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The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on Tuesday, August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in the present-day Brooklyn, New York. The British defeated the Americans and gained access to the strategically important Port of New York, which they held for the rest of the war. It was the first major battle to take place after the United States declared its independence on July 4, and in troop deployment and combat, it was the largest battle of the war.

After defeating the British in the siege of Boston on March 17, commander-in-chief George Washington relocated the Continental Army to defend the port city of New York, located at the southern end of Manhattan Island. Washington understood that the city's harbor would provide an excellent base for the Royal Navy, so he established defenses there and waited for the British to attack. In July, the British, under the command of General William Howe, landed a few miles across the harbor on the sparsely populated Staten Island, where they were reinforced by a fleet of ships in Lower New York Bay over the next month and a half, bringing their total force to 32,000 troops. Washington knew the difficulty in holding the city with the British fleet in control of the entrance to the harbor at the Narrows, and accordingly moved the bulk of his forces to Manhattan, believing that it would be the first target. (Full article...)

Cornell University is a private Ivy League and statutory land-grant research university, based in Ithaca, New York. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach and make contributions in all fields of knowledge — from the classics to the sciences, and from the theoretical to the applied. These ideals, unconventional for the time, are captured in Cornell's founding principle, a popular 1868 quotation from founder Ezra Cornell: "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study."

The university is organized into seven undergraduate colleges and seven graduate divisions at its main Ithaca campus, with each college and division defining its specific admission standards and academic programs in near autonomy. The university also administers two satellite campuses, one in New York City and one in Education City, Qatar. (Full article...)

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Robert Sterling Yard (February 1, 1861 – May 17, 1945) was an American writer, journalist, and wilderness activist. Born in Haverstraw, New York, Yard graduated from Princeton University and spent the first twenty years of his career in the editing and publishing business. In 1915, he was recruited by his friend Stephen Mather to help publicize the need for an independent national park agency. Their numerous publications were part of a movement that resulted in legislative support for a National Park Service (NPS) in 1916. Yard served as head of the National Parks Educational Committee for several years after its conception, but tension within the NPS led him to concentrate on non-government initiatives. He became executive secretary of the National Parks Association in 1919.

Yard worked to promote the national parks as well as educate Americans about their use. Creating high standards based on aesthetic ideals for park selection, he also opposed commercialism and industrialization of what he called "America's masterpieces". These standards subsequently caused discord with his peers. After helping to establish a relationship between the NPA and the United States Forest Service, Yard later became involved in the protection of wilderness areas. In 1935, he became one of the eight founding members of The Wilderness Society and acted as its first president from 1937 until his death eight years later. Yard is now considered an important figure in the modern wilderness movement. (Full article...)

The Montauk Point Lighthouse is in Montauk Point State Park, which is located in the village of Montauk at the eastern tip of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York. Montauk Point is the easternmost extremity of the South Fork of Long Island, and also extreme points of the New York State. Construction on the lighthouse was authorized by the Second United States Congress, under President George Washington in 1792. Construction began on June 7, 1796, and was completed on November 5, 1796.

• June 16: Wikinews interviews candidate for New York City mayor Vitaly Filipchenko
• August 13: Water main bursts in White Plains, New York, US
• June 19: On the campaign trail in the USA, May 2020
• February 15: California lawyer Michael Avenatti convicted of attempted extortion
• October 17: Hundreds arrested for 'dark web' child porn by international task force
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• September 29: Fiancée of murdered Saudi journalist demands justice at UN General Assembly
• September 21: NYC Mayor de Blasio ends US presidential campaign

• ...that contrary to some beliefs, the Battle of Plattsburgh was decided by the naval engagement and not other means?
• ...that Hawker v. New York is a law preventing convicted felons from practicing medicine, even when the felony conviction occurred before the law was enacted, as decided by the Supreme Court of the United States?
• ...that Representatives of the Albany Congress met on a daily basis between June 19 and July 11 to discuss better relations with the Indian tribes and common defensive measures against the French?

• Murder of Grace Brown (March 20, 1886 – July 11, 1906) was the murder of a New York-raised American skirt factory worker and became the basis of Roberta Alden, a character from the novel An American Tragedy.
• Billy Collins (March 22, 1941) is an American poet who has previously been recognized as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library and New York State Poet for 2004.
• Arent S. Crowninshield (March 14, 1843 - 1908) was an admiral of the United States Navy.
• Herbert Henry Lehman (March 28, 1878 – December 5, 1963) was a Democratic Party politician from New York who served as the Governor of New York from 1933 until 1942.