Facts about the 50 states

This one landed in my inbox this evening, and I can't recall ever having seen it on the old forum. I can vouch for the veracity of North Carolina, and I've heard some of the facts about other states before, which makes me wonder if perhaps someone's put together a list of facts that are actually factual, or if maybe the writer/compiler of this email just happened to get lucky on some of them.

I suppose I could have gone to Google in a quest for answers, but I thought it would be more fun to post it here and let you all pick it apart.

How Does Your State Rate?

ALABAMA ... Was the first place to have 9-1-1, started in 1968.

ALASKA ... One out of every 64 people has a pilot's license.

ARIZONA ... Is the only state in the continental U.S. that doesn't follow Daylight Savings Time.

ARKANSAS ... Has the only active diamond mine in the U.S.

CALIFORNIA ... Its economy is so large that if it were a country, it would rank seventh in the entire world.

COLORADO ... In 1976 it became the only state to turn down the Olympics.

CONNECTICUT ... The Frisbee was invented here at Yale University.

DELAWARE ... Has more scientists and engineers than any other state.

FLORIDA ... At 759 square miles, Jacksonville is the US's largest city.

GEORGIA ... It was here, in 1886, that pharmacist John Pemberton made the first vat of Coca-Cola.

HAWAII ... Hawaiians live, on average, five years longer than residents in any other state.

IDAHO ... TV was invented in Rigby, Idaho, in 1922.

ILLINOIS .. The Chicago River is dyed green every St. Patrick's Day.

INDIANA ... Home to Santa Claus, Indiana, which get a half million letter to Santa every year.

IOWA ... Winnebagos get their name from Winnebago County. Also, it is the only state that begins with two vowels.

KANSAS ... Liberal, Kansas, has an exact replica of the house in The Wizard of Oz.

KENTUCKY ... Has more than $6 billion in gold underneath Fort Knox.

LOUISIANA ... Has parishes instead of counties because they were originally Spanish church units.

MAINE ... It's so big, it covers as many square miles as the other five New England states combined.

MARYLAND ... The Oujia board was created in Baltimore in 1892.

MASSACHUSETTS ... The Fig Newton is named after Newton, Massachusetts.

MICHIGAN ... Fremont, home to Gerber, is the baby food capital of the world.

MINNESOTA ... Bloomington's Mall of America is so big, if you spent 10 minutes in each store, you'd be there nearly four days.

MISSISSIPPI ... President Teddy Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear here. That's how the teddy bear got its name.

MISSOURI ... Is the birthplace of the ice cream cone.

MONTANA .. A sapphire from Montana is the Crown Jewels of England.

NEBRASKA ... More triplets are born here than in any other state.

NEVADA ... Has more hotel rooms than any other place in the world.

NEW HAMPSHIRE ... Birthplace of Tupperware, invented in 1938 by Earl Tupper.

NEW JERSEY ... Has the most shopping malls in one area in the world.

NEW MEXICO ... Smokey the Bear was rescued from a 1950 forest fire here.

NEW YORK ... Is home to the nation's oldest cattle ranch, started in 1747 in Montauk.

NORTH CAROLINA ... Home of the first Krispy Kreme doughnut.

NORTH DAKOTA ... Rigby, North Dakota, is the exact geo-graphic center of North America.

OHIO ... The hot dog was invented here in 1900.

OKLAHOMA ... The grounds of the state capital are covered by operating oil wells.

OREGON ... Has the most ghost towns in the country.

PENNSYLVANIA ... The smiley, was first used in 1980 by computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University.

RHODE ISLAND ... The nation's oldest bar, the White Horse Tavern, opened here in 1673

SOUTH CAROLINA ... Sumter County is home to the world's largest gingko farm.

SOUTH DAKOTA ... Is the only state that's never had an earthquake.

TENNESSEE ... Nashville's Grand Ole Opry is the longest running live radio show in the world.

TEXAS ... Dr. Pepper was invented in Waco back in 1885.

UTAH ... The first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant opened here in 1952.

VERMONT ... Montpelier is the only state capital without a McDonald's.

VIRGINIA ... Home of the world's largest office building... the Pentagon.

WASHINGTON ... Seattle has twice as many college graduates as any other state.

WASHINGTON D.C. ... Was the first planned capital in the world.

WEST VIRGINIA ... Had the world's first brick paved street, Summers Street, laid in Charleston in 1870.

WISCONSIN ... The ice cream sundae was invented here in 1881 to get around Blue Laws prohibiting ice cream from being sold on Sundays.

WYOMING ... Was the first state to allow women to vote.

[DarkDan]

NEW JERSEY ... Has the most shopping malls in one area in the world.

I googled this and found most lists say "North Jersey has the most shopping malls in one area in the world, with seven major shopping malls in a 25 square mile radius." It's probably true, hell, Paramus is a 10 square mile town and has FOUR indoor malls, including the biggest one in Jersey. I dunno how they fit the residents in the town.

ETA: and blue laws are in affect in the county the town is in... So all those malls are empty on Sunday!

ARIZONA ... Is the only state in the continental U.S. that doesn't follow Daylight Savings Time.

Doesn't it actually stay on DST all year long and just not convert to standard time? Either way, that was one thing that I did like when I lived in Arizona. Staying on one time throughout the whole year was pretty cool.

[damian]

Modern television is based on several similar inventions. John Logie Baird demonstrated what is generally accepted as the first television in London in 1926.

The Frisbee was a copy of a centuries old concept. It was patented by Fred Morrison in Los Angeles in 1946.

The icecream cone was patented by Italo Marchiony in New York in 1903, although the idea appears in cookbooks years earlier.

The hotdog is a copy of something that has been eaten in Europe since the 17th Century.

[Cervus]

FLORIDA ... At 759 square miles, Jacksonville is the US's largest city.

True, although the city shares a consolidated government with Duval County, which increases the land area of the city limits. However, various web sites give different figures ranging from 758 to 841 square miles.

[Johnny Slick]

WASHINGTON ... Seattle has twice as many college graduates as any other state.

There are only 550,000 people in all of Seattle. I didn't realize there were less than 275,000 college grads in all of California.

[Signora Del Drago]

True about Georgia and Oklahoma.

[Cervus]

NORTH CAROLINA ... Home of the first Krispy Kreme doughnut.

When I read this my brain turned into Homer Simpson drooling "Mmmmmm.....doooouuuughnuts...."

[songs78]

Originally Posted by Johnny Slick

There are only 550,000 people in all of Seattle. I didn't realize there were less than 275,000 college grads in all of California.

My guess is what they meant to say is that Seattle has twice as many college graduates as per capita vs rest of the nation.

Seattle 52.7%
National Average 27.2%

A little less than twice the average.

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/Depart...EducatedCities

[TallGeekyGirl]

VIRGINIA ... Home of the world's largest office building... the Pentagon.

This is all we rate?

What about Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World? What about having more Virginians elected President than any other state? What about Natural Bridge, one of the seven natural wonders of the world?

[Stan The Man]

DELAWARE ... Has more scientists and engineers than any other state.

It should, of course, say "per capita". Link

[black roses19]

ARIZONA ... Is the only state in the continental U.S. that doesn't follow Daylight Savings Time.
Doesn't it actually stay on DST all year long and just not convert to standard time? Either way, that was one thing that I did like when I lived in Arizona. Staying on one time throughout the whole year was pretty cool.

Until last fall, parts of Indiana never changed times, either. In fact, I STILL couldn't tell you what time zone I currently live in - I've never had to know. All I knew was that the television programs went from "regular" to "central" time, then back.

As far as Santa Claus, Indiana - true. Very nice place, might I add. Touristy, but nice.

[Stan The Man]

MAINE ... It's so big, it covers as many square miles as the other five New England states combined. Almost, but not quite - New England is 69,746 square miles - Maine is 33,414 square miles - according to wikipedia.

[kitoboo]

Originally Posted by TallGeekyGirl

This is all we rate?

What about Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World? What about having more Virginians elected President than any other state? What about Natural Bridge, one of the seven natural wonders of the world?

I read that as "more Virgins elected President".

Goodnight Gracie.

-kitoboo

[damian]

WASHINGTON ... Seattle has twice as many college graduates as any other state.

This is comparing one city to an entire state. What percentage of adults in the state of Washington have a degree?

[Stan The Man]

NORTH DAKOTA ... Rigby, North Dakota, is the exact geo-graphic center of North America.

I think they meant Rugby, ND, but, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, the geographic center of North America is 6 miles west of Balta, ND - Link.

[Stan The Man]

SOUTH DAKOTA ... Is the only state that's never had an earthquake.

Not according to the USGS.

[Kahdra]

UTAH ... The first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant opened here in 1952.

I've picked up take-out from this KFC. It was recently extensively remodelled, but I think they saved the "World's First KFC" sign.

Hey, just out of curiosity, where is that KFC? I'm new to the area and I don't really know my way around (I got transferred from CA recently) and I think it might be kind of cool to eat at the first KFC.

[Johnny Slick]

Originally Posted by damian

This is comparing one city to an entire state. What percentage of adults in the state of Washington have a degree?

Obviously 100% because otherwise the fact would be untrue! For a total mindfreak, consider that both Seattle University and the University of Washington are located in the city of Seattle. This metric means that everybody who is there trying to get their degree, already has that degree!

Good thing they didn't measure this in 2002, because I was living in the city and didn't have my degree yet!