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 Facts About Ohio
(as of 2006)
 
In 1750, Christopher Gist, a surveyor for the Ohio Company, reported that,
"This Ohio Country is fine, rich, level land, well-timbered with large
walnut, ash, sugar trees ... it is well watered ... and full of beautiful
natural ... meadows, abounding with turkeys, deer, elk and most sorts of
game, particularly buffaloes. In short, it wants nothing but cultivation
to make it a most delightful country." This longtime home of the Adena
and Hopewell Indian cultures - was fought over by the British and French
for decades - to eventually become part of America's Northwest Territory
in 1783. The navigable waters of the Ohio River brought settlers by the
thousands, and in 1803 it became the "first state" west of the Allegheny
Mountains, and eventually, the native home state of (7) U.S. Presidents.
It's often called the "Birthplace of Aviation Pioneers," as astronauts
Neil Armstrong and John Glenn were born in Ohio, as well Orville Wright,
the co-inventor of the airplane. With easy access to the world via the
Great Lakes, Ohio was a significant
part of the industrial history of the country, as manufacturing giants
like Goodrich Tire and Rubber and Standard Oil were based here. Modern
Ohio is certainly home to college towns, big, flashy cities, and the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame, but it's the endless small towns and family farms
that remain the true heartbeat of the state.
Capital: Columbus
Population: 11,459,011
Entered the Union: March 1, 1803
As the: 17th State
Motto: With God, all things are
possible.
Nickname: Buckeye State
Flower: Scarlet Carnation
Bird: Cardinal
Song: Beautiful Ohio
Origin of Name: From the Iroquois
Indian word for "good river".
Points of Interest: The Columbus Zoo
and Aquarium; U.S. Air Force Museum; American Classical Music Hall of
Fame; National Aviation Hall of Fame; Cincinnati Art Museum; and, Coney
Island.
Bordering States: Indiana, Kentucky,
Michigan, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
Numerous Facts & Trivia:
The first ambulance service was established in Cincinnati in 1865.
Cleveland boasts America's first traffic light. It began on Aug. 5, 1914.
Ermal Fraze invented the pop-top can in Kettering.
James J. Ritty, of Dayton, invented the cash register in 1879 to stop his
patrons from pilfering house profits.
"Hang On Sloopy" is the official state rock song.
Cincinnati Reds were the first professional baseball team.
The Y Bridge in Zanesville was first built in 1814 to span the confluence
of the Licking and Muskingum Rivers. The current bridge is the fifth
construction at the same location. "Ripley's Believe It or Not" proclaimed
it the only bridge in the world which you can cross and still be on the
same side of the river.
Akron was the first city to use police cars.
Cincinnati had the first professional city fire department.
Akron is the rubber capital of the world.
The American Federation of Labor was founded in Columbus.
Ohio senator John Glenn became the oldest man to venture into outer space.
On February 20, 1962 he was the first American to orbit the earth. In
October of 1998 at age 77 he returned to the space program and traveled
back into space.
Cleveland is home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Ohio is the leading producer of greenhouse and nursery plants.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is located in Canton.
Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. He was from
Wapakoneta.
The Wright Brothers are acknowledged as inventors of the first airplane
they were from Dayton.
The popular television sit-com, "The Drew Cary Show" is set in Cleveland.
East Liverpool was the beginning point of the United States Public Land
Survey. The location was the area from which a rectangular-grid land
survey system was established under the Ordinance of 1785. The survey
provided for administration and subdivision of land in the Old Northwest
Territory. The Ordinance stipulated that all public lands were to be
divided into townships six miles square.
Seven United States presidents were born in Ohio. They are: Ulysses S.
Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William
McKinley, William H. Taft, and Warren G. Harding.
Some well-known personalities were born in Ohio. Among them Steven
Spielberg, Paul Newman, Annie Oakley, Arsenio Hall and Clark Gable.
The first full time automobile service station was opened in 1899 in Ohio.
In 1852 Ohio was the first state to enact laws protecting working women.
Ohio gave America its first hot dog in 1900. Harry M. Stevens created the
popular dining dog.
Ohio became the 17th state on March 1, 1803.
East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland was the site of the first
pedestrian button for the control of a traffic light. The boy chosen for
the 1948 newsreel to demonstrate its operation was Louis Spronze.
Ohio has an area of 116,103 sq miles. It ranks 34th in state size.
Columbus is the state capital and Ohio's largest city.
50% of the United States population lives within a 500 mile radius of
Columbus.
Dresden is the home of the world's largest basket. It is located at Basket
Village USA.
Fostoria is the only city to be situated in three counties (Seneca,
Hancock & Wood).
Ohio's state flag is a pennant design. It is the only state flag of that
design in the United States.
Ohio University was founded in 1804 at Athens and is recognized as the
first university in Ohio and in the Northwest Territory.
Oberlin College was founded in 1833.It was the first interracial and
coeducational college in the United States.
The Glacial Grooves on the north side of Kelleys Island are the largest
easily accessible such grooves in the world. They were scoured into solid
limestone bedrock about 18,000 years ago by the great ice sheet that
covered part of North America.
Marietta was Ohio's first permanent settlement. Founded in 1788 by General
Rufus Putnam and named in honor of Marie Antoinette, then queen of France.
Chillicothe was Ohio's first capital city.
Cleveland became the world's first city to be lighted electrically in
1879.
Ohio is known as the Buckeye State.
Thomas A. Edison from Milan developed the incandescent light bulb,
phonograph, and early motion picture camera.
John Lambert of Ohio City made America's first automobile in 1891.
Charles Kettering of Loundonville invented the automobile self-starter in
1911.
Charles Goodyear of Akron developed the process of vulcanizing rubber in
1839.
Roy J. Plunkett of New Carlisle invented Teflon in 1938.
W.F. Semple of Mount Vernon patented chewing gum in 1869.
John Mercer Langston is believed to have been the first African American
elected to public office. He was elected clerk of Brownhelm in 1854.
Long jumper DeHart Hubbard was the first African American to earn an
Olympic Gold Medal. The award occurred during the 1924 Olympics games held
in Paris. He set the record for long jumping.
Jesse Owens grew up in Cleveland. He won four gold medals in the 1936
Olympics in Berlin.
Paul Laurence Dunbar of Dayton is known as the poet laureate of African
Americans.
Learn more at 50states.com
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