The Diversity Of The United States

The Diversity Of The United States

May 09

The United States was once thought to be a loose association of independent and sovereign states, as its name suggests. Prior to the Constitution, which established a considerably stronger link between the states, the states were governed by the Articles of Confederation, a very weak document. There was little to no Federal power, and a shipment of rice traveling overland from South Carolina to Massachusetts would encounter separate customs duties from each sovereign state along the way.

Consider how much the rice would cost by the time it arrived in Boston if import duties were to be paid in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and finally Massachusetts. Control of interstate commerce was given to the federal government for just this purpose in the Constitution. With the Civil War, this tightness reached a pinnacle. The concept of state’s rights is a push back against federal power and toward sovereign states. 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.

However, we are a diverse group. And in that spirit, and perhaps a little humorously, I present to you a state-by-state rundown of some total and completely unique items to each 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.