|
Spoiler:
1. A ball of twine in Cawker City measures over 38' in circumference and weighs more than 16,750 pounds and is still growing.
2. A grain elevator in Hutchinson is 1/2 mile long and holds 46 million bushels in its 1,000 bins.
3. South of Ashland the Rock Island Bridge is the longest railroad bridge of its kind. It measures 1,200 feet long and is 100 feet above the Cimarron River.
4. At Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine waterbeds for horses are used in surgery.
5. Kansas won the award for most beautiful license plate for the wheat plate design issued in 1981.
6. Dodge City is the windiest city in the United States.
7. At one time it was against the law to serve ice cream on cherry pie in Kansas.
8. The first woman mayor in the United States was Susan Madora Salter. She was elected to office in Argonia in 1887.
9. The first black woman to win an Academy Award was Kansan Hattie McDaniel. She won the award for her role in "Gone with the Wind."
10. Kansas inventors include Almon Stowger of El Dorado who invented the dial telephone in 1889; William Purvis and Charles Wilson of Goodland who invented the helicopter in 1909; and Omar Knedlik of Coffeyville who invented the first frozen carbonated drink machine in 1961.
11. Smith County is the geographical center of the 48 contiguous states.
12. Amelia Earhart, first woman granted a pilot's license by the National Aeronautics Associate and first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean was from Atchison.
13. Dwight D. Eisenhower from Abilene was the 34th President of the United States.
14. Silent comedian Buster Keaton, of early film success, was from Piqua, Kansas.
15. The three largest herds of buffalo (correctly called bison) in Kansas are located on public lands at the Maxwell Game Preserve (McPherson), Big Basin (Ashland), and Buffalo Game Preserve (Garden City).
16. Fort Riley, between Junction City and Manhattan, was the cradle of the United States Cavalry for 83 years. George Custer formed the famed 7th Cavalry there in 1866. Ten years later, at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, the 7th was virtually wiped out. The only Cavalry survivor was a horse named Comanche.
17. Wyatt Earp, James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok and William B. "Bat" Masterson were three of the legendary lawmen who kept the peace in rowdy frontier towns like Abilene, Dodge City, Ellsworth, Hays, and Wichita.
18. The public swimming pool at the Lee Richardson Zoo in Garden City occupies half a city block and holds 2 1/2 million gallons of water.
19. Cedar Crest is the name of the governor's mansion in Topeka, the state capital.
20. Barton County is the only Kansas County that is named for a woman; the famous volunteer Civil War nurse Clara Barton.
21. The Arkansas River may be the only river whose pronunciation changes as it crosses state lines. In Kansas, it is called the Arkansas (ahr-KAN-zuhs). On both sides of Kansas (Colorado and Oklahoma), it is called the Arkansaw.
22. Civil War veteran S.P. Dinsmoor used over 100 tons of concrete to build the Garden of Eden in Lucas. Even the flag above the mausoleum is made of concrete.
23. Handel's Messiah has been presented in Lindsborgeach at Easter since 1889.
24. A monument to the first Christian martyr on United States Territory stands along Highway 56 near Lyons. Father Juan de Padilla came to the region with the explorer Coronado in 1541.
25. Hutchinson is nicknamed the Salt City because it was built above some of the richest salt deposits in the world. Salt is still actively mined, processed and shipped from Hutchinson.
26. There are 27 Walnut Creeks in the state.
27. There are more than 600 incorporated towns in the state.
28. Morton County sells the most trout fishing stamps of all the Kansas counties.
29. Fire Station No. 4 in Lawrence, originally a stone barn constructed in 1858, was a station site on the Underground Railroad.
30. The Hugoton Gas Field is the largest natural gas field in the United States. It underlies all or parts of 10 southwestern Kansas counties as well as parts of Oklahoma and Texas. The gas field underlies almost 8,500 square miles, an area nearly 5 times as large as the state of Rhode Island.
31. The Kansas Speleological Society has catalogued at least 528 caves in 37 Kansas counties. Commanche County has at least 128 caves and Barber County has at least 117 caves.
32. Kansas has the largest population of wild grouse in North America. The grouse is commonly called the prairie chicken.
33. Milford Reservoir with over 16,000 acres of water is the state's largest lake. The reservoir is located northwest of Junction City.
34. The Geodetic Center of North America is about 40 miles south of Lebanon at Meade's Ranch. It is the beginning point of reference for land surveying in North America. When a surveyor checks a property line, he or she is checking the position of property in relation to Meade's Ranch in northwest Kansas.
35. In Italy the city of Milan is 300 miles northwest of Rome. In Kansas, Milan is less than 25 miles northwest of Rome, in Sumner County.
36. Between 1854 and 1866, 34 steamboats paddled up the Kaw River (Kansas River). One made it as far west as Fort Riley.
37. In 1990 Kansas wheat farmers produced enough wheat to make 33 billion loaves of bread, or enough to provide each person on earth with 6 loaves.
38. Holy Cross Shrine in Pfeifer, was known as the 2 Cent Church because the building was built using a 2 cent donation on each bushel of wheat sold by members of the church.
39. Kansas produced a record 492.2 million bushels of wheat in 1997, enough to make 35.9 billion loaves of bread.
40. The American Institute of Baking is located in Manhattan.
41. A 30 foot tall statue of Johnny Kaw stands in Manhattan. The statue represents the importance of the Kansas wheat farmer.
42. The graham cracker was named after the Reverend Sylvester Graham (1794-1851). He was a Presbyterian minister who strongly believed in eating whole wheat flour products.
43. The rocks at Rock City are huge sandstone concretions. In an area about the size of two football fields, 200 rocks, some as large as houses, dot the landscape. There is no other place in the world where there are so many concretions of such giant size.
44. George Washington Carver, the famous botanical scientist who discovered more than 300 products made from the peanut, graduated from high school in Minneapolis in 1885.
45. The First United Methodist Church in Hutchinson was built in 1874 during the time of the grasshopper plagues. The grasshoppers came during the construction of the churches foundation but the pastor continued with the work. As a result, thousands of grasshoppers are mixed into the mortar of the original building's foundation.
46. A hailstone weighing more than one and a half pounds once fell on Coffeyville.
47. The Oregon Trail passed thru six states, including Kansas. There were no Indian attacks reported on the Oregon Trail as the travelers passed through the state.
48. Russell Springs located in Logan County is known as the Cow Chip Capital of Kansas.
49. The world famous fast-food chain of Pizza Hut restaurants opened its first store in Wichita.
50. Sumner County is known as The Wheat Capital of the World.
1. A ball of twine in Cawker City measures over 38' in circumference and weighs more than 16,750 pounds and is still growing.
2. A grain elevator in Hutchinson is 1/2 mile long and holds 46 million bushels in its 1,000 bins.
3. South of Ashland the Rock Island Bridge is the longest railroad bridge of its kind. It measures 1,200 feet long and is 100 feet above the Cimarron River.
4. At Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine waterbeds for horses are used in surgery.
5. Kansas won the award for most beautiful license plate for the wheat plate design issued in 1981.
6. Dodge City is the windiest city in the United States.
7. At one time it was against the law to serve ice cream on cherry pie in Kansas.
8. The first woman mayor in the United States was Susan Madora Salter. She was elected to office in Argonia in 1887.
9. The first black woman to win an Academy Award was Kansan Hattie McDaniel. She won the award for her role in "Gone with the Wind."
10. Kansas inventors include Almon Stowger of El Dorado who invented the dial telephone in 1889; William Purvis and Charles Wilson of Goodland who invented the helicopter in 1909; and Omar Knedlik of Coffeyville who invented the first frozen carbonated drink machine in 1961.
11. Smith County is the geographical center of the 48 contiguous states.
12. Amelia Earhart, first woman granted a pilot's license by the National Aeronautics Associate and first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean was from Atchison.
13. Dwight D. Eisenhower from Abilene was the 34th President of the United States.
14. Silent comedian Buster Keaton, of early film success, was from Piqua, Kansas.
15. The three largest herds of buffalo (correctly called bison) in Kansas are located on public lands at the Maxwell Game Preserve (McPherson), Big Basin (Ashland), and Buffalo Game Preserve (Garden City).
16. Fort Riley, between Junction City and Manhattan, was the cradle of the United States Cavalry for 83 years. George Custer formed the famed 7th Cavalry there in 1866. Ten years later, at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, the 7th was virtually wiped out. The only Cavalry survivor was a horse named Comanche.
17. Wyatt Earp, James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok and William B. "Bat" Masterson were three of the legendary lawmen who kept the peace in rowdy frontier towns like Abilene, Dodge City, Ellsworth, Hays, and Wichita.
18. The public swimming pool at the Lee Richardson Zoo in Garden City occupies half a city block and holds 2 1/2 million gallons of water.
19. Cedar Crest is the name of the governor's mansion in Topeka, the state capital.
20. Barton County is the only Kansas County that is named for a woman; the famous volunteer Civil War nurse Clara Barton.
21. The Arkansas River may be the only river whose pronunciation changes as it crosses state lines. In Kansas, it is called the Arkansas (ahr-KAN-zuhs). On both sides of Kansas (Colorado and Oklahoma), it is called the Arkansaw.
22. Civil War veteran S.P. Dinsmoor used over 100 tons of concrete to build the Garden of Eden in Lucas. Even the flag above the mausoleum is made of concrete.
23. Handel's Messiah has been presented in Lindsborgeach at Easter since 1889.
24. A monument to the first Christian martyr on United States Territory stands along Highway 56 near Lyons. Father Juan de Padilla came to the region with the explorer Coronado in 1541.
25. Hutchinson is nicknamed the Salt City because it was built above some of the richest salt deposits in the world. Salt is still actively mined, processed and shipped from Hutchinson.
26. There are 27 Walnut Creeks in the state.
27. There are more than 600 incorporated towns in the state.
28. Morton County sells the most trout fishing stamps of all the Kansas counties.
29. Fire Station No. 4 in Lawrence, originally a stone barn constructed in 1858, was a station site on the Underground Railroad.
30. The Hugoton Gas Field is the largest natural gas field in the United States. It underlies all or parts of 10 southwestern Kansas counties as well as parts of Oklahoma and Texas. The gas field underlies almost 8,500 square miles, an area nearly 5 times as large as the state of Rhode Island.
31. The Kansas Speleological Society has catalogued at least 528 caves in 37 Kansas counties. Commanche County has at least 128 caves and Barber County has at least 117 caves.
32. Kansas has the largest population of wild grouse in North America. The grouse is commonly called the prairie chicken.
33. Milford Reservoir with over 16,000 acres of water is the state's largest lake. The reservoir is located northwest of Junction City.
34. The Geodetic Center of North America is about 40 miles south of Lebanon at Meade's Ranch. It is the beginning point of reference for land surveying in North America. When a surveyor checks a property line, he or she is checking the position of property in relation to Meade's Ranch in northwest Kansas.
35. In Italy the city of Milan is 300 miles northwest of Rome. In Kansas, Milan is less than 25 miles northwest of Rome, in Sumner County.
36. Between 1854 and 1866, 34 steamboats paddled up the Kaw River (Kansas River). One made it as far west as Fort Riley.
37. In 1990 Kansas wheat farmers produced enough wheat to make 33 billion loaves of bread, or enough to provide each person on earth with 6 loaves.
38. Holy Cross Shrine in Pfeifer, was known as the 2 Cent Church because the building was built using a 2 cent donation on each bushel of wheat sold by members of the church.
39. Kansas produced a record 492.2 million bushels of wheat in 1997, enough to make 35.9 billion loaves of bread.
40. The American Institute of Baking is located in Manhattan.
41. A 30 foot tall statue of Johnny Kaw stands in Manhattan. The statue represents the importance of the Kansas wheat farmer.
42. The graham cracker was named after the Reverend Sylvester Graham (1794-1851). He was a Presbyterian minister who strongly believed in eating whole wheat flour products.
43. The rocks at Rock City are huge sandstone concretions. In an area about the size of two football fields, 200 rocks, some as large as houses, dot the landscape. There is no other place in the world where there are so many concretions of such giant size.
44. George Washington Carver, the famous botanical scientist who discovered more than 300 products made from the peanut, graduated from high school in Minneapolis in 1885.
45. The First United Methodist Church in Hutchinson was built in 1874 during the time of the grasshopper plagues. The grasshoppers came during the construction of the churches foundation but the pastor continued with the work. As a result, thousands of grasshoppers are mixed into the mortar of the original building's foundation.
46. A hailstone weighing more than one and a half pounds once fell on Coffeyville.
47. The Oregon Trail passed thru six states, including Kansas. There were no Indian attacks reported on the Oregon Trail as the travelers passed through the state.
48. Russell Springs located in Logan County is known as the Cow Chip Capital of Kansas.
49. The world famous fast-food chain of Pizza Hut restaurants opened its first store in Wichita.
50. Sumner County is known as The Wheat Capital of the World.
|
|
Louisiana:
# The world famous "Mardi Gras" is celebrated in New Orleans. Mardi Gras is an ancient custom that originated in southern Europe. It celebrates food and fun just before the 40 days of Lent: a Catholic time of prayer and sacrifice.
# The Battle of New Orleans, which made Andrew Jackson a national hero, was fought two weeks after the War of 1812 had ended and more than a month before the news of the war's end had reached Louisiana.
# Louisiana was named in honor of King Louis XIV.
# Baton Rouge hosted the 1983 Special Olympics International Summer Games at LSU.
# Louisiana has the tallest state capitol building in the United States; the building is 450 feet tall with 34 floors.
# Louisiana is the only state in the union that does not have counties. Its political subdivisions are called parishes.
# Louisiana is the only state with a large population of Cajuns, descendants of the Acadians who were driven out of Canada in the 1700s because they wouldn't pledge allegiance to the King of England.
# The Superdome in New Orleans is the worlds largest steel-constructed room unobstructed by posts.
Height: 273 feet (82.3 meters), Diameter of Dome: 680 feet (210 meters), Area of Roof: 9.7 acres, Interior Space: 125,000,000 cubic feet, Total floor footage: 269,000 sq. ft. (82,342 sq. meters), Electrical Wiring: 400 miles (640 kilometers)
# Metairie is home to the longest bridge over water in the world, the Lake Pontchartrain causeway. The causeway connects Metairie with St. Tammany Parish on the North Shore. The causeway is 24 miles long.
# Louisiana is the only state that still refers to the Napoleonic Code in its state law.
# Since 1835 the New Orleans & Carrolliton Line is the oldest street railway line still in operation.
# Saint Martin Parish is home to the world's largest freshwater river basin, the Atchafalaya Basin; the basin provides nearly every type of outdoor recreational activity imaginable.
# Breaux Bridge is known as the "Crawfish Capital of the World".
# The first American army to have African American officers was the confederate Louisiana Native Guards. The Corps d'Afrique at Port Hudson was sworn into service on September 27, 1862.
# In Louisiana, biting someone with your natural teeth is considered a simple assault, but biting someone with your false teeth is considered an aggravated assault.
# The Saint Charles streetcar line in New Orleans and the San Francisco, California cable cars are the nation's only mobile national monuments
# Jennings is called the "Garden Spot of Louisiana" for it's rich and productive farmland. Jennings sobriquet {nickname} became a "Northern Town on Southern Soil".
# Baton Rouge's flag is a field of crimson representing the great Indian nations that once inhabited the area.
# Money Magazine has rated Terrebonne Parish, in the heart of Cajun Country the best place to live in Louisiana for 3 years in a row.
# In 1718 The French found New Orleans and marked "Cannes Brulee" on maps upriver in the area known today as the City of Kenner. French for "Burnt Canes", Cannes Brulee was a name given by explorers who observed natives burning cane to drive out wild game.
# Between April 17,1862 and May 18, 1864 20 major Civil War battles and engagements were fought on Louisiana soil.
# In 1803 the United States paid France $15 million for the Louisiana Territory. 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River. The lands acquired stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border. Thirteen states were carved from the Louisiana Territory. The Louisiana Purchase nearly doubled the size of the United States.
# bayou: \BUY-you\ n. a French name for slow-moving "river"
# Louisiana's first territorial governor, William C.C. Claiborne had great admiration for the awkward bird that inhabited the Gulf Coast region. The pelican, rather than let its young starve, would tear at its own flesh to feed them. The Governor's great respect for the Pelican led him to first use the Pelican symbol on official documents.
# The Catahoula Leopard Dog, often called the Catahoula Hound, is the official state dog.
# The City of Sulphur is the 13th largest city in Louisiana and is named for the chemical and mining industry that helped to establish Calcasieu Parish in the late 1800's.
# The Town of Walker became a municipality under the State's Lawrason Act (136 of 1898) on July 9, 1909 as a village.
# Saint Joseph's Cemetery, the only known United States cemetery facing north-south is in Rayne.
# Incorporated in 1813 under the Lawrason Act, Saint Francisville is the second oldest town in Louisiana.
# The Union Cottonseed Oil Mill of West Monroe was in the planning stages as early as 1883. By 1887, it provided the area with many jobs for the laborers of the area. The Union Oil Mill is the oldest industry in Ouachita Parish.
# French speaking Acadians in the mid-1700s settled the Lafayette Parish region of south Louisiana. The Acadians were joined by another group of settlers called Creoles, descendants of African, West Indian, and European pioneers. At the time of the migration, Louisiana was under Spanish rule and authorities welcomed the new settlers.
# The city of Kaplan is referred to as "The Most Cajun place on earth".
# The town of Jean Lafitte was once a hideaway for pirates.
# Winnsboro, the "Stars and Stripes Capital of Louisiana", is one of the most patriotic cities in America. On Memorial Day, July 4th, Veteran's Day, Labor Day, and other special occasions, approximately 350 American flags fly proudly along highway 15.
# The name "Bogalusa" is derived from the Indian named creek "Bogue Lusa", which flows through the city.
# Frances Parkinson Keyes, one of America's best selling authors, lived in Crowley for more than ten years.
# The golden spike, commemorating the completion of the east-west Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad, was driven at Bossier City on July 12, 1884, by Julia "Pansy" Rule. It was the first such spike driven by a woman.
# Jim Bowie, the legendary adventurer and hero of the Battle of the Alamo, lived in Opelousas after moving there from Kentucky. Opelousas is the third oldest city in Louisiana.
# The City of Ponchatoula is the oldest incorporated city in Tangipahoa Parish. Ponchatoula derives its name from the Choctaw Indian language meaning "hair to hang" because of the abundance of Spanish moss on the trees surrounding the area.
# Le Musee de la Ville de Kaplan {The Kaplan Museum} is located in the center of downtown Kaplan. Le Musee at appropriate times has exhibits centered on the seasonal festivals. Mardi Gras, Easter, July 4, Bastille Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas.
# Rayne is known as the "The Frog Capital of the World".
# Notations on the original plats of survey for the area that is now Ville Platte stated that surveyors had to use pirogues and flat boats to properly do their work.
# Because Covington is in a region referred to as the Ozone Belt, it has long been known for its clean air and water.
# Gueydan is known as the "Duck Capital of America" in recognition of its abundance of waterfowl.
# Mamou bills itself as "The Cajun Music Capital of the World." Mamou musicians, in particular the musicians who have perform at Fred's Lounge have been a major force in expanding the audience for Cajun music far beyond Southwest Louisiana.
# The Harvey Canal Locks near Westwego connect the Mississippi River to the Harvey Canal. Back in the 1800s the locks served as ferries to transport railroad cars from one side of the canal to the other. Workers would then reunite the railroad cars on land. This service may have sparked the name of the town. According to one local folk tale, trainmen would shout "West We Go" as the railroad cars were reconnected and pulled out of the station.
# Church Point boasts the designation "The Buggy Capital of the World". A festival celebrates this designation annually on the first weekend in June.
# The Creole House in French Settlement was built of cypress wood. It is typical of the dwellings built in the late 1800's because cypress was so plentiful in the surrounding swamps.
# Fort Polk was established in 1941 and named in honor of the Right Reverend Leonidas Polk, the first Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana. On March 12, 1993, Fort Polk officially became the home of the Joint Readiness Training Center.
# Pineville is home to a one of a kind museum called the Old Town Hall Museum. It is the only museum in the entire state of Louisiana dedicated to municipal government.
# The Battle of New Orleans, which made Andrew Jackson a national hero, was fought two weeks after the War of 1812 had ended and more than a month before the news of the war's end had reached Louisiana.
# Louisiana was named in honor of King Louis XIV.
# Baton Rouge hosted the 1983 Special Olympics International Summer Games at LSU.
# Louisiana has the tallest state capitol building in the United States; the building is 450 feet tall with 34 floors.
# Louisiana is the only state in the union that does not have counties. Its political subdivisions are called parishes.
# Louisiana is the only state with a large population of Cajuns, descendants of the Acadians who were driven out of Canada in the 1700s because they wouldn't pledge allegiance to the King of England.
# The Superdome in New Orleans is the worlds largest steel-constructed room unobstructed by posts.
Height: 273 feet (82.3 meters), Diameter of Dome: 680 feet (210 meters), Area of Roof: 9.7 acres, Interior Space: 125,000,000 cubic feet, Total floor footage: 269,000 sq. ft. (82,342 sq. meters), Electrical Wiring: 400 miles (640 kilometers)
# Metairie is home to the longest bridge over water in the world, the Lake Pontchartrain causeway. The causeway connects Metairie with St. Tammany Parish on the North Shore. The causeway is 24 miles long.
# Louisiana is the only state that still refers to the Napoleonic Code in its state law.
# Since 1835 the New Orleans & Carrolliton Line is the oldest street railway line still in operation.
# Saint Martin Parish is home to the world's largest freshwater river basin, the Atchafalaya Basin; the basin provides nearly every type of outdoor recreational activity imaginable.
# Breaux Bridge is known as the "Crawfish Capital of the World".
# The first American army to have African American officers was the confederate Louisiana Native Guards. The Corps d'Afrique at Port Hudson was sworn into service on September 27, 1862.
# In Louisiana, biting someone with your natural teeth is considered a simple assault, but biting someone with your false teeth is considered an aggravated assault.
# The Saint Charles streetcar line in New Orleans and the San Francisco, California cable cars are the nation's only mobile national monuments
# Jennings is called the "Garden Spot of Louisiana" for it's rich and productive farmland. Jennings sobriquet {nickname} became a "Northern Town on Southern Soil".
# Baton Rouge's flag is a field of crimson representing the great Indian nations that once inhabited the area.
# Money Magazine has rated Terrebonne Parish, in the heart of Cajun Country the best place to live in Louisiana for 3 years in a row.
# In 1718 The French found New Orleans and marked "Cannes Brulee" on maps upriver in the area known today as the City of Kenner. French for "Burnt Canes", Cannes Brulee was a name given by explorers who observed natives burning cane to drive out wild game.
# Between April 17,1862 and May 18, 1864 20 major Civil War battles and engagements were fought on Louisiana soil.
# In 1803 the United States paid France $15 million for the Louisiana Territory. 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River. The lands acquired stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border. Thirteen states were carved from the Louisiana Territory. The Louisiana Purchase nearly doubled the size of the United States.
# bayou: \BUY-you\ n. a French name for slow-moving "river"
# Louisiana's first territorial governor, William C.C. Claiborne had great admiration for the awkward bird that inhabited the Gulf Coast region. The pelican, rather than let its young starve, would tear at its own flesh to feed them. The Governor's great respect for the Pelican led him to first use the Pelican symbol on official documents.
# The Catahoula Leopard Dog, often called the Catahoula Hound, is the official state dog.
# The City of Sulphur is the 13th largest city in Louisiana and is named for the chemical and mining industry that helped to establish Calcasieu Parish in the late 1800's.
# The Town of Walker became a municipality under the State's Lawrason Act (136 of 1898) on July 9, 1909 as a village.
# Saint Joseph's Cemetery, the only known United States cemetery facing north-south is in Rayne.
# Incorporated in 1813 under the Lawrason Act, Saint Francisville is the second oldest town in Louisiana.
# The Union Cottonseed Oil Mill of West Monroe was in the planning stages as early as 1883. By 1887, it provided the area with many jobs for the laborers of the area. The Union Oil Mill is the oldest industry in Ouachita Parish.
# French speaking Acadians in the mid-1700s settled the Lafayette Parish region of south Louisiana. The Acadians were joined by another group of settlers called Creoles, descendants of African, West Indian, and European pioneers. At the time of the migration, Louisiana was under Spanish rule and authorities welcomed the new settlers.
# The city of Kaplan is referred to as "The Most Cajun place on earth".
# The town of Jean Lafitte was once a hideaway for pirates.
# Winnsboro, the "Stars and Stripes Capital of Louisiana", is one of the most patriotic cities in America. On Memorial Day, July 4th, Veteran's Day, Labor Day, and other special occasions, approximately 350 American flags fly proudly along highway 15.
# The name "Bogalusa" is derived from the Indian named creek "Bogue Lusa", which flows through the city.
# Frances Parkinson Keyes, one of America's best selling authors, lived in Crowley for more than ten years.
# The golden spike, commemorating the completion of the east-west Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad, was driven at Bossier City on July 12, 1884, by Julia "Pansy" Rule. It was the first such spike driven by a woman.
# Jim Bowie, the legendary adventurer and hero of the Battle of the Alamo, lived in Opelousas after moving there from Kentucky. Opelousas is the third oldest city in Louisiana.
# The City of Ponchatoula is the oldest incorporated city in Tangipahoa Parish. Ponchatoula derives its name from the Choctaw Indian language meaning "hair to hang" because of the abundance of Spanish moss on the trees surrounding the area.
# Le Musee de la Ville de Kaplan {The Kaplan Museum} is located in the center of downtown Kaplan. Le Musee at appropriate times has exhibits centered on the seasonal festivals. Mardi Gras, Easter, July 4, Bastille Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas.
# Rayne is known as the "The Frog Capital of the World".
# Notations on the original plats of survey for the area that is now Ville Platte stated that surveyors had to use pirogues and flat boats to properly do their work.
# Because Covington is in a region referred to as the Ozone Belt, it has long been known for its clean air and water.
# Gueydan is known as the "Duck Capital of America" in recognition of its abundance of waterfowl.
# Mamou bills itself as "The Cajun Music Capital of the World." Mamou musicians, in particular the musicians who have perform at Fred's Lounge have been a major force in expanding the audience for Cajun music far beyond Southwest Louisiana.
# The Harvey Canal Locks near Westwego connect the Mississippi River to the Harvey Canal. Back in the 1800s the locks served as ferries to transport railroad cars from one side of the canal to the other. Workers would then reunite the railroad cars on land. This service may have sparked the name of the town. According to one local folk tale, trainmen would shout "West We Go" as the railroad cars were reconnected and pulled out of the station.
# Church Point boasts the designation "The Buggy Capital of the World". A festival celebrates this designation annually on the first weekend in June.
# The Creole House in French Settlement was built of cypress wood. It is typical of the dwellings built in the late 1800's because cypress was so plentiful in the surrounding swamps.
# Fort Polk was established in 1941 and named in honor of the Right Reverend Leonidas Polk, the first Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana. On March 12, 1993, Fort Polk officially became the home of the Joint Readiness Training Center.
# Pineville is home to a one of a kind museum called the Old Town Hall Museum. It is the only museum in the entire state of Louisiana dedicated to municipal government.
I'll add some local ones:
Santiago de Chile
1.- The Palace of La Moneda, seat of the Chilean Government, is the only pure neoclasic italian building in America, and also was built by mistake in the late 1700's, when the floorplans for the palace got accidentally switched with those of a royal prison to be built in the Viceroyalty of Peru.
2.- The largest pirate-impersonating organization in the world, The Brotherhood of the Coast, was founded in Santiago in 1951 by Dr Alfonso Leng and Dr Anselmo Hammer. Today, it has over 3,000 members in Chile, and over 2,000 more members in other countries. It is also the largest employer of bird trainers in Chile, and every year its members bury over 20,000 USD worth of gold, silver, and jewels in random parts of the country to be digged up during treasure hunts held once per year.
3.- The Church of the Sacramentines in central Santiago was built as an exact replica of the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur in Paris. Underneath the central nave, there is a second nave built within a giantic catacomb with the exact same dimensions as the one above (though shorter in height, since it doesn't have the vaults). This second nave became a popular gathering spot for artists and theatre troupes during the early XX century.
4.- Chilean architect Luciano Kulczewski was well known for erecting all manners of gothic buildings accross Santiago in the early XX Century, and his buildings are a very priced item these days. One of these, the "Mansion Fortaleza" (Fortress Mansion) is about 5 times smaller on the inside than it is on the outside. This is due to the fact the mansion is crawling with all manners of secret passages and hidden rooms scattered within its incredibly think -and tremendously suspicious- walls.
5.- In 1839, Fray Andres Garcia Acosta, a spanish franciscan monk, arrived to Santiago to participate in the organization and building of a new franciscan church in the city. A couple of days later, he was interviewed by a journalist about how long he expected the job to take, and he replied "I hope we can finish it in less than twenty years, for I am going to die on January 14, 1853". Precisely that day, he died from a stroke while conducting mass. A flask of his blood -still in perfect shape- can be seen in the Franciscan Relicarium in Santiago; both the blood and the corpse were tested for DNA in 2005 and they were a perfect match. A few cubic centimetres were sent to the Vatican and are currently being studied by biologists as part of the beatification process.
6.- Antonio de Urquemeta, a wealthy merchant and historian who died in 1876, was so obsessed with Egypt that he was known to have imported several priceless artifacts he bought from british and german archaeologists, including two mummies. One of those mummies, along with most of his collection, was donated to a museum in southern Chile; the other, currently rests in a massive sarcophagus next to Urquemeta's own massive sarcophagus, inside a 60-foot tall stone pyramid mausoleum located in Santiago's General Cemetery, at the bottom of a network of catacombs where the remainder of his family -including his wife, who was not buried next to him, as per the custom- rest among thousand year-old egyptian relics.
These are fun to read. You should keep going! It's pretty easy for something to get buried in OTD.
Bookmarked.