Addendum - "The World of President Pierce"

World Book does a fun feature for each president: a blue call-out box entitled "THE WORLD OF PRESIDENT [X]" which includes all sorts of things that were happening in the years of said president's reign. Pierce's blue box (1853-1857) includes these gems which I failed to mention:

• The Republican Party was organized between 1854 and 1856! There is a lively graphic of an elephant holding a sign that says "G.O.P." I fear that I am a bad democrat because I often have pangs of envy over the Republican mascot. Donkeys are great and all, but elephants are way awesomer! They eat trees! And are totally fascinating (this link is a bit sad, but engrossing if you have time to read it).
  
• The Soo Canal connecting Lake Superior with Lake Huron opened to shipping in 1855. I am a bad Michigander. I didn't even know that a canal connected these two lakes, though now that I know it makes sense. I do know my important mnemonics, e.g., HOMES.
• From 1853-1856, Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia fought against Russia in the Crimean War. I know nothing about this era of history: I'm adding "Crimean War" to my list of non-fiction literature topics I plan to explore as soon as I get to the bottom of the books stacked on my nightstand. Already on the list: the French quasi-presidential system and Robert Moses.
  
• In 1854, about 400,000 immigrants arrived in New York--these immigrants were not greeted by the Statue of Liberty. The copper lady wasn't completed until July 1884 in France, and she wasn't erected at her current location until October 28, 1886, when she was unveiled by President Grover Cleveland, but I'm getting waaaaay ahead of myself.
• Finally, Mr. Bessemer, an English engineer, invented the Bessemer converter in 1855. What's the Bessemer converter, you ask? Well, according to wikipedia, it was used in the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass-production of steel from molten pig iron. What's pig iron, you ask? I'm getting sleepy, oh so sleepy...