History
On February 28, 1861, the Act Organizing the Territory of Colorado defined the western boundary of the new territory as the 32nd meridian of longitude west from Washington. The creation of the Colorado Territory moved the eastern boundary of the Territory of Utah west to this meridian.
Two years later on February 24, 1863, the Act Organizing the Territory of Arizona defined the eastern boundary of the new territory as the 32nd meridian of longitude west from Washington. This in turn moved the western boundary of the Territory of New Mexico east to this meridian.
These boundaries on the 32nd meridian of longitude west from Washington remained when Colorado became a state on August 1, 1876, Utah became a state on January 4, 1896, New Mexico became a state on January 6, 1912, and Arizona became a state on February 14, 1912. The point of intersection of these four states, known as the Four Corners, is the only place in the United States where four states touch.
Read more about this topic: 32nd Meridian West From Washington
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The History of the world is not the theatre of happiness. Periods of happiness are blank pages in it, for they are periods of harmony—periods when the antithesis is in abeyance.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“We know only a single science, the science of history. One can look at history from two sides and divide it into the history of nature and the history of men. However, the two sides are not to be divided off; as long as men exist the history of nature and the history of men are mutually conditioned.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“America is the only nation in history which, miraculously, has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.”
—Attributed to Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929)