The Flag of Tennessee
Tennessee ( TEN -iss-EE , TEN -iss-ee ), officially the State of Tennessee , is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States . It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina to the east, Georgia , Alabama , and Mississippi to the south, Arkansas to the southwest, and Missouri to the northwest. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. Tennessee is geographically, culturally, and legally divided into three Grand Divisions of East , Middle , and West Tennessee . Nashville is the state's capital and largest city, and anchors its largest metropolitan area. Other major cities include Memphis , Knoxville , Chattanooga , and Clarksville . Tennessee's population as of the 2020 United States census is approximately 6.9 million.
Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association , a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachian Mountains . Its name derives from Tanasi (ᏔᎾᏏ ), a Cherokee town in the eastern part of the state that existed before the first European American settlement. Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, and later the Southwest Territory , before its admission to the Union as the 16th state on June 1, 1796. It earned the nickname "The Volunteer State" early in its history due to a strong tradition of military service. A slave state until the American Civil War , Tennessee was politically divided, with most of its western and middle parts supporting the Confederacy , and most of the eastern region harboring pro -Union sentiment. As a result, Tennessee was the last state to officially secede from the Union and join the Confederacy , and the first former Confederate state readmitted to the Union after the war had ended during the lengthy Reconstruction era .
During the 20th century, Tennessee transitioned from a predominantly agrarian society to a more diversified economy. This was aided in part by massive federal investment in the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the city of Oak Ridge , which was established during World War II to house the Manhattan Project 's uranium enrichment facilities for the construction of the world's first atomic bombs . After the war, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory became a key center of scientific research. In 2016, the element tennessine was named for the state, largely in recognition of the roles played by Oak Ridge, Vanderbilt University , and the University of Tennessee in its discovery. Tennessee has also played a major role in the development of many forms of popular music , including country , blues , rock and roll , soul , and gospel . (Full article... )
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Aerial photograph of site taken the day after the event
The Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill was an environmental and industrial disaster that occurred on December 22, 2008, when a dike ruptured at a coal ash pond at the Tennessee Valley Authority 's Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County, Tennessee , releasing 1.1 billion US gallons (4.2 million cubic metres) of coal fly ash slurry . The coal-fired power plant , located across the Clinch River from the city of Kingston , used a series of ponds to store and dewater the fly ash, a byproduct of coal combustion . The spill released a slurry of fly ash and water which traveled across the Emory River and its Swan Pond embayment onto the opposite shore, covering up to 300 acres (1.2 km2 ) of the surrounding land. The spill damaged multiple homes and flowed into nearby waterways including the Emory River and Clinch River, both tributaries of the Tennessee River . It was the largest industrial spill in United States history.
The initial spill, which resulted in millions of dollars worth of property damages and rendered many properties uninhabitable, cost TVA more than $1 billion to clean up and was declared complete in 2015. TVA was found liable for the spill in August 2012 by the
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee . The initial spill resulted in no injuries or deaths, but several of the employees of an engineering firm hired by TVA to clean up the spill developed illnesses, including
brain cancer ,
lung cancer , and
leukemia , as a result of exposure to the toxic coal ash, and by the 10-year anniversary of the spill, more than 30 had died. In November 2018, a federal jury ruled that the contractor did not properly inform the workers about the dangers of exposure to coal ash and had failed to provide them with necessary personal protective equipment. After rejecting multiple offers, workers reached a settlement with the contractor in May 2023. (
Full article... )
List of recognized articles
The Swaggerty Blockhouse is a historic structure near Parrottsville , in the U.S. state of Tennessee . The structure was originally believed to have been a frontier blockhouse built by early settler James Swaggerty in 1787. Recent archaeological evidence suggests, however, that the structure was actually a cantilever barn built by a farmer named Jacob Stephens around 1860.
In the late 18th-century, blockhouses dotted
East Tennessee and the Trans-Appalachian frontier, as attacks from hostile
Cherokee and other
Native Americans were a constant threat. While the Swaggerty Blockhouse bears some resemblance to historical blockhouse descriptions, it lacks common blockhouse characteristics such as gun portals. The Swaggerty Blockhouse's degree of cantilever (i.e., the degree to which the upper story extends outward beyond the lower story) is also greater than typical frontier blockhouses. Analysis of the tree rings in the Swaggerty Blockhouse's logs indicated a cutting date of 1860, well after the region's frontier period. (
Full article... )
List of selected articles
History of Tennessee List of Tennessee state symbols Nashville, Tennessee List of governors of Tennessee Governor of Tennessee East Tennessee Middle Tennessee West Tennessee Knoxville, Tennessee Tennessee River Memphis, Tennessee Chattanooga, Tennessee Clarksville, Tennessee Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Cleveland, Tennessee Dolly Parton Tennessee State Guard University of Memphis Toqua (Tennessee) Great Smoky Mountains Great Smoky Mountains Interstate 40 in Tennessee Old Crow Medicine Show Unicoi Mountains Old City, Knoxville Nashville Americans Valerie June Battle of Fort Donelson Battle of Fort Henry Collierville, Tennessee Vanderbilt University Tennessee whiskey Jack Daniel's Grand Ole Opry Battle of Nashville Nashville Superspeedway Johnny Cash Carl Perkins Tennessee Waltz Morristown, Tennessee Fainting goat Bessie Smith Cookeville, Tennessee Murfreesboro, Tennessee Bob Corker Edgar Evins State Park Graceland Bledsoe Creek State Park Dollywood Tennessee Valley Authority Black Patch Tobacco Wars Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The following are images from various Tennessee-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1 Howard Baker served as
Senate Minority and Majority Leader from 1977 to 1985, and was known as "The Great Conciliator" (from
Tennessee )
Image 2 Memphis became known as the "Cotton Capital of the World" in the years following the Civil War (from
Tennessee )
Image 3 Köppen climate types of Tennessee, using 1991-2020
climate normals . (from
Tennessee )
Image 4 Offices of
The Tennessean in Nashville (from
Tennessee )
Image 5 Memphis became known as the "Cotton Capital of the World" in the years following the Civil War (from
Tennessee )
Image 6 Workers at the
Norris Dam construction camp site in 1933 (from
Tennessee )
Image 7 Reconstruction of
Fort Loudoun , the first British settlement in Tennessee (from
Tennessee )
Image 8 The
Battle of Franklin , November 30, 1864 (from
Tennessee )
Image 9 in 1946 the U.S. Post Office issued a
commemorative stamp celebrating the 150th anniversary of Tennessee statehood. (from
Tennessee )
Image 11 The
Grand Ole Opry , which was recorded in
Nashville 's
Ryman Auditorium from 1943 to 1974, is the longest-running
radio broadcast in US history. (from
Tennessee )
Image 12 The
Grand Ole Opry , which was recorded in
Nashville 's
Ryman Auditorium from 1943 to 1974, is the longest-running
radio broadcast in US history. (from
Tennessee )
Image 13 A
Nissan Leaf , one of six models manufactured at the
Nissan Smyrna Assembly Plant , the largest automotive assembly plant in North America (from
Tennessee )
Image 16 Al Gore served as a
United States Senator from Tennessee (1985–1993) and as
Vice President of the United States (1993–2001) (from
Tennessee )
Image 17 Al Gore served as a
United States Senator from Tennessee (1985–1993) and as
Vice President of the United States (1993–2001) (from
Tennessee )
Image 18 The Hermitage , plantation home of President
Andrew Jackson in Nashville (from
Tennessee )
Image 19 Offices of
The Tennessean in Nashville (from
Tennessee )
Image 21 Interstate 40 traverses Tennessee from east to west, and serves the state's three largest cities. (from
Tennessee )
Image 22 Vanderbilt University in Nashville is consistently ranked as one of the top research institutions in the nation (from
Tennessee )
Image 24 The Hermitage , plantation home of President
Andrew Jackson , now a museum in
Davidson County (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 25 Köppen climate types of Tennessee, using 1991-2020
climate normals . (from
Tennessee )
Image 26 Nashville's replica of the
Parthenon (built 1897) (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 27 Fall Creek Falls , the tallest waterfall in the eastern United States, is located on the Cumberland Plateau (from
Tennessee )
Image 28 A geomap showing the counties of Tennessee colored by the relative range of that county's median income. (from
Tennessee )
Image 29 The
resort city of
Gatlinburg borders the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park , which is the most visited national park in the United States. (from
Tennessee )
Image 30 Calutron operators at the
Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge during the
Manhattan Project (from
Tennessee )
Image 31 The Southwest Territory in 1790 (from
Tennessee )
Image 33 The
Ryman Auditorium , home of the "Grand Ole Opry" in Nashville (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 34 Vanderbilt University in Nashville is consistently ranked as one of the top research institutions in the nation (from
Tennessee )
Image 35 Memphis International Airport , the hub of
FedEx Corporation , is the busiest cargo airport in the world (from
Tennessee )
Image 37 Conquistador Hernando de Soto , first European to visit Tennessee (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 39 The Tennessee at Chattanooga , 1872, by
Harry Fenn (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 40 Fall Creek Falls , the tallest waterfall in the eastern United States, is located on the Cumberland Plateau (from
Tennessee )
Image 41 The
1982 World's Fair in Knoxville (from
Tennessee )
Image 42 The
Ocoee River was home to the
1996 Summer Olympics whitewater slalom events, the only Olympic sporting event ever held in the state. (from
Tennessee )
Image 43 Established in 1942,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the largest national laboratory in the Department of Energy system (from
Tennessee )
Image 44 Mount Le Conte in the
Great Smoky Mountains is the tallest mountain in eastern North America, measured from base to summit (from
Tennessee )
Image 45 John Bell (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 46 A
Nissan Leaf , one of six models manufactured at the
Nissan Smyrna Assembly Plant , the largest automotive assembly plant in North America (from
Tennessee )
Image 47 Cedar glades are an ecosystem that is found in regions of Middle Tennessee where limestone bedrock is close to the surface (from
Tennessee )
Image 48 Map of counties in Tennessee by racial plurality, per the 2020 U.S. census
Non-Hispanic White 50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
90%+
Black or African American 50–60%
(from
Tennessee )
Image 49 Cedar glades are an ecosystem that is found in regions of Middle Tennessee where limestone bedrock is close to the surface (from
Tennessee )
Image 50 Mount Le Conte in the
Great Smoky Mountains is the tallest mountain in eastern North America, measured from base to summit (from
Tennessee )
Image 51 The
Battle of Franklin , November 30, 1864 (from
Tennessee )
Image 53 The
1982 World's Fair in Knoxville (from
Tennessee )
Image 55 The Southwest Territory in 1790 (from
Tennessee )
Image 56 Reconstruction of
Fort Loudoun , the first British settlement in Tennessee (from
Tennessee )
Image 57 Calutron operators at the
Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge during the
Manhattan Project (from
Tennessee )
Image 58 Map of counties in Tennessee by racial plurality, per the 2020 U.S. census
Non-Hispanic White 50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
90%+
Black or African American 50–60%
(from
Tennessee )
Image 59 Interstate 40 traverses Tennessee from east to west, and serves the state's three largest cities. (from
Tennessee )
Image 60 Howard Baker served as
Senate Minority and Majority Leader from 1977 to 1985, and was known as "The Great Conciliator" (from
Tennessee )
Image 62 A geomap showing the counties of Tennessee colored by the relative range of that county's median income. (from
Tennessee )
Image 63 Memphis International Airport , the hub of
FedEx Corporation , is the busiest cargo airport in the world (from
Tennessee )
Image 65 The
resort city of
Gatlinburg borders the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park , which is the most visited national park in the United States. (from
Tennessee )
Image 67 Surveyor
Daniel Smith's "Map of the Tennassee State" (1796) (from
Tennessee )
Image 68 in 1946 the U.S. Post Office issued a
commemorative stamp celebrating the 150th anniversary of Tennessee statehood. (from
Tennessee )
Image 69 Surveyor
Daniel Smith's "Map of the Tennassee State" (1796) (from
Tennessee )
Image 70 1861 Bank of Tennessee 1 dollar banknote (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 71 The
Ocoee River was home to the
1996 Summer Olympics whitewater slalom events, the only Olympic sporting event ever held in the state. (from
Tennessee )
Image 73 Established in 1942,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the largest national laboratory in the Department of Energy system (from
Tennessee )
Image 74 A View of Memphis, Tennessee , 1871 (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 75 Chart showing poverty in Tennessee, by age and gender (red = female) (from
Tennessee )
Image 76 Workers at the
Norris Dam construction camp site in 1933 (from
Tennessee )
Image 77 The Hermitage , plantation home of President
Andrew Jackson in Nashville (from
Tennessee )
Image 78 Chart showing poverty in Tennessee, by age and gender (red = female) (from
Tennessee )
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