We are a diverse country.
Originally, the United States, as implied by its name, was considered a
loose affiliation of independent and sovereign states. Prior to the Constitution, which created a
much tighter bond between the states, the states were governed by a rather weak
document called the Articles of Confederation.
There was little to no Federal power and a shipment of rice from South
Carolina going overland to Massachusetts would find that each sovereign state
imposed a separate customs duty along the way.
Imagine what would happen to the cost of the rice by the time it reached
Boston if import duties had to be paid in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland,
Pennsylvania, New York, and finally Massachusetts. This was the exact reason that control of
interstate commerce was granted to the Federal government in the
Constitution. This tightening reached
its crescendo with the Civil War. The
concept of state’s rights is a pull back towards sovereign states and away from
Federal power. In fact, before the Civil
War, one would speak of “the United States are….” Only after the Civil War would one speak of
“the United States is….” The Civil War made the United States truly a
single sovereign state.
But we are a diverse lot.
And in that spirit, perhaps a little tongue in cheek, I give you a state
by state listing of some item total and completely unique unto that state.
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 Rive r is dyed green every St. Patrick's Day.
INDIANA .. Home to Santa Claus, Indiana, which gets a half million letters to Santa every year.
IOWA ... Winnebagos get their name from Winnebago County. Also, it is the only state that begins with two vowels. (also, I went to a camp Winnebago, but it was in Fayetteville, Maine)
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 ... King Williams School opened in 1696. It was the first school in the United States.
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 one of 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 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 the highest proportion of college graduates of any other US city.
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 i n 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.
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 Rive r is dyed green every St. Patrick's Day.
INDIANA .. Home to Santa Claus, Indiana, which gets a half million letters to Santa every year.
IOWA ... Winnebagos get their name from Winnebago County. Also, it is the only state that begins with two vowels. (also, I went to a camp Winnebago, but it was in Fayetteville, Maine)
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 ... King Williams School opened in 1696. It was the first school in the United States.
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 one of 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 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 the highest proportion of college graduates of any other US city.
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 i n 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.
If you like my trivia on this blog you can check me out on the following blogs also:
