Maryland's coastline was first explored by Europeans in the 16th century. Prior to that, it was inhabited by several Native American tribes, mostly the Algonquian peoples and, to a lesser degree, Iroquoians and Siouans. As one of the original Thirteen Colonies of England, Maryland was founded by George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, a Catholic convert who sought to provide a religious haven for Catholics persecuted in England. In 1632, Charles I of England granted Lord Baltimore a colonial charter, naming the colony after his wife, Henrietta Maria. Unlike the Pilgrims and Puritans, who rejected Catholicism in their settlements, Lord Baltimore envisioned a colony where people of different religious sects would coexist under the principle of toleration. (Full article...)
This is a Featured article, which represents some of the best content on English Wikipedia..
The old "Assembly Rooms" of the former Baltimore Dancing Assembly, built 1797, third floor added 1835. First major school-owned structure of "The High School" (founded 1839), purchased 1843, later called the "Male High School" briefly after 1844, renamed the "Central High School of Baltimore", (later becoming The Baltimore City College in 1866). The building located at the northeast corner of Holliday and East Fayette Streets, burned in November 1873, in a fire that spread from the adjacent famous Holliday Street Theater. It is now the site of the War Memorial Plaza (constructed 1917–1925) between the later Baltimore City Hall of 1867–75, to the west and the War Memorial Hall of 1925, to the east
The history of The Baltimore City College began in March 1839, when the City Council of Baltimore, Maryland, passed a resolution mandating the creation of a male high school with a focus on the study of English and classical literature. "The High School" (later becoming The Baltimore City College) was opened later in the same year on October 20, with 46 pupils under the direction of Professor Nathan C. Brooks,(1809-1898), a local noted classical educator and poet, who became the first principal of a new type of higher institution in the developing public education system in the city begun in 1829. It is now considered to be the third oldest public high school / secondary school in the nation. In 1850, the Baltimore City Council granted the school, then known as the "Central High School of Baltimore", the authority to present its graduates with certificates of completion. An effort to expand that academic power and allow the then named "Central High School of Baltimore" to confer Bachelor of Arts degrees began following the Civil War in 1865, and continued the following year with the renaming of the institution as "The Baltimore City College", which it still holds to this day, with also the retitling of its chief academic officer from "principal" to "president", along with an increase in the number of years of its course of study and the expansion of its courses. However, despite this early elevation effort, it ended at that brief period unsuccessfully in 1869, although the B.C.C. continued for a number of years as a hybrid public high school and early form of junior college (later known as community college) which did not fully appear in America in different form until the beginning of the 20th century. Very often the elaborate decorative fancy engraved graduation diploma from the B.C.C. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was accepted by many other colleges and universities entitling City graduates to enter upper-division schools at the sophomore year, (which was also coincidentally a privilege also accorded to its later local academic and athletic rival for 127 years - "Poly", the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, founded 1883 as the Baltimore Manual Training School, later renamed 1893).
As the importance of higher education increased in the early 20th century, the High School's priorities shifted to preparing students for college. In 1927, only one year before the school moved from its home at Howard and Centre Streets for 53 years to the magnificent stone "Castle on the Hill" on "Collegian Hill", the academic program was further changed, when the City College divided its curriculum into two tracks: the standard college preparatory program, or "'B' Course", and a more rigorous stiff "Advanced College Prep" curriculum, the famed "'A' Course" of study focusing on humanities, social studies, liberal arts and the Classics. (also available in the mathematics/science/technology fields in a more structured form with little options/electives at "Poly" and at Western and Eastern High Schools for girls). (Full article...)
Image 17Ellicott City Station, on the original B&O Railroad line, is the oldest remaining passenger station in the nation. The rail line is still used by CSX Transportation for freight trains, and the station is now a museum. (from Maryland)
Image 25A map showing Maryland's median income by county. Data is sourced from the 2014 ACS five-year estimate report published by the U.S. Census Bureau. (from Maryland)
...that unlike most other American courts, the judges on the Maryland Court of Appeals wear crimson (not black) robes, and neck bands, reminiscent of British court dress?
...that the Thomas Viaduct (pictured) over the Patapsco River was the first multi-span masonry railroad bridge in the United States when it was constructed between 1833 and 1835?
.jpg)
.svg)
.jpg)
Good article - 
Commons
Wikibooks
Wikidata
Wikinews
Wikiquote
Wikisource
Wikiversity
Wikivoyage
Wiktionary
