American Trivia: Weird Facts About Each State – Part 1

Each state has its own quirks. Whether it’s how they like their pizza or the most common pastime, each state has a uniqueness all its own. Then again, there are some things that are just downright weird. Here’s our first installment of little known facts – one for each state – that will amaze you.

Alabama. Ever wonder what happens to all the unclaimed luggage at airports? Turns out that it goes to the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama, the only retailer of lost baggage in the U.S. All domestic airlines send their unclaimed baggage here for resale – they process up to 7,000 pieces of luggage a day!

Alaska. Things grow bigger and sweeter in Alaska! Due to the 20+ hours of sunlight during the summer, Alaska produce can grow abnormally large. In fact, Alaska holds several Guinness World Records for the size of their vegetables – a 138-pound cabbage, a 65-pound cantaloupe and a 2,051-pound pumpkin.

Arizona. The last post office in the U.S. to deliver mail entirely by mule train is located in Supai, Arizona. Located on the Havasupai Indian Reservation, the mules make the 16-mile round trip into the Grand Canyon six days a week.

Arkansas. The state is home to the largest diamonds ever found in the United States. The Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas not only produced the 40.23 carat Uncle Sam diamond, it also allows visitors to keep whatever gems they may find!

California. California is home to the highest and lowest points in the contiguous states. Mt. Whitney has its peak at 14,494 feet, and, less than 100 miles away, Death Valley bottoms out at 282 feet below sea level.

Colorado. Aspen, Colorado has a law on the books that prohibits the launching of any kind of missile or projectile, which includes stones and – wait for it – snowballs! The idea behind the law was to protect local buildings from damage.

Connecticut. One of Connecticut’s claims to fame is the invention of the hamburger. Turns out that in 1900, a patron at Louis’ Lunch asked if the meat they had ordered could be “to go”, and the owner, Louis Lassen put his “ground steak trimmings” between two pieces of bread and the hamburger sandwich was born! You can still visit Louis’ Lunch and partake in the 120-year-old tradition.  

Delaware. Delaware may be the 2nd smallest state in the Union, but it certainly has a lot of chickens. In fact, their chickens outnumber the humans 200-to-1!

Florida. Brevard County added the area code 321 in 1999 as a nod to Kennedy Space Center — and the rocket launch countdown sequence that happened there.

Georgia. The largest wild hog found ever discovered was found and killed in Alapaha, Georgia. Weighing in at 1,000 pounds and measuring 12 feet in length, the creature was nicknamed "Hogzilla".

Hawaii. Hawaii loves canned Spam so much that they have an annual food festival – the Spam Jam – dedicated to it. If it’s not already obvious, Hawaii consumes more Spam than anywhere else in the U.S. – about 7 million cans annually!

Idaho. Idaho’s has a lot of rivers and waterways. If you calculated the length of all of them together (over 107,000 miles), it would stretch across the U.S. 38 times.

Illinois. Illinois is home to the pumpkin capital of the world. Why? Because the Libby’s plant in Morton, Illinois produces 82% of the worlds canned pumpkin.

Indiana. In 1897 there was a bill introduced by the Indiana Legislature to round up the lengthy decimal value of pi (generally shortened to 3.14) to 3.2, after physician Edwin J. Goodwin discovered what he believed to be a new way of solving the old mathematical riddle of “squaring the circle,” which is impossible. Obviously, it never became law.

Iowa. Since 1900, Britt, Iowa hosts the National Hobo Convention. In addition to other activities, a King and Queen are nominated and their portraits are immortalized.

Kansas. Kansas has the distinction of being scientifically declared flatter than a pancake. Scientists bought a pancake from an IHOP and tested the topography against the flatness of the state. They measured “perfect flatness” on a scale of 1 with the IHOP pancake testing as 0.957 and Kansas scoring a 0.997.

Kentucky. In 1799, the first commercial winery in the United States was established near Lexington, Kentucky. You can still enjoy wine produced by the winery (now named "First Vineyard.") It's even maintained by a descendant of the original shareholders of the winery.

Next week we’ll indulge you with additional little-known state facts that will give you a different perspective on history and life in America.

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