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UNITED STATES
Rugby, North Dakota is the geographical
center of North America, not the geographical center of the United States. That is located in ButteCounty, South Dakota, on
the state's western border. If only the 48 contiguous states are included, the point is in Smith County, Kansas.
Four Corners is where the Arizona,
Colorado, New Mexico and Utah boundaries intersect. The place is marked by Four Corners Monument which part of a Navajo National
Park.
The Great Lakes contain six quadrillion gallons of fresh water, one-fifth of the
world's fresh surface water. The Great Lakes are the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world. They have a combined
area of 94,230 square miles which makes them larger than the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts,
and Vermont combined.
Where will you find the best toilets?
When it comes
to what really matters to travelers, the United States has the rest of the world beat when it comes to its toilets. Per a
survey of 100 international travel writers, the United States has, by far, the best in the world. Western Europe may have
the best castles and museums, but johns finished a distant second. Scandinavia, rated separately from Western Europe, placed
third. China is where bathrooms are considered the absolute worst according to the surveyed travel writers. Almost as bad
are those toilets in the Middle East and the former Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was also voted the worst when it comes
to toilet paper.
WHAT ARE THE WARMEST CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES?
The
number one U.S. city that has the most days over 90 degrees F is Yuma, Arizona, which has 175 days a year above 90 degrees.
Second is Phoenix, with 167; and third is Tucson, with 140. Also on the list are Las Vegas, Nevada; Fort Myers, Florida; and
the Texas cities of Brownsville, San Antonio, Austin, San Angelo, and Corpus Christi.
WHICH OF THE 50 STATES TAKES IN THE LEAST AMOUNT OF TOURIST
DOLLARS?
Rhode Island. California takes in the greatest amount.
Where is the deepest canyon in North America?
The
Grand Canyon in Arizona may be the most famous gorge in North America but it is not the deepest. That honor belongs to Hell's
Canyon, along the border between Idaho and northern Oregon. Also known as The Grand Canyon of the Snake River, it reaches
a depth of more than 7,900 feet (2410 meters).
Hell's Canyon was formed about a million years ago when water from a
vast lake in southwestern Idaho broke through a mountain range and began flowing north. The resulting river, now called the
Snake River, completely drained the lake. Even today, the Snake River usually carries more water than the Grand Canyon's Colorado
River.
Today, most of the canyon is designated wilderness. During the summer
months it is popular among backpackers, anglers, and boaters. Most of the area is stark, rugged, and arid, although higher
elevations have pine forests and mountain meadows.
Where was the U. S. state of Franklin, and whatever happened
to it?
In 1784, this territory, controlled by North Carolina, was left unprotected when a series of complicated
real estate negotiations between that state and the federal government went awry. The territory's settlers, in limbo, declared
themselves the state of Franklin and elected a governor. But no one recognized them and four years later North Carolina reestablished
control.
Territory shifted a great deal in the early Republic, and in 1796, the
former "state" of Franklin ended up in Tennessee.
ALASKA
Texas has 254 counties. Alaska, which is more than twice as large, hasn't
any.
Based on an Aleut word "alaxsxaq" literally meaning "object toward which
the action of the sea is directed" or more simply "the mainland".
Alaska has the longest coastline in the United States. It measures 6,640
miles, greater than that of all other states combined. The Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, 2,784,960 acres in size,
is located on the Seward Peninsula in northwest Alaska. Bering Land Bridge is a land bridge remnant that connected Asia with
North America more than 13,000 years ago. There are no roads leading into the Preserve; therefore, there is no automobile
access to the Preserve. Four-wheelers are prohibited, but snow machines are permitted in the winter months. Summer days are
long, almost without darkness. Winter days are short, with only a few hours of light. Exposure and hypothermia are real threats
to visitors throughout the year.
Alaska is the United State's largest state and is over twice the size
of Texas. Measuring from north to south the state is approximately 1,400 miles long and measuring from east to west it is
2,700 miles wide.
ARIZONA
HOW LONG IS THE GRAND CANYON?
The gorge of the Colorado River is 217
miles long. Fifty-six miles lie within Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.
The canyon varies in width from 4 to 18 miles.
Why call a town "Tombstone?"
Located in Cochise County
in southern Arizona, the city of Tombstone is probably the most famous and most glamorized mining town in all of North America.
According to legend, prospectors Ed Schieffelin and his brother Al were warned not to venture into the Apache-inhabited Mule
Mountains because they would only "find their tombstones." Thus, with a touch of the macabre, the Schieffelins named their
first silver strike claim Tombstone, and it became the name of the town.
CALIFORNIA
Some world maps as recently as the mid 18th century listed California
as an island. (Source: Britannica.com)
DELAWARE
The second flattest state is Delaware, at 442 feet of difference (135
m). Like Florida, much of the state is recent sediments. In the western part of the state there are low, eroded hills, part
of an ancient range that once towered as high as the Alps.
FLORIDA
You might expect that the flattest state in the United States would
be one of the Great Plains states, like Kansas. Actually, the state with the least elevation difference is Florida, which
ranges from sea level to only 345 feet (105 meters). Part of the reason for Florida's flatness is its geology. Florida is
mostly made of sedimentary layers that built up when the sea level was slightly higher than it is today. If global warming
raises the planet's sea level over the next century, much of Florida will be submerged.
The second flattest state is Delaware, at 442 feet of difference (135
m). Like Florida, much of the state is recent sediments. In the western part of the state there are low, eroded hills, part
of an ancient range that once towered as high as the Alps.
ILLINOIS
HOW DID CHICAGO GET ITS NAME?
In 1696 a Jesuit, Father Pinet, established
a mission for Indians called the Mission of the Guardian Angel. It was set along a stream the Indians had named Checagon,
a word meaning anything big, strong, or powerful. Since the river at that point was sluggish, it is thought that checagon
actually referred to the wild garlic along the riverbanks.
KANSAS
From the Sioux Indian for "south wind people"
Bushon and Latham, Kansas
In the 1880s, workers for the Missouri
Pacific railroad were building a new line through Kansas. To celebrate the success of their hometown baseball team, the St.
Louis
Browns, they named 14 stations on the line for their favorite players. Twelve of the stations have been renamed,
but Arlie Latham (shortstop) and Doc Bushong (pitcher) are still on the map in Kansas.
MAINE
Maine is the only state in the United States whose name is just one syllable.
MICHIGAN
Michigan. It's more than 3,100 miles of freshwater shoreline includes
four of the five Great Lakes - Michigan, Superior, Huron, and Erie.
MINNESOTA
The Minnesota State Motto is L'Etoile du Nord, which means The North
Star.
Minneapolis is known as the City of Lakes and the Mill City.
The
first open heart surgery and the first bone marrow transplant in the United States were done at the University of Minnesota.
Akeley is birthplace and home of world's largest Paul Bunyan Statue. The kneeling Paul Bunyan is 20 feet tall. He
might be the claimed 33 feet tall, if he were standing.
Candy maker Frank C. Mars of Minnesota introduced the Milky
Way candy bar in 1923. Mars marketed the Snickers bar in 1930 and introduced the 5 cent Three Musketeers bar in 1937. The
original 3 Musketeers bar contained 3 bars in one wrapper. Each with different flavor nougat.
The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota is the size of 78 football
fields --- 9.5 million square feet.
Bloomington and Minneapolis are the two farthest north latitude cities
to ever host a World Series game.
MISSOURI
The “Cave State”
Meramec Caverns is the largest
commercial cave in the state of Missouri, which is also known as the “Cave State,” as it is home to more than
6,000 surveyed caves. Over the centuries, local tribes of Indians used Meramec Caverns as shelter. In the 1700s, French miner
Jacques Renault founded one of the Cavern's greatest natural resources, saltpeter. This substance was used exclusively for
the manufacture of gunpowder. Local legend claims the cave was used as a station on the "Underground Railroad" to hide escaping
slaves. In the early 1870s, Jesse James and his band hid in the Caverns on many occasions because it afforded a safe hideout
for men and horses after train and bank robberies.
Long before Detroit became renowned for the production of automobiles,
the city had earned a national reputation for the manufacturing of cigars and chewing tobacco. Tobacco companies were
among the city's leading employers at the turn of the twentieth century, employing more than 10,000 people. In the mid-1920s,
it was estimated that 210 million cigars and 14 million pounds of chewing tobacco were produced in Detroit each year.
MONTANA
Anaconda, Montana
In Copperopolis, Montana during the Civil War,
owners of the local copper mine were strong supporters of the Union cause. Late in the war, word reached them that General
Grant's troops were circling General Lee's troops "like an anaconda". To celebrate, they changed the mine's name to
Anaconda, and the town eventually followed suit.
NEBRASKA
Name based on an Oto Indian word that means "flat water," referring to
the Platte River.
OHIO
In the 1850s, Ohio was the nation's largest wine producer. Althoughits
remaining 3,000 acres of vineyards are but a fraction of what theyonce were, Ohio remains the largest wine producer in the
Midwest.
OREGON
The deepest lake in North America, less than 8,000 years old, is Crater
Lake, at the top of a dormant volcano called Mt. Mazama in Oregon. It was formed after a cataclysmic explosion tore apart
the top of the volcano. At 1,932 feet deep (589 meters), it is the seventh deepest lake in the world.
The eruption that formed the crater was about 42 times the size of the
Mt. St. Helens explosion, scattering ash over what are now eight states and three Canadian provinces. After the explosion,
further eruptions built two more mini-volcanoes within the crater, one of which is now known as Wizard Island.
Crater Lake remained undiscovered by European Americans until 1853, partly
because Native Americans held it sacred and did not reveal its existence to white explorers. The clear, cold water held no
fish until humans introduced them in the late 1800s.
TENNESSEE
Tennessee is bordered by more states than any other in the United States.
The eight states that border Tennessee are: Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and
Virginia.
TEXAS
Texas has 254 counties. Alaska, which is more than twice as large, hasn't
any.
WASHINGTON
Pullman, Washington
The citizens of this community decided
to name their town after George M Pullman, the rich manufacturer of the Pullman Car hoping he would showere his namesake with
new libraries and other civic gifts. When they invited him to the ceremonies, he sent his regrets, a nice thank you note and
a check for $50. That was the last the town heard from him.
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