Fifty States and Fifty Fun Facts

Updated August 5, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

State	Home of
Alabama	George Washington Carver, who discovered more than 300 uses for peanuts
Alaska	The longest coastline in the U.S., 6,640 miles, greater than that of all other states combined
Arizona	The most telescopes in the world, in Tucson
Arkansas	The only active diamond mine in the U.S.
California	“General Sherman,” a 3,500-year-old tree, and a stand of bristlecone pines 4,000 years old are the world's oldest living things
Colorado	The world's largest silver nugget (1,840 pounds) found in 1894 near Aspen
Connecticut	The first American cookbook, published in Hartford in 1796: American Cookery by Amelia Simmons
Delaware	The first log cabins in North America, built in 1683 by Swedish immigrants
Florida	U.S. spacecraft launchings from Cape Canaveral, formerly Cape Kennedy
Georgia	The Girl Scouts, founded in Savannah by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912
Hawaii	The only royal palace in the U.S. (Iolani)
Idaho	The longest main street in America, 33 miles, in Island Park
Illinois	The tallest building in the U.S., Sears Tower, in Chicago
Indiana	The famous car race: the Indy 500
Iowa	The shortest and steepest railroad in the U.S., Dubuque: 60° incline, 296 feet
Kansas	Helium discovered in 1905 at the University of Kansas
Kentucky	The largest underground cave in the world: 300 miles long, the Mammoth-Flint Cave system
Louisiana	The most crayfish: 98% of the world's crayfish
Maine	The most easterly point in the U.S., West Quoddy Head¹
Maryland	The first umbrella factory in the U.S., 1928, Baltimore
Massachusetts	The first World Series, 1903: the Boston “Americans” (became the Red Sox in 1908) vs. the Pittsburg Pirates (Pittsburgh had no “h” between 1890–1911)
Michigan	The Cereal Bowl of America, Battle Creek, produces most cereal in the U.S.
Minnesota	The oldest rock in the world, 3.8 billion years old, found in Minnesota River valley
Mississippi	Coca-Cola, first bottled in 1894 in Vicksburg
Missouri	Mark Twain and some of his characters, such as Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
Montana	Grasshopper Glacier, named for the grasshoppers that can still be seen frozen in ice
Nebraska	The only roller skating museum in the world, in Lincoln
Nevada	Rare fish such as the Devils Hole pup, found only in Devils Hole, and other rare fish from prehistoric lakes; also the driest state
New Hampshire	Artificial rain, first used near Concord in 1947 to fight a forest fire
New Jersey	The world's first drive-in movie theater, built in 1933 near Camden
New Mexico	“Smokey Bear,” a cub orphaned by fire in 1950, buried in Smokey Bear Historical State Park in 1976
New York	The first presidential inauguration: George Washington took the oath of office in New York City on April 30, 1789.
North Carolina	Virginia Dare, the first English child born in America, on Roanoake Island in 1587
North Dakota	The geographic center of North America, in Pierce County, near Balta
Ohio	The first electric traffic lights, invented and installed in Cleveland in 1914
Oklahoma	The first parking meter, installed in Oklahoma City in 1935
Oregon	The world's smallest park, totaling 452 inches, created in Portland on St. Patrick's Day for leprechauns and snail races
Pennsylvania	The first magazine in America: the American Magazine, published in Philadelphia for 3 months in 1741
Rhode Island	Rhode Island Red chickens, first bred in 1854; the start of poultry as a major American industry
South Carolina	The first tea farm in the U.S., created in 1890 near Summerville
South Dakota	The world's largest natural, indoor warmwater pool, Evans' Plunge in Hot Springs
Tennessee	Graceland, the estate and gravesite of Elvis Presley
Texas	NASA, in Houston, headquarters for all piloted U.S. space projects
Utah	Rainbow Bridge, the largest natural stone bridge in the world, 290 feet high, 275 feet across
Vermont	The largest production of maple syrup in the U.S.
Virginia	The only full-length statue of George Washington, placed in capitol in 1796
Washington	Lunar Rover, the vehicle used by astronauts on the moon; Boeing, in Seattle, makes aircraft and spacecraft
West Virginia	Marbles; most of the country's glass marbles made around Parkersburg
Wisconsin	The typewriter, invented in Milwaukee in 1867
Wyoming	The “Register of the Desert,” a huge granite boulder covering 27 acres with 5,000 early pioneer names carved on it