Geography : US trivia

Geography : US

» The muskellunge, a fierce fighting fish that can weigh in at around 70 pounds, is the official state fish of Wisconsin.

» The names of some cities in the United States are the names of other U.S. states. These include Nevada in Missouri, California Maryland, Louisiana in Missouri, Oregon in Wisconsin, Kansas in Oklahoma, Wyoming in Ohio, Michigan in North Dakota, Delaware in Arkansas, and Indiana in Pennsylvania.

» The northernmost U.S. state capital is Juneau, Alaska.

» The odd zigzag in the North Carolina-South Carolina state line, just south of Charlotte, resulted when boundary commissioners altered the line in 1772 to avoid splitting the Catawba Indians between the two British colonies.

» "Honolulu" means "sheltered harbor."

» “Q” is the only letter in the alphabet that does not appear in the name of any state of the United States.

» “Utah” is from the Navajo word meaning “upper.”

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Some Chicago firsts...
Ferris Wheel:George W.G. Ferris created a 264-foot "bridge on an axle" for the Columbian Exposition.
Skyscraper:William Le Baron Jenney designed the Home Assurance Building on LaSalle and Adams Streets around an iron-and-steel frame in 1884.
Lie Detector:Leonarde Keeler, an employee of the Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory at Northwestern University, devised the Keeler Polygraph.
Zipper:Called the "hookless fastener" when exhibited at the 1893 Columbian Exposition, the device would be dubbed "zipper" by the B.F. Goodrich Company, who used it on overshoes.