Facts about Aachen, the Westernmost City in Germany

Aachen is the westernmost city in Germany. It sits near the junction of the borders of Belgium and the Netherlands. The city is also known by its French name, Aix-la-Chapelle, after the Palatine Chapel in Aachen Cathedral.

Roman soldiers established a settlement on the site of Aachen shortly after the birth of Christ. The city grew up around the Roman baths and eventually became the capital of the Frankish empire of Charlemagne. The magnificent Aachen Cathedral was begun by Charlemagne during the 700's and contains his tomb. More than 30 German kings were crowned there. The Gothic Rathaus, or city hall, dates from 1330 and houses a number of art treasures. Each year, thousands of people visit the city's resort, Bad Aachen, where hot mineral springs are believed to cure some ailments. Aachen's factories produce machinery, metal products, and textiles. The city is famous for its printen (spicy ginger bread) and has a number of museums, theaters, and universities.

A devastating fire in 1656 caused much of the city to be rebuilt. The Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1818 helped preserve the peace following the Napoleonic Wars. During World War II (1939-1945), Aachen was the first German city taken by the Allies. Much of the city was destroyed in the fighting, but the Rathaus and Cathedral survived. Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was born in Aachen.

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What is A.E.F. (American Expeditionary Forces)?

A.E.F. is the abbreviation for the American Expeditionary Forces sent to Europe during World War I (1914-1918). The A.E.F. was the first United States army ever sent to Europe. General John J. Pershing trained and led the A.E.F. from a small group of regulars in 1917 to a force of 2 million men by the end of the war.

American troops reached the Western Front in France in October 1917 and quickly suffered their first killed and wounded. The first major action involving the A.E.F. occurred on April 20, 1918, near Saint-Mihiel in Lorraine. By mid-summer, American troops were committed in larger and larger numbers, stopping a German attack at Château-Thierry and launching their own attacks at Belleau Wood and Cantigny. By July 4, the A.E.F. was 1 million strong, and 250,000 more were arriving every month. On September 12, the A.E.F. led a victorious offensive at Saint-Mihiel. Exactly two weeks later, they launched the massive Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the U.S. Army's largest battle up to that time. The A.E.F. continued to fight until the war's end on November 11.

The soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen, and others of the A.E.F.—collectively known as the “Doughboys”—reached Europe in time to rally the Allies and provide sufficient strength and advantage to assure victory. They succeeded at a price, however, suffering 53,402 killed in action and another 63,114 dead of other causes—nearly half from influenza. Another 204,002 were wounded in action.

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Facts about A cappella

A cappella is a term describing choral singing without instrumental accompaniment. A cappella, or alla cappella, is an Italian phrase meaning "in the chapel style." Some music historians believe that a cappella originally described the unaccompanied choral singing that took place in the Sistine Chapel, in the Vatican in Rome, during the 1500's. The singers were performing music by composers such as Giovanni Palestrina (see Palestrina, Giovanni).

However, composers such as Josquin Desprez had been writing music for unaccompanied voices in the late 1400's. For hundreds of years, the term referred only to unaccompanied sacred music, such as motets (a vocal composition intended for use in a church service). However, since the 1800's, a cappella has been used to describe all types of unaccompanied choral or group singing of both religious and nonreligious works.

Typical a cappella forms include church motets and psalms, and some folk song arrangements, English madrigals and glees, and romantic part songs of the 1800's and 1900's. Part songs are written for two or more performers. Each singer has a different part, or two or more performers sing each part. Most such songs written before 1600 have parts for four to six singers and are sung a cappella.

The spirituals developed by African slaves on plantations in the southern United States during the 1700's and 1800's added a new dimension to the a cappella style. In many such spirituals, voices were made to imitate instruments. These a cappella arrangements have their origins in African music, where the voice may even be used to imitate a drum. Such authentic African a cappella performances can be heard today in the work of groups such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, from South Africa.

During the 1900's, barbershop music emerged as a particularly American form of a cappella singing. Barbershop quartet singing is a style of harmony using four voices that form a complete four-part chord on almost every note (see Barbershop quartet singing). Jazz, blues, and gospel singing all used a cappella arrangements alongside accompanied singing, using a form of musical part-writing called close harmony. In close harmony, the total span of musical pitches from the highest to the lowest voices in a piece is normally confined to about two octaves. Close harmony arrangements are thus often written for men's voices, women's voices, or for a mixture of baritone, tenor, and alto voices.

A tradition of a capella singing dates back several centuries in the United Kingdom. During the late 1900's and early 2000's, a capella singing also became popular at United States colleges and universities.

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Facts about Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus)

Caribbean spiny lobsters live near rocks or reefs in water no more than 300 feet deep. Much like an army, hundreds of these lobsters march along the ocean floor single file. These lines are as long as 60 miles during their seasonal migrations. How can such large groups stay in line? They use their antennae to communicate and to feel where the lobsters ahead of and behind them are going. They also communicate by sound. The lobsters make noises by rubbing their antennae against small ridges near their eyes.

Female Caribbean spiny lobsters lay their eggs between March and July. The eggs hatch one month later. Newly hatched spiny lobsters are called phyllosomes. These leaf-shaped young don't crawl on the ocean bottom like adult lobsters. Instead, they drift through the water like plankton. They are very different from the adults. For many years, scientists didn't realize that phyllosomes and spiny lobsters were the same species.

When they are about seven months old, phyllosomes change their shape to resemble tiny adult spiny lobsters. At this point, they are less than an inch long. They sink to the ocean floor and quickly double in size. They do this by shedding their shells and growing new ones again and again. They continue to shed their shells as they grow about 1 inch per year throughout their lives. Caribbean spiny lobsters are eaten by groupers and other large fish, as well as by humans.

Length: up to 24 inches
Weight: up to 18 pounds
Diet: mollusks and sea cucumbers
Number of Eggs: up to 4 million
Home: Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Brazil

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Facts About Atlantic Marsh Fiddler (Uca pugnax)

The male Atlantic marsh fiddler crab has an enormous front claw, or "fiddle." When moved, the claw resembles the movements of a person playing the fiddle. The fiddle claw may be either his right claw or his left. He waves this claw in certain patterns when he fights other males and when he tries to attract a female. When the crab runs, he holds the big claw in a threatening manner. Both males and females run sideways.

Atlantic marsh fiddlers live on muddy beaches in the United States. They live in areas alternately covered and exposed by the tides. Each crab makes its own burrow in the mud. It stays in the burrow at high tide. It comes out to look for food at low tide. How does it eat? It scoops up mud and uses its mouth to separate out bits of seaweed and other food particles. It rolls these particles into little pellets. The crab may then carry the pellets into its burrow before eating them.

During courtship the males often make peculiar sounds. One sound is made by rapping the large claw against the ground. Another sound is made by rubbing rough areas of the legs together. After the crabs mate, the eggs are attached to appendages on the female's abdomen. The eggs hatch into tiny larvae that do not look like crabs. The larvae pass through a number of stages. They grow larger and develop the legs and other features of adults.

Length: ^1/2 inch
Width: 1^1/2 inches
Diet: small organic matter
Method of Reproduction: egg layer
Home: Gulf and Atlantic coasts of the United States

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Facts about American Lobster (Homarus americanus)

The American lobster is greenish black on top and yellowish underneath. This is its color in the water. When cooked, it turns bright red. Many people love to eat American lobsters. And lobster fishing is an important industry in New England. But overfishing has reduced the number of lobsters. Large lobsters are now rare. Most are caught when they are quite young.

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Cuba and the United States: A New Chapter

By Elaine Pascoe

For more than 50 years, the United States and Cuba have been neighbors in name only. For decades, these two nations were on opposite sides of the decades-long Cold War. And even after that conflict had passed, the two countries remained bitter rivals. Now, however, that all appears likely to change.

In a step that surprised the world, U.S. president Barack Obama announced December 18 that the United States would restore ties with Cuba. The announcement ended the 54-year-long freeze in relations between the two countries. It was a historic shift in U.S. policy.

Uneasy Neighbors

Cuba lies only about 90 miles (145 kilometers) off the southern tip of Florida. Its history has been closely linked to that of the United States since the 1800s, when Cuba was a Spanish colony.

After the United States defeated Spain in the Spanish-American War in 1898, U.S. troops occupied Cuba for four years. Cuba became independent in 1902, but the United States claimed the right to intervene in its affairs. The United States established a naval base at Guantánamo Bay, which it maintains to this day.

In newly independent Cuba, plantation and business owners grew rich. U.S. companies profited from Cuban investments. But most Cubans were desperately poor. Unrest grew in the 1950s. An armed rebellion broke out, led by Fidel Castro. In 1959, Castro overthrew Cuba's U.S.-backed dictator, Fulgencio Batista.

Castro set about establishing a Communist state. His government seized private land and businesses, including foreign-owned property. He also forged ties with the Soviet Union, which began to provide aid. Poor Cubans benefited in many ways. The government provided education, health care, land for farm workers, and housing. But middle-class Cubans lost out. Many fled to the United States. Castro didn't allow dissent, and those who opposed the government were jailed or exiled.

These changes caused friction with the United States. They came at the height of the Cold War, the political struggle that pitted the United States and its Western allies against the Soviet Union and other Communist countries. In 1961 the United States ended diplomatic relations with Cuba, barred travel from the United States to Cuba, and imposed a trade embargo. The United States also secretly backed efforts to overthrow Castro.

In 1962 the Soviet Union began to place nuclear missiles on Cuba, threatening the United States. The event, referred to as the Cuban Missile Crisis, almost provoked a war between the two countries. Negotiations ended the standoff, and the missiles were removed.

Signs of Change

Soviet aid helped Cuba weather the U.S. trade embargo. But after the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991, Cuba faced serious hardships. Many people expected Castro's government to collapse. But he remained in power until 2008, when illness forced him to step down. His brother, Raúl, took over the presidency.

Raúl Castro took some steps toward reform. He allowed more private enterprise and eased some restrictions on travel. He also seemed willing to improve relations with the United States. Many Cubans hoped for more opportunity and less poverty. But the reforms were not enough to improve life for most people.

Over the years many Cubans had fled the country. Many of them risked their lives, heading for Florida in makeshift boats. Waves of migrants arrived in 1980 and 1994. By 2014 the number of migrants was growing again.

Meanwhile, people in the United States were questioning the trade embargo and other restrictions. A half-century of isolation had not brought down Cuba's Communist regime. But the policy still had support, especially among conservatives and Cubans who had fled the island in the 1960s.

A New Era?

The December 2014 agreement came after 18 months of behind-the-scenes negotiations between top U.S. and Cuban officials. As part of it, the United States released three convicted Cuban spies in exchange for a U.S. intelligence agent held by Cuba. Cuba also released a U.S. government contractor, Alan Gross, who had been imprisoned for five years. Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic Church, helped in the negotiations.

The prisoner swap set the stage for sweeping changes in U.S.-Cuban relations:

• The United States will normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba and will open an embassy there.
• Restrictions on travel and banking are being reduced.
• Restrictions on agricultural and certain other exports will also be eased.
• Cuba's place on a list of countries that sponsor terrorism is under review. Getting off that list would give Cuba greater access to international trade and banking.

These steps are being taken under the president's executive authority. But the trade embargo will remain unless Congress votes to end it. In early January, the U.S. State Department announced that a U.S. delegation would visit Havana to discuss migration and other issues. At press time, the talks were set for Jan. 21–22.

Polls show that most Americans support the change in policy. But opponents have been sharply critical. They say that easing restrictions is giving in to a dictatorship. Strong opposition, especially among Republican politicians, makes it unlikely that Congress will lift the trade embargo soon.

Many Cubans have also welcomed the agreement. They hope the change will bring economic and political benefits. The Cuban government has released 53 political prisoners and agreed to permit greater Internet access.

However, President Castro has made it clear that the country's one-party system would not change. His government continues to suppress dissent. Because of these and other factors, it remains to be seen what impact the new agreement will have and how quickly change will come to Cuba.

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