Facts can be odd, and these sure are… Thank you ‘Merca!
America is a country full of surprises and odd facts. For example, did you know that the state of Alaska is so big that it could fit Texas, California, and Montana inside of it? Or that in the town of Casey, Illinois, there is a 56-foot tall wind chime that holds the Guinness World Record for the largest working wind chime?
Another peculiar fact is that the world’s largest ball of twine is located in Cawker City, Kansas, and it weighs over 17,000 pounds. Additionally, the United States is the only country to have used nuclear weapons in warfare, and the first ever public library in America charged late fees of one cent per day for overdue books.
These odd facts about America are just the tip of the iceberg, and there are countless more intriguing and surprising facts to be discovered.
Here:s some facts we thought were . . . “interesting”:
1. Ye’ Old, Ye’ Old
The U.S. Census Bureau (check them out for updates) estimated the U.S. population to be 322,762,018. One in 10 Americans, quite possibly could be a blood relative to any of the first 102 pilgrims who came in 1620 on the Mayflower. That’s over 32 million pilgrims!
2. When he was 17…
Our 50-starred American flag was created in 1958 for a high school project by seventeen year old, Robert G. Heft. Heft cut pieces of an old flag from his grandparents into a masterpiece. Albeit, his history teacher, Stanley Pratt wasn’t so impressed and handed Heft a B- for his creative endeavor. Once the flag was chosen by the United States Congress, teacher Stanley rethought Heft’s grade.
3. Flying pie tins, Batman!
College students began using the empty pie tins from the Frisbie Pie Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut for a toss game. With their products literally flying out the door, Walter Morrison and Warren Franscioni found a way to capitalize on this new trend. In 1948, they offered a free plastic version toy, dubbed the Flyin’ Saucer aka the Pluto Platter Flying Saucer, after an alleged UFO sighting in Roswell, New Mexico. Wham-O founders licensed the item, renaming it the Frisbee.
4. Pre-Paid Postal
In the early days of the U.S. Post Office, recipients often times had to pay for postage on the letters and packages they received. This caused a costly dilemma for the postal service, as most mail was refused. Enter 1847, and the invention of pre-paid postage stamps.
5. Mama-Mia, that’s a-lott-a!
Pizza—flat-a bread-a with cheese-a and tomato-sauce-a. Italy’s biggest export to America, has become so much a part of US culture, that over 100 acres of pizza are served nationwide each day.
6. Stanky
We’re not sure we can believe this odd USA factoid, but according to Econintersect.com, 7% of Americans claim they do not bathe. Um, ew!
7. $Apple$
Apple has more operating cash than the U.S. Treasury.
8. LOL, no, seriously…
Please don’t do this to your child. Apparently, there are more than 97 people named “LOL” in the USA via names/whitepages.com. All we can say is LOL!
Did you know?
Did you know that Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb and phonograph, was afraid of the dark? It might sound ironic, but it’s true! Edison was known to sleep with the lights on and feared being alone in the dark.
To overcome his fear, he always kept a light on in his laboratory, which is said to have inspired the invention of the light bulb. Despite his fear of the dark, Edison became one of the most famous inventors in American history and held over 1,000 patents.
Another odd fact:
San Francisco has a street with the most crooked turns in the world? Lombard Street, located in the Russian Hill neighborhood, has eight sharp turns and is a popular tourist attraction. It was designed to help cars navigate the steep slope of the street, which has a gradient of 27%.
origonal content July 16, 2016/updated Jan. 29, 2023
