In 1862, Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, a bill opening one half million square miles of territory in the western United States for settlement.
“When I was in school, I was very involved with a lot of things. I was very very active. I couldn't say that I wasn't popular. I was a cheerleader when I was in junior high. I didn't make it in high school so I started a dance line.”
“Even more than this, however, the sick - like lepers - were often reviled because people believed that they had brought their torments upon themselves.”