Portal:Washington
The Washington PortalWashington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory and admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889. In 2011, the Census Bureau estimated the state's population at 6,830,038. Named after George Washington, it is the only U.S. state named after a president. Residents are called "Washingtonians" (emphasis on the third syllable, pronounced as tone). Washington is sometimes called Washington State or the State of Washington to distinguish it from Washington, D.C., the U.S. capital. Selected pictureMount Rainier is an active stratovolcano (also known as a composite volcano) in Pierce County, located 54 miles (87 km) southeast of Seattle. It is the highest peak in the Cascade Range and Cascade Volcanic Arc at 14,411 feet (4,392 m). The mountain and the surrounding area are protected within Mount Rainier National Park. With 26 major glaciers, Mount Rainier is the most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48 states with 35 square miles (91 km2) of permanent snowfields and glaciers. The summit is topped by two volcanic craters, each over 1,000 feet (300 m) in diameter with the larger east crater overlapping the west crater. Selected biographyWilliam Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate, philanthropist, the world's third richest person (as of 2008), and chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of CEO and chief software architect, and remains the largest individual shareholder with more than 9 percent of the common stock. He has also authored or co-authored several books. Gates is one of the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution. Although he is admired by many, a large number of industry insiders criticize his business tactics, which they consider anti-competitive, an opinion which has in some cases been upheld by the courts. In the later stages of his career, Gates has pursued a number of philanthropic endeavors, donating large amounts of money to various charitable organizations and scientific research programs through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, established in 2000. Bill Gates stepped down as chief executive officer of Microsoft in January, 2000. He remained as chairman and created the position of chief software architect. In June, 2006, Gates announced that he would be transitioning from full-time work at Microsoft to part-time work at Microsoft and full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He gradually transferred his duties to Ray Ozzie, chief software architect and Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer. Gates's last full-time day at Microsoft was June 27, 2008. He remains at Microsoft as a part-time, non-executive chairman. (more...) Did you know...
In the newsWikinews Washington portal
In this month
Selected articleThe Hanford Site is a decommissioned nuclear production complex on the Columbia River in south-central Washington operated by the United States government. The site has been known by many names, including Hanford Works, Hanford Engineer Works, Hanford Nuclear Reservation, and the Hanford Project. Established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project, it was home to the B-Reactor, the first full-scale plutonium production reactor in the world. Plutonium manufactured at the site was used in the first nuclear bomb, tested at the Trinity site, and in Fat Man, the bomb detonated over Nagasaki, Japan. (more...) State facts
CategoriesFeatured content
Featured pictures (see also FM-Class Washington articles)
Main topicsLists
WikiProjectsThings you can doRelated portalsWikimedia |