Fun and Interesting Facts

The United States of America is a country rich with tradition and history.  We all remember learning about our country in school, but sometimes those things taught to us are not completely truthful.

 Here is a sample of some fun and interesting facts that just may surprise you.  We will be adding more over time.

If you have a fun or interesting fact, please feel free to leave it in a comment and we'll add it to the list.




Tennessee was previously named Franklin after Benjamin Franklin.

Harry S. Truman's middle name is S.

The 1st public message to be transmitted via Morse code was "A patient waiter is no loser."

Pennsylvania is misspelled on the Liberty Bell.

The original name of Nashville, Tennessee was Big Salt Lick.

During the Boston Tea Party, 342 chests of tea were thrown into the harbor.

The Mayflower only held 102 People.

The first American gold rush happened in North Carolina, not California.

George Washington didn’t have wooden teeth. His dentures were made of gold, hippopotamus ivory, lead, and human and animal teeth (including horse and donkey teeth).

President William McKinley had a pet parrot that he named "Washington Post."

David Rice Atchison was President of the United States for only one day.

Theodore Roosevelt was the only president who was blind in one eye.

The name of the city of Portland, Oregon was decided by a coin toss. The name that lost was Boston.

The Capitol building in Washington, D.C. has 365 steps to represent every day of the year.

South Carolina is home to the first tea farm in the U.S.

The state of Alabama once financed the construction of a bridge by holding a rooster auction.

The amount of concrete used in the Hoover Dam could build a highway from New York to California.

Abraham Lincoln was the tallest U.S. President at 6'4". James Madison was the shortest at 5'4".

The state of Maine has 62 lighthouses.

Tennessee banned the use of a lasso to catch fish.

There is a town in Alaska called Chicken.

Manhattan Island was once home to as many different species as Yellowstone National Park.

New Jersey is home to the world's first drive-in movie theater.

The Statue of Liberty's nose is four feet six inches long.

Detroit has the greatest number of registered bowlers in the U.S.
Four Corners, AZ, is the only place where a person can stand in 4 states at the same time.
The first lighthouse to use electricity was the Statue of Liberty in 1886.