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Legend has it that Hernando de Soto or members of his 1539 expedition named the Appalachian Mountains. Surviving accounts of the de Soto expedition, however, offer no evidence that the conquistador or his companions intended to designate the eastern mountain chain for the Apalachee Indians, whom they encountered far to the south in what is now northern Florida.
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Few British settlers had ventured into Kentucky because it was not easy to cross the Appalachian Mountains. Explorer Dr. Thomas Walker discovered a pass through the mountains. He called it the Cumberland Gap.
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James Robertson and William Bean were among the first settlers to come into Tennessee and settle west of the Proclamation line.
http://www.tn4me.org/tpsapage.cfm/sa_id/41/era_id/3 -
Coal (Anthracite) is first mined 1775 in Pennsylvania.
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Crockett and a 30-man armed brigade arrived in Nacogdoches, Texas, in January 1836 during the Texas War for Independence. Crockett swore allegiance to the Provisional Government of Texas in exchange for land and arrived in San Antonio at the Alamo Mission in February.
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George Vanderbilt revealed the magnificent 250 room Biltmore Estates to friends and family on Christmas Eve of 1895.
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Oak Ridge, TN was founded to develop the atomic bomb that was later used in Hiroshima.
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Caverns full of stalagmites and stalactites are discovered in Luray, Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley by five men. The site is developed for profit unlike other cavern sites in New Mexico or Kentucky.
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Knoxville welcomes the world for what is later deemed a flop. It was America's last hosting of the world fair. The theme was "Energy turns the world." Visitors included Bob Hope and President Ronald Reagan.
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Under coach Phillip Fulmer the University of Tennessee's Vol's won the NCAA National Championship against Florida State. They won with a score of 23-16. The season record was 13-0,
