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== Trivia ==
 
== Trivia ==
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* 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.
       
== External links ==
 
== External links ==
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*[http://alabama.gov/ Alabama.gov] - Official website.