A bivouac, sometimes known as a "bivvy" for short, is a temporary camp, usually without tents or cover, used especially by soldiers or mountaineers.

Bivouac is an 18th century French word, however it originated from the earlier Swiss German word Bîwacht meaning "additional guard at night", referring to the type of military or citizens' patrol who might use such a temporary encampment in the course of their nocturnal sentry duties.

A major tree-lined boulevard that runs 6 kilometres (nearly 4 miles) east-west through the New York City borough of Brooklyn.

Opened in 1866, it is considered the world's first parkway: in fact the word "parkway" was coined by its designers, meaning "a landscaped road built expressly for pleasure-riding and driving".

Link: New York City Department of Parks & Recreation: Eastern Parkway

Brand of American confectionery/snack food, particularly popular in Southern US states.

Invented in 1917 by the Chattanooga Bakery in Tennessee, Moon Pies consist of two circular biscuit/cookie layers (Graham crackers to be precise) enclosing a marshmallow centre, all covered in chocolate.

Those with a sweet tooth in the UK or Ireland will be familiar with Wagon Wheels, a similar British confection introduced in the 1940s.

Link: Southern Cultures: Moon Pies & Memories

Small town located in the US state of Maryland, almost midway between Pittsburgh and Washington D.C.

Originally a farming settlement, in the mid 19th century the town grew rapidly thanks to its iron works, which for a time were the largest in America and played a critical role in the expansion of the then-booming railroad industry.

However, in the century-and-a-half since then, the decline of these industries also shrank the town, which nowadays has a population of just over 700.

Link: Mount Savage Historical Society

A type of wine. In most countries, the word can refer to any wine made from muscat grapes — a sweet grape variety normally used for eating or to make raisins. Accordingly, traditional Muscatels are most often sweet or semi-sweet white wines.

However, in the US the term is used specifically only for cheap fortified wines made from the same grapes. This usage dates from the end of Prohibition in the 1930s, when the large demand for wine led some producers to mix crushed muscat grapes with sugar and brandy to make an inexpensive beverage which they also called "Muscatel", leading Americans to primarily associate the name with "wino wine".

Link: Los Angeles Times: Muscatel Comes Out of the Paper Bag and Into Polite Society

A village in Nassau County, on Long Island, New York. Having a population of 10,000, it is primarily a commuter village due to its close proximity and relatively short commute to Manhattan.

The village was originally simply called "Hyde Park" after a country estate which formerly stood there — the estate was not named after London's famous Hyde Park as you might expect, but after the landowner's wife Ann Hyde. The settlement was further renamed as "New Hyde Park" in the late 19th century to avoid confusion with another New York town called Hyde Park, near Poughkeepsie.

Link: Official New Hyde Park website

A former brand of American automobiles.

Founded in Ohio in 1899 by brothers James and William Packard, the company moved to Detroit in the early 1900s and over the next three decades established themselves as a successful and sought-after manufacturer of high-quality luxury automobiles.

Their fortunes dipped after World War II however, with the company merging with Studebaker in 1954 and the Packard brand being phased out altogether in 1959.

Link: America's Packard Museum in Dayton, Ohio

An American brand of cinnamon-flavoured hard candy.

Red Hots were launched in the early 1930s by the Ferrara Candy Company of Chicago, and are still available today. They take their name from the red colour of the candy itself plus the "spiciness" of the intense cinnamon flavour.

Link: Official Red Hots website