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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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Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), known mononymously as Elvis , was an American singer and actor. Known as the "King of Rock and Roll ", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century . Presley's energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations , brought both great success and initial controversy .
Presley was born in
Tupelo, Mississippi ; his family relocated to
Memphis, Tennessee , when he was 13. His music career began there in 1954, at
Sun Records with producer
Sam Phillips , who wanted to bring the sound of
African-American music to a wider audience. Presley, on guitar and accompanied by lead guitarist
Scotty Moore and bassist
Bill Black , was a pioneer of
rockabilly , an uptempo,
backbeat -driven fusion of
country music and
rhythm and blues . In 1955, drummer
D. J. Fontana joined to complete the lineup of Presley's classic quartet and
RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by
Colonel Tom Parker , who managed him for the rest of his life. Presley's first RCA Victor single, "
Heartbreak Hotel ", was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the US. Within a year, RCA Victor would sell ten million Presley singles. With a series of successful television appearances and chart-topping records, Presley became the leading figure of the newly popular
rock and roll ; though his performative style and promotion of the then-marginalized sound of African Americans led to him being widely considered a
threat to the moral well-being of
white American youth. (
Full article... )
List of recognized articles
The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces . The governor is the only official in the Tennessee state government who is directly elected by the voters of the entire state.
The current governor is
Bill Lee , a member of the
Republican Party , who took office on January 19, 2019, as the state's 50th governor. He was re-elected to serve a second term in
2022 . (
Full article... )
List of selected articles
History of Tennessee List of Tennessee state symbols Nashville, Tennessee List of governors 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 Swaggerty Blockhouse 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 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 2 Conquistador Hernando de Soto , first European to visit Tennessee (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 3 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 4 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 5 Established in 1942,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the largest national laboratory in the Department of Energy system (from
Tennessee )
Image 6 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 7 The Tennessee at Chattanooga , 1872, by
Harry Fenn (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 8 in 1946 the U.S. Post Office issued a
commemorative stamp celebrating the 150th anniversary of Tennessee statehood. (from
Tennessee )
Image 10 Fall Creek Falls , the tallest waterfall in the eastern United States, is located on the Cumberland Plateau (from
Tennessee )
Image 11 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 12 in 1946 the U.S. Post Office issued a
commemorative stamp celebrating the 150th anniversary of Tennessee statehood. (from
Tennessee )
Image 13 John Bell (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 15 Memphis became known as the "Cotton Capital of the World" in the years following the Civil War (from
Tennessee )
Image 16 Cedar glades are an ecosystem that is found in regions of Middle Tennessee where limestone bedrock is close to the surface (from
Tennessee )
Image 17 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 18 Memphis International Airport , the hub of
FedEx Corporation , is the busiest cargo airport in the world (from
Tennessee )
Image 19 Reconstruction of
Fort Loudoun , the first British settlement in Tennessee (from
Tennessee )
Image 20 Workers at the
Norris Dam construction camp site in 1933 (from
Tennessee )
Image 22 The
Battle of Franklin , November 30, 1864 (from
Tennessee )
Image 23 Cedar glades are an ecosystem that is found in regions of Middle Tennessee where limestone bedrock is close to the surface (from
Tennessee )
Image 24 Calutron operators at the
Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge during the
Manhattan Project (from
Tennessee )
Image 25 Mount Le Conte in the
Great Smoky Mountains is the tallest mountain in eastern North America, measured from base to summit (from
Tennessee )
Image 28 The
Battle of Franklin , November 30, 1864 (from
Tennessee )
Image 29 Howard Baker served as
Senate Minority and Majority Leader from 1977 to 1985, and was known as "The Great Conciliator" (from
Tennessee )
Image 30 The Southwest Territory in 1790 (from
Tennessee )
Image 31 Offices of
The Tennessean in Nashville (from
Tennessee )
Image 32 Nashville's replica of the
Parthenon (built 1897) (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 34 Interstate 40 traverses Tennessee from east to west, and serves the state's three largest cities. (from
Tennessee )
Image 35 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 36 A geomap showing the counties of Tennessee colored by the relative range of that county's median income. (from
Tennessee )
Image 37 Fall Creek Falls , the tallest waterfall in the eastern United States, is located on the Cumberland Plateau (from
Tennessee )
Image 38 Surveyor
Daniel Smith's "Map of the Tennassee State" (1796) (from
Tennessee )
Image 39 The Hermitage , plantation home of President
Andrew Jackson in Nashville (from
Tennessee )
Image 40 A geomap showing the counties of Tennessee colored by the relative range of that county's median income. (from
Tennessee )
Image 42 1861 Bank of Tennessee 1 dollar banknote (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 44 Workers at the
Norris Dam construction camp site in 1933 (from
Tennessee )
Image 45 Howard Baker served as
Senate Minority and Majority Leader from 1977 to 1985, and was known as "The Great Conciliator" (from
Tennessee )
Image 46 Chart showing poverty in Tennessee, by age and gender (red = female) (from
Tennessee )
Image 47 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 48 The Hermitage , plantation home of President
Andrew Jackson , now a museum in
Davidson County (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 49 The
Ryman Auditorium , home of the "Grand Ole Opry" in Nashville (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 50 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 51 Memphis became known as the "Cotton Capital of the World" in the years following the Civil War (from
Tennessee )
Image 52 The Southwest Territory in 1790 (from
Tennessee )
Image 54 Vanderbilt University in Nashville is consistently ranked as one of the top research institutions in the nation (from
Tennessee )
Image 55 A View of Memphis, Tennessee , 1871 (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 56 The
1982 World's Fair in Knoxville (from
Tennessee )
Image 57 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 Köppen climate types of Tennessee, using 1991–2020
climate normals . (from
Tennessee )
Image 60 Offices of
The Tennessean in Nashville (from
Tennessee )
Image 61 Vanderbilt University in Nashville is consistently ranked as one of the top research institutions in the nation (from
Tennessee )
Image 63 Surveyor
Daniel Smith's "Map of the Tennassee State" (1796) (from
Tennessee )
Image 66 Chart showing poverty in Tennessee, by age and gender (red = female) (from
Tennessee )
Image 67 Established in 1942,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the largest national laboratory in the Department of Energy system (from
Tennessee )
Image 69 Mount Le Conte in the
Great Smoky Mountains is the tallest mountain in eastern North America, measured from base to summit (from
Tennessee )
Image 70 Calutron operators at the
Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge during the
Manhattan Project (from
Tennessee )
Image 71 Memphis International Airport , the hub of
FedEx Corporation , is the busiest cargo airport in the world (from
Tennessee )
Image 72 Reconstruction of
Fort Loudoun , the first British settlement in Tennessee (from
Tennessee )
Image 73 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 74 Interstate 40 traverses Tennessee from east to west, and serves the state's three largest cities. (from
Tennessee )
Image 75 The
1982 World's Fair in Knoxville (from
Tennessee )
Image 76 The Hermitage , plantation home of President
Andrew Jackson in Nashville (from
Tennessee )
Image 77 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 78 Köppen climate types of Tennessee, using 1991–2020
climate normals . (from
Tennessee )
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