Providing interesting tidbits of information is one way of engaging and challenging students. What better way than to look at our the states of the United States (and Washington, D.C.). By the way.... how many states can you accurately located on a blank map of the United States???
A Fun Fact for Each State
ALABAMA ... Was the first place to have 9-1-1; it started in 1968.
ALASKA ... One out of every 64 people has a pilot's license.
ARIZONA ... Is the only entire 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 ... It became the only state to turn down the Olympics (In 1976).
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 U.S.'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 letters to Santa every year.
IOWA ... "Winnebago" vehicles 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 Ouija 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 in the Crown Jewels of England.
NEBRASKA ... More triplets are born here than in any other state.
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 geographic 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 Two Rivers in 1881 to get around Blue Laws prohibiting plain ice cream from being sold on Sundays. (However Ithaca, NY, also claims to be the birthplace of the sundae.)
WYOMING ... Was the first state to allow women to vote--in 1869!
ALABAMA ... Was the first place to have 9-1-1; it started in 1968.
ALASKA ... One out of every 64 people has a pilot's license.
ARIZONA ... Is the only entire 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 ... It became the only state to turn down the Olympics (In 1976).
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 U.S.'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 letters to Santa every year.
IOWA ... "Winnebago" vehicles 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 Ouija 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 in the Crown Jewels of England.
NEBRASKA ... More triplets are born here than in any other state.
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 geographic 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 Two Rivers in 1881 to get around Blue Laws prohibiting plain ice cream from being sold on Sundays. (However Ithaca, NY, also claims to be the birthplace of the sundae.)
WYOMING ... Was the first state to allow women to vote--in 1869!
PHOTO RESOURCE:
USA Map, Alabama Maps
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