Frederick Schwatka was an American Arctic explorer. He was born in 1849 at Galena, Illinois and died in 1892. In 1878 he undertook a voyage of Arcticdiscovery in search of relics of Sir John Franklin's party. He made sledge journeys from the shores of Hudson Bay to King William Land and returned in 1880 after suffering terrible hardships, with a number of relics obtained from the Inuit. In 1886 and 1889 he carried out explorations of Alaska. Research Frederick Schwatka
Ulysses Simpson Grant (real name Hiram Ulysses Grant, his later name arose from an error in the registration process for his cadetship) was an American soldier, politician and the eighteenth president of the USA from 1869 to 1877. He was born in 1822 at Point Pleasant, Ohio and died in 1885. He attended and graduated West Point military academy, graduated in 1843 and joined the 4th US Infantry at Jefferson Barracks as a brevet second lieutenant, being commissioned a lieutenant, he fought in the Mexican War, and was present at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma among others, and was brevetted captain in 1847 for conduct at Chapultepec. In 1854 he resigned his commission and engaged in business - first in farming near St Louis and later in the leathertrade with his father at galena, Illinois - until 1861 with the declaration of war when he was chosen captain of a company of volunteers. He was soon after the outbreak of the American Civil War given command of the forces at Cairo, Illinois, and in 1861 seized Paducah. In 1862 he gained possession of Fort Henry and Port Donelson, strongly contested points, the surrender of which was the first brilliant victory of the national arms. For this success he was commissioned major-general. In conjunction with the forces of General Buell he defeated the Confederates at Pittsburg Landing and soon afterward was assigned to command in Tennessee. He defeated General Price in 1863 and succeeded in taking Vicksburg from Pendleton after repeated attacks. Having thus secured the Mississippi, he was appointed major-general in the regular army and placed in command of the Western army.
He gained brilliant victories about Chattanooga and was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to the newly revived rank of lieutenant-general. Leaving Sherman to conduct the chief Western army from Tennessee to the sea, he assumed control of the movements against the Confederates defending Richmond, commanded by General Lee. With dogged persistence and at great sacrifice of life he fought the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor, destroying the railways which brought supplies to the Confederates, taking Petersburg in 1865 and compelling the entire command to surrender on April the 9th at Appomattox Court House, thereby ending the American Civil War.
In the period of reconstruction which followed he played a most honourable part, often being placed in difficult positions by the animosity between President Johnson and Congress. In 1868 he was unanimously nominated for President by the Republicans, was elected and served two terms, from 1868 to 1876. During his administration occurred the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, the funding of the national debt, civil service reform was inaugurated, the Treaty of Washington was negotiated with Great Britain, and specie payment was resumed in 1875. His administration as President was not wholly successful, some of his advisers proving most unworthy. He possessed an unassuming manner, yet was self-reliant and prompt in his decisions, calm and patient in all circumstances, and won the admiration of all by his moral and physical courage. Research Ulysses Simpson Grant
Lead is a soft, malleable, metallic element with the symbolPb. It occurs in many ores, the most important of which is galena. It is a very dense metal, and is used as a shield in environments where radiation abounds, such as x-rays and the nuclear industry.
Anglesite is a common, minor ore of lead formed by the oxidation of galena. It has the formulae PbSO4 and a relative hardness of 3. It is found in the upper, oxidized portions of lead veins and is named after the Island of Anglesey. Research Anglesite
Cerussite (lead carbonate) is an important and widely distributed supergene lead ore formed by the action of carbonated waters on galena in the upper zone of lead veins. It is often found associated with galena and sphalerite. It has the formulae PbCO3 and a relative hardness of 4. Research Cerussite
Cryolite is the fluoride of sodium and aluminium, it is found in Greenland in pale greyish-white or yellowish-brown cleavable masses often enclosing brown siderite and grey galena. It always occurs in pegmatites where it's probably a precipitate from fluoride rich solutions. It has been used as a source of aluminium, and is used in the manufacture of sodiumsalts, certain kinds of high quality glass and hard porcelain, and as a flux for cleaning metal surfaces. It has the formulae Na3AlF and a relative hardness of 3 and has a vitreouslustre. Research Cryolite
Galena (lead sulphide) or galenite is virtually the only source of lead and an important ore of silver. It is found both in masses and crystallized in cubes, but sometimes in truncated octahedra and has the formulae PbS and a relative hardness of 3. It is a very common metallic mineral, its colour is bluish-grey, like lead, but brighter; its lustre metallic; texture foliated; fragments cubical; soft, but brittle. When found in veins that show a connection to igneous rocks, it is frequently found with silver minerals. Galena is also found in limestones either as veins or as a replacement deposit.
Galena effervesces with nitric and hydrochloric acids. For the most part it contains about 86.6 per cent of lead and 13.4 of sulphur, generally some silver, and also antimony, zinc, iron, and bismuth. Where the proportion of silver is high it is known as argentiferous galena, and worked with a view to the extraction of this metal. Galena occurs principally in the older or primary rocks, being found in England mainly in the Mountain Limestone (base of the Carboniferousformation). In the United States it is very abundant, the deposit of galena in which the mines of Illinois are situated being extensive and important. Research Galena
Abbreviations
Research Frederick Schwatka
