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| == Trivia == | | == Trivia == |
| + | * Alabama introduced the Mardi Gras to the western world. The celebration is held on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent begins. |
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| + | * Alabama workers built the first rocket to put humans on the moon. |
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| + | * The world's first Electric Trolley System was introduced in Montgomery in 1886. |
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| + | * Alabama is the only state with all major natural resources needed to make iron and steel. It is also the largest supplier of cast-iron and steel pipe products. |
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| + | * Montgomery is the capital and the birthplace of the Confederate States of America. |
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| + | * The Confederate flag was designed and first flown in Alabama in 1861. |
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| + | * Alabama became the 22nd state on December 14, 1819. |
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| + | * The town of Enterprise houses the Boll Weevil Monument to acknowledge the role this destructive insect played in encouraging farmers to grow crops other than cotton. |
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| + | * Baseball player Henry Louis (Hank) Aaron was born in Mobile in 1934. |
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| + | * Boxer Joe Louis was born in Lexington in 1914. He died in 1981. |
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| + | * "Alabama" is the official state song. |
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| + | * Baseball player Willie Howard Mays was born in Westfield in 1931. |
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| + | * A skeleton of a pre-historic man was found in Russell Cave. |
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| + | * At 2,405 feet Cheaha Mountain is Alabama's highest point above sea level. |
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| + | * Huntsville is known as the rocket capital of the World. |
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| + | * The Alabama Department of Archives is the oldest state-funded archival agency in the nation. |
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| + | * The musical singing group Alabama has a Fan Club and Museum in Fort Payne. |
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| + | * In 1902 Dr. Luther Leonidas Hill performed the first open heart surgery in the Western Hemisphere by suturing a stab wound in a young boy's heart. The surgery occurred in Montgomery. |
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| + | * To help fund education Alabama instituted its state sales tax in 1937. |
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| + | * Schools established in Mobile include Washington Academy (founded in 1811) and Huntsville Green Academy (founded in 1812). |
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| + | * Between 1817 and 1819 Old Saint Stephens was the first territorial capital of Alabama. |
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| + | * In 1956 the Army Ballistic Missile Agency was established at Huntsville's Redstone Arsenal. |
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| + | * Governor George C. Wallace served four terms in office. |
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| + | * In 1995 Heather Whitestone serves as first Miss America chosen with a disability. |
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| + | * Alabama's geographic center is located in Chilton a community located 12 miles southwest of Clanton. |
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| + | * The word Alabama means tribal town in the Creek Indian language. |
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| + | * The United States Army Chemical Corps Museum in Fort McClellan contains over 4000 chemical warfare artifacts. |
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| + | * Hitler's typewriter survived from his mountain retreat and is exhibited at the Hall of History in Bessemer. |
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| + | * Blount County was created on February 7, 1818 and is older than the state. |
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| + | * Winston County is often called the Free State of Winston. It gained the name during the Civil War. |
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| + | * Mobile is named after the Mauvilla Indians. |
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| + | * Peter Bryce is recognized as the state's first psychiatrist. He was born in 1834 and died in 1892. |
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| + | * The Alabama State Flag was authorized by the Alabama legislature on February 16, 1895. |
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| + | * Hematite is Alabama's official state mineral and is known as oxide of iron (Fe2O3). |
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| + | * The Monarch butterfly (Danaus pleipuss) is the state's official insect. |
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| + | * The star blue quartz is the state's official gemstone. |
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| + | * The Florence Renaissance Faire is the Alabama's official fair. |
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| + | * The pecan is the Alabama's official nut. |
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| + | * People from Alabama are called Alabamians. |
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| + | * On January 11, 1861 Alabama becomes the fourth state to secede from the Union. |
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| + | * On January 28, 1846 Montgomery was selected as capital of Alabama. |
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| + | * Tallulah Bankhead entertained as a star of stage, screen, and radio during the 1930s-1950s. She was born in Huntsville in 1902 and died in 1968. |
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| + | * Singer and entertainer Nathaniel Adams (Nat King) Cole was known as the man with the velvet voice. He was born in Montgomery in 1919 and died in 1965. |
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| + | * Alabama resident Sequoyah devised the phonetic, written alphabet of the Cherokee language. |
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| + | * The Birmingham Airport opened in 1931. At the time of the opening a Birmingham to Los Angeles flight took 19 hours. |
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| + | * Alabama's mean elevation is 500 feet at its lowest elevation point. |
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| + | * Audemus jura nostra defendere is the official state motto. Translated it means "we dare defend our rights." |
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| + | * Washington County is the oldest county in Alabama. |
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| + | * General Andrew Jackson defeated the Creek Indians in 1814. Following the event the Native Americans ceded nearly half the present state land to the United States. |
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| + | * At the Battle of Mobile Bay Admiral David Farragut issued his famous command, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead." The event occurred on August 5, 1864. |
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| == External links == | | == External links == |
| + | *[http://alabama.gov/ Alabama.gov] - Official website. |