New Year is celebrated all over the world with media coverage hitting our screens every year of major cities every time zone passing the memorable annual mark in succession providing a visual feast of fireworks and lights, starting with Auckland in New Zealand and Sydney in Australia, following to Berlin and London in Europe and finally, panning form the East to the West of America. Like so many other celebrations, the Americans never like to feel inferior to the rest of the world, and arguably put on the best celebrations for everybody to welcome in the new year.

New York - one of the most important places for New Year in America is Times Square in New York. This is New Yorks busiest attraction, and for the celebration, thousands of people flock to the iconic land mark to watch the ball drop during the countdown to the beginning of the new year and to celebrate. Sometimes it is predicted there are a million people in the square itself to witness the event. As well as the ball dropping, there are parties all over the city, long into the morning, and the streets are filled with lights, colours, and people creating an unforgettable atmosphere. On New Year's Day, there is a Polar Bear Swim at Coney Island where thousands of people take the icy plunge to work off the hangover, and to raise funds for the Camp Sunshine Charity.

Los Angeles - While less centralised and organised than the parties in New York, Los Angeles is also an excellent place to welcome in the new year. There is also a ball drop at Union Station, although attended by far less people and hosted in a much more intimate setting. Finding a high vantage point like Griffith Park or 71Above, the tallest restaurant west of Mississippi, are excellent places to observe fireworks all over the city as the clock strikes midnight. LA is also home to a fantastic party scene, from Santa Monica and Venice Beach for a more relaxed bohemian atmosphere, to the grand parties of Downtown LA or those who want to dance the night away, long into the early hours.

San Francisco - All along the waterfront, from the Ferry building right up to the Bay Bridge, there is a vibrant display of fireworks which can be observed from the land, or from a plethora of cruises operating in the bay. From party boats and bar crawls, to concerts and small, intimate romantic dinners, San Francisco's world renowned free spirit will be sure to make a memorable evening.

Washington DC - You can enjoy the iconic city skyline and fireworks from a relaxed cruise along the Potomac River, or you can witness the fireworks from many organised events at places such as Baltimore and Winchester. Georgetown Waterfront hosts a number of parties to welcome in the new year and there are sports bars and clubs all over town to accomodate for everybody.

Whether it's a romantic dinner cruise to watch the fireworks, or an energetic party until 7am, America is one of the greatest countries to celebrate the new year.

Described by their own tourism website, New Orleans is the festival capital of the world. In summer, the city comes alive with music, art, food and community as the city hosts a number of diverse events.

New Orleans is a city famous for it's rich musical history. Home to Jazz and Blues music, the city attracts thousands of musicians from all over the world to immerse themselves in the culture. Around the end of April and the start of May annually, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is probably the most famous music festival in the city, however there are a number of smaller gatherings which are also dripping with New Orleans' rich musical chemistry.

The ESSENCE festival runs annually around the end of June or the start of July, and is a fantastic place to experience R&B, hip-hop, jazz and blues, and is an excellent showcase of African American music culture aimed at empowering African American people with seminars and festivities. Alongside the music, there are also arts and crafts, DJ sets, parties, comedians and public speakers.

The Voodoo Music and Arts Experience is an annual weekend long event in City Park celebrating music, food and craft. There is a large focus on smaller and local musical talent as the festival begins each day with some of the more unheard of artists to help them gain exposure and to introduce attendees to new music, and the festivities continue long into the night. This takes place in late October.

Another one of the larger names in the New Orleans festival calendar is the Satchmo SummerFest. Named after the New Orleans born musician Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong whose contributions to the Jazz scene changed the style of the genre as we know it, this is a three day outdoor concert celebrating everything to do with Jazz music and culture. As well as the music performances, there are Jazz exhibits, a second line parade, music history seminars and lots of local food. This takes place in early August yearly, coinciding with the anniversary of Armstrong's birthday.

For those looking for something a little different, the Bayou Boogaloo festival is a free event that takes place along Bayou Said John. Like most festivals in New Orleans, this is a celebration of music, food, art and culture, and lasts for three days in May every year. Being a free event, attendees can relax in the casual atmosphere and stroll between stages and exhibits. A large portion of proceeds from food and craft sales go towards charitable organisations.

Another free event the city hosts is the Ponderosa Stomp. Named after the song by Lazy Lester, this event focusses on the “unsung heroes and heroines of rock-n-roll, rhythm and blues and other forms of American Roots music while they are still alive”. Largely Louisiana residents, these musicians perform between the two weekends of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, adding deeper cuts to the already very cultural event. This is hosted at the House Of Blues in the French Quarter.

NASA (and acronym for “National Aeronautics and Space Administration") is the leading company in space exploration and discovery, pushing the very boundaries of it's own foundation. It was established in 1958 from it's predecessor the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and has become a household name ever since. They led such space missions as the Apollo Moon landing, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle.

For those of you who are interested in the history of the agency, the developments of space exploration and the mechanics of such an intense and interesting field, the Kennedy Space Genre is situated not too far from Orlando in Florida at Cape Canaveral, and offers a plethora of information and artefacts about space missions and history around the historical sites that have been used to both build and launch the shuttles. When they tell you the amount of paint used to paint what looks like a small American flag on the side of the hangar where they used to build shuttles, and that they can drive a bus down each of the stripes, it will blow your mind. Not only do they offer information about the space launches and the history of the company, but the area is also a nature reserve, and a home for spices such as manatees and armadillos.

NASA also provide information on the times and dates of all of their proposed rocket launches. While these can be witnessed from close to the Kennedy Space Centre, you can also watch these from all over Florida, even as far away as Coco Beach. There is a constant countdown on the museum website (https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com) until the next launch, as well as information on the official NASA website (https://www.nasa.gov) for those who are eager to see such an extraordinary event. Please just be aware that these are proposed launches, and that they are not guaranteed as a shuttle launch is a very technical procedure and that safety considerations must be taken which sometimes include delaying the shuttle launch times. When the shuttles do launch, they are powerful enough to shake almost every window in Florida.

They also provide a SkyWatch application which allows astronomers to have a real time feed of what they are able to see in the sky, including sightings of the International Space Station every time it passes their location along with other observations in the universe that can be sound from the ground. The International Space Station is the third brightest object that can be observed from the ground, and with the information provided by NASA, it is very easy to spot.

The NASA website also offers a multitude of other links to information regarding the work that they complete. There are constant news and update feeds relating to all of their work and missions, a daily image which is never less than extraordinary, information about climate shift and global warming observations made about planet earth, information about the history of the company and enough scientific information to overload you for the next year.

Alexander Hamilton's individual portrait should not be removed from the US ten-dollar notes. He was not a president of United States. He may not be as great as a leader figure as George Washington or Abraham Lincoln in the eyes of American citizens but he is definitely one of the least known figures in American history. Alexander Hamilton is by far the person who played a crucial role in uniting diverse bunch of colonies that formed the backbone of United States. The thought was removed when an amazing biography on George Washington was written which solidify George Washington's position as the great contributor to US unification and formation. He was known to be not a very smart but patriotic servant to the country. He was also known to have identifies Hamilton as a talented statesman and stepped down at the right moment just before US was becoming a true democratic country.

Washington was more than meets the eye. He was a brilliant leader that US owes a lot to, as US would never have a prosperous future without him. He made Hamilton one of the greatest Americans of all time, maybe among the best two. Thomas Jefferson used to be the most feared rival for Hamilton and known for being a hypocrite. His background and basis for hypocrisy include championing freedom for all people regardless of race or ethnicity but in private, he did not release his own slaves. He publicly voiced his hate over banks and financial institutions but was living on borrowed money all his life and eventually died with a heavy debt burden. He was described as being fond of the strong commoners but do not give proper acknowledgement when they were engaged in a complicated project trying to beautify a city. He was known to despise the elite society but had in one point in time romantically involved with an aristocrat from the upper echelon. He was known to be a fierce supporter for violent revolution and insisted on having one for every 20 years. His reason was that any results of fighting for liberation should be reminded with the spill of blood by patriotic citizens. Nevertheless, he was known to run from responsibility and did not fight alongside when British sent their troops to Richmond.

Thomas Jefferson is a unique character with some good admirable qualities despite being known to be a hypocrite. This is the mark of a brilliant man. U.S. was extremely fortunate with him around. There were not many books that one can find in any major bookstore from New York about Hamilton but there are plenty regarding the life of Thomas Jefferson. That used to disappoint history lovers but not anymore in recent times. Hamilton was known to help out young pretty women who tried to blackmail Hamilton. Hamilton had been known to confess in adultery activities to destroy rumors of corruption.

The single most important trait that made Hamilton the most honorable American is his daring imagination. He visualized an America that would have been impossible, and laid out the framework in a systematic manner that made his vision materialized. The greatness of Hamilton is captured in a famous biography written in 2000 and 2005 with the latest being written in 2014. The authors are Richard Brookhiser, Ron Chernow and Willard Randall respectively. Chernow;s biography is highly recommended but many Hamilton admirers will have a tough time choosing.

Jack Lew, the treasury secretary is pondering on replacing Alexander Hamilton for the 10 dollar bill with one woman. Americans have been understating the contributions by women for the US and it is time to rectify it. However Alexander Hamilton should not be diminished for the cause.