By Fred Sauceman | This is the second of a four-part series of stories to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America as well as the story of the nation's journey since. Two million people lined up along the parade route across Paris, France, on Saturday, Dec. 14, 1918. French President Raymond Poincaré said the reception “stood alone among the welcome given any previous visitor to Paris.”

By Phillip J. Obermiller and Thomas E. Wagner | The Civil War lasted longer and produced more disabled soldiers than Union or Confederacy officials anticipated. In addition to the thousands wounded in battle, camp diseases such as smallpox, pneumonia, cholera, typhoid, and dysentery put many combatants in need of medical care.

In celebration of the anniversary of the nation’s founding, Irish and old-time musicians joined scholars from East Tennessee State University and Ireland on May 15 and 16 to discuss and celebrate America’s Irish Influences. The two-day event, “America 250: Celebrating The Role of the Irish,” was held on the ETSU campus on Friday, and at Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park in Elizabethton on Saturday.