Hey there! I’m John Green, and welcome to my fun fact-filled adventure about the 50 state capitals of the United States. Did you know that Montgomery, Alabama, has a minor league baseball team called the Montgomery Biscuits? Their mascot is a biscuit named Monty! Let’s dive into more cool facts about each state capital.
Juneau, Alaska, is massive, covering 3,255 square miles, making it larger than the entire state of Delaware! Phoenix, Arizona, was once called “Pumpkinville” because of melons that looked like pumpkins. Little Rock, Arkansas, boasts the longest pedestrian bridge in North America, known as the “Big Dam Bridge.”
In California, famous author Mark Twain once worked for a newspaper in Sacramento. Denver, Colorado, is the top beer-brewing city in the U.S. Hartford, Connecticut, was where President Theodore Roosevelt first rode in a car publicly.
Dover, Delaware, was named by William Penn after a city in England. Tallahassee, Florida, hosted the first North American Christmas celebration in the 1500s. Atlanta, Georgia, is a major hub for hip hop music, with artists like Ludacris starting there.
Honolulu, Hawaii, has the only royal palace in the U.S. Boise, Idaho, has a replica of the Liberty Bell without a crack. Springfield, Illinois, opened the first drive-thru in America in 1921.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indiana is so large that several famous landmarks could fit inside it. Des Moines, Iowa, means “of the monks” in French and was almost named Fort Raccoon. Topeka, Kansas, temporarily changed its name to “Google” to attract the company’s attention.
Frankfort, Kentucky, inspired Edgar Allan Poe’s only play, “Politian.” Baton Rouge, Louisiana, experienced the “Earthquake Game” when cheering fans registered as an earthquake. Augusta, Maine, is home to America’s oldest wooden fort, built in 1754.
Annapolis, Maryland, hosts the world’s largest crab feast, with over 300 bushels of crab eaten each year!
Boston, Massachusetts, once flooded with molasses in 1919, causing destruction and loss of life. Lansing, Michigan, became the capital to resolve political disputes. Saint Paul, Minnesota, was once called “Pig’s Eye Landing.”
Jackson, Mississippi, was known for wild partying in the 1960s. Jefferson City, Missouri, has had two capitol buildings burn down. Lincoln, Nebraska, was home to famous people like Johnny Carson, but not Abraham Lincoln himself.
Carson City, Nevada, has been featured in many films. Concord, New Hampshire, was mistakenly mentioned by Michele Bachmann in a speech. Trenton, New Jersey, made a giant bathtub for President Taft. Santa Fe, New Mexico, has the oldest church in the U.S., built in the 1600s.
Albany, New York, is where perforated toilet paper was invented. Raleigh, North Carolina, features a statue of Andy and Opie from “The Andy Griffith Show.” Bismarck, North Dakota, set a world record for snow angels in 2007.
Columbus, Ohio, was where Jerrie Mock started and ended her solo flight around the world. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, houses a valuable pre-World War II banjo. Salem, Oregon, has one of the smallest parks in the world, Waldo Park.
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, impressed Teddy Roosevelt with its capitol building. Providence, Rhode Island, has a giant termite statue. Columbia, South Carolina, is where Hootie & the Blowfish was formed.
Pierre, South Dakota, is named after fur trader Pierre Chouteau Jr. Nashville, Tennessee, is home to the Country Music Hall of Fame, where Trisha Yearwood once worked as a tour guide. Austin, Texas, unofficially keeps things weird with its slogan “Keep Austin Weird.”
Salt Lake City, Utah, was named “America’s vainest city” by Forbes in 2007. Montpelier, Vermont, is decorated with hearts by a mysterious “Valentine Phantom” every Valentine’s Day. Richmond, Virginia, is where Patrick Henry gave his famous “Give me liberty or give me death!” speech.
Olympia, Washington, was once home to Olympia Beer. Charleston, West Virginia, hosts the “Grumble Run” every Valentine’s Day. Madison, Wisconsin, celebrates “Gomer Day” in honor of a local rock band. Finally, Cheyenne, Wyoming, hosts the world’s largest outdoor rodeo, Cheyenne Frontier Days.
Thanks for joining me on this journey through the state capitals! I hope you enjoyed these fun facts. If you ever wondered how many seconds are in a year, it’s 31,536,000 seconds, or 31,622,400 in a leap year. Keep exploring and learning!
Test your knowledge with a fun trivia quiz about the state capitals! Create a set of questions based on the fun facts from the article. Challenge yourself and your classmates to see who can get the most correct answers. Remember to include questions about unique features or historical events related to each capital.
Grab a blank map of the United States and try to label all the state capitals. Use the fun facts from the article to help you remember each capital’s unique characteristics. Once you’ve labeled the map, compare it with a completed map to see how many you got right!
Pick your favorite state capital and create an informative poster about it. Include interesting facts, historical events, and any unique features mentioned in the article. Use images and drawings to make your poster visually appealing. Share your poster with the class and learn about other capitals from your classmates.
Choose a state capital and write a short story or skit that incorporates some of the fun facts from the article. You can create a fictional adventure or a historical reenactment. Perform your story or skit for the class and bring the state capital’s history and fun facts to life!
Organize a scavenger hunt where you search for items or clues related to the state capitals. Use the fun facts from the article to create clues that lead to different locations or objects around your school or home. Work in teams to solve the clues and learn more about each capital along the way.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Hi, I’m John Green. Welcome to my salon. Hey there, fake fireplace. This is Mental Floss on YouTube. Did you know that Montgomery, Alabama has a minor league baseball team named the Montgomery Biscuits? Their mascot is a biscuit named Monty. That’s the first of 50 facts about the 50 state capitals in the United States that I’m going to share with you today.
At 3,255 square miles, Juneau, Alaska is the largest capital city. It’s larger than the entire state of Delaware. It’s also the second-largest city in the United States, second only to Sitka, Alaska. Arizona’s capital, Phoenix, was originally named “Pumpkinville” in the late 1800s, even though there weren’t any pumpkin growers there, just melons that looked like pumpkins. Helena, Montana also considered the name “Pumpkinville” as well as “Squashtown.” That’s right, two state capitals were almost named “Pumpkinville.”
Little Rock, Arkansas is home to the longest bridge in North America built exclusively for pedestrians. Before it was built in 2006, a local county judge said, “We’re going to build that bridge,” apparently referring to the dam that the bridge goes over. The bridge is now most commonly known as the “Big Dam Bridge.”
Before he became famous, Mark Twain worked for a California newspaper, The Sacramento Union. In 1866, he traveled to Hawaii and sent letters to the newspaper to publish. The U.S. city that brews the most beer is Denver, Colorado. In 1902, Theodore Roosevelt became the first president to publicly ride in an automobile when he was driven through Hartford, Connecticut.
Dover, Delaware was founded by William Penn, who named it after a city in Kent, England. In the 1500s, the first North American Christmas celebration took place in De Soto, which today is known as Tallahassee, Florida. According to the New York Times, Atlanta, Georgia is hip hop’s “center of gravity.” Many artists got their start there, including Ludacris, who once DJed for a local radio station under the stage name “Chris Lova Lova.”
The only royal palace in the United States can be found in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was used by Hawaiian monarchs from 1879 until the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893. There is a to-scale replica of the Liberty Bell in front of the Boise, Idaho capitol building. The only difference? The one in Boise doesn’t have a crack.
In 1921, the Maid Rite Sandwich Shop in Springfield, Illinois opened the first drive-thru in America. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home to the Indy 500, takes up 253 acres. That means that Churchill Downs, Yankee Stadium, the Rose Bowl, the Roman Colosseum, and Vatican City could all fit inside of it.
“Des Moines,” the capital of Iowa, is French for “of the monks.” In what I’m sure is one of America’s greatest regrets, Des Moines was almost named Fort Raccoon. In 2010, the mayor of Topeka, Kansas wanted Google to install their fiber optic broadband Internet in the city, and to get the company’s attention, Mayor Bill Bunten announced the city would unofficially change its name to “Google” for a month. Google responded on April Fool’s Day by announcing that they would change their name to “Topeka.”
Edgar Allan Poe’s only play, Politian, was inspired by a real-life murder, and even though the play takes place during the 16th century in Rome, the actual murder it’s based on occurred in 1825 in Frankfort, Kentucky. In 1988, Baton Rouge, Louisiana saw the infamous “Earthquake Game” at Louisiana State University’s football stadium. A last-second touchdown caused the crowd to cheer so loudly that it registered as an earthquake on a local seismograph.
America’s oldest wooden fort can be found in Augusta, Maine. Old Fort Western was built in 1754 and was later used by Benedict Arnold before his invasion of Canada. Annapolis isn’t just a James Franco movie that no one saw. It’s also the capital of Maryland and home to the largest crab feast in the world. Each year, people eat over 300 bushels of crab and over 3,000 ears of corn at the Annapolis Rotary Crab Feast.
In 1919, Boston, Massachusetts flooded with molasses when a 50-foot tall tank of molasses broke, destroying surrounding streets. 21 people died. Lansing only became the capital of Michigan because so many other cities wanted to be capital. The Michigan House of Representatives was forced to choose Lansing to end the political turmoil that determining a capital had become.
In the 1800s, Saint Paul, Minnesota was called “Pig’s Eye Landing,” named after a local tavern owner. It’s believed that the song “Jackson,” popularized by Johnny Cash and June Carter, is about the capital of Mississippi. In the 1960s, that area of the state was known for wild partying and illegal gambling.
The Missouri State Capitol building in Jefferson City has had some tough luck. In 1837, the first one burned down about ten years after it was built. Then, the second one was struck by lightning in 1911 and burned to the ground. Dick Cheney, Hilary Swank, and Johnny Carson have in common very little except that they all lived in Lincoln, Nebraska at some point. On the other hand, Abraham Lincoln, for whom the city was named, never lived there.
If you never want to visit Carson City, Nevada, just watch the films that were partially shot there. In 2011, Michele Bachmann made a speech in New Hampshire in which she mistakenly referenced the shot heard around the world at Lexington and Concord, not realizing that Concord is not the Massachusetts city where the Revolutionary War started.
When William Taft was elected president, a company in Trenton, New Jersey was commissioned to custom-make a large bathtub for him. It held fifty gallons and weighed 600 pounds. Mission San Miguel is the oldest church in the United States. It was built in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the 1600s. Meanwhile, Albany, New York’s great claim to fame is that perforated toilet paper was invented there.
At Pullen Park in Raleigh, North Carolina, there’s a bronze statue of Andy and Opie from “The Andy Griffith Show.” In 2004, the plaque was stolen. It read, “The Andy Griffith Show. A simpler time, a sweeter place, a lesson, a laugh, a father and a son.” In 2007, almost 9,000 people gathered in Bismarck, North Dakota to set the world record for most snow angels in one place.
In 1964, Jerrie Mock became the first woman to fly around the world alone. The trip started and ended in Columbus, Ohio. There’s a pre-World War II banjo living at the American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City that is worth over $175,000. Waldo Park, one of the smallest parks in the world, can be found in Salem, Oregon. It’s 12 feet by 20 feet and contains a single tree, which was planted in 1872.
In 1906, Teddy Roosevelt visited the capitol building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and said, “It’s the handsomest building I ever saw.” The world’s largest termite is a statue in Providence, Rhode Island. At 58 feet long, it’s 920 times larger than a real termite. Hootie & the Blowfish was formed at the University of South Carolina in its capital city of Columbia.
Pierre, South Dakota is named after fur trader Pierre Chouteau Jr., whose family was responsible for goods that early Americans couldn’t live without, like beaver hats. Both Trisha Yearwood and Kathy Mattea worked as tour guides at The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee before they became famous country singers themselves.
The unofficial slogan of Austin, Texas is “Keep Austin Weird.” They have to keep it unofficial because if that were an official slogan, it wouldn’t be weird enough. The phrase was invented by a local community college librarian who resented Austin’s descent into rampant commercialism. In 2007, Forbes named Salt Lake City, Utah “America’s vainest city,” claiming they have six plastic surgeons to every 100,000 people and spend millions more on beauty products than citizens of similarly sized cities.
Every Valentine’s Day, an unknown “Valentine Phantom” decorates Montpelier, Vermont with huge red hearts. When same-sex marriage was legalized in September of 2009, the bandit struck again, this time with rainbow hearts. Patrick Henry made his famous “Give me liberty or give me death!” speech at a church in Richmond, Virginia.
Olympia, Washington used to be home to Olympia Beer, but now it’s owned by Pabst Brewing Company. Every Valentine’s Day, the “Grumble Run” is hosted in Charleston, West Virginia. It’s a 5k “race” that usually lasts a long time because participants stop often to eat, smoke, and just in general to grumble. A local Madison, Wisconsin rock band, The Gomers, is so popular that two mayors have named February 1st “Gomer Day.”
And finally, I return to my salon to tell you that the world’s largest outdoor rodeo is Cheyenne Frontier Days in Wyoming. Thanks for watching Mental Floss here on YouTube, which is made with the help of all these nice people. Every week we endeavor to answer one of your mind-blowing questions. This week’s question comes from Colt S., who asks, “How many seconds are in a year?” The answer, Colt, is 31,536,000 seconds, although leap years have 31,622,400 seconds. Thank you again for watching.
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Capitals – The cities where the government of a country or state is located. – Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States, where important political decisions are made.
History – The study of past events, particularly in human affairs. – Learning about the history of ancient civilizations helps us understand how societies have evolved over time.
America – A term commonly used to refer to the United States of America, a country in North America. – The Declaration of Independence is a significant document in the history of America.
Music – An art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound, often reflecting the culture and history of a society. – Jazz music, which originated in America, played a crucial role in the cultural history of the 20th century.
Culture – The social behavior, norms, and practices found in human societies. – The culture of ancient Egypt is known for its impressive pyramids and rich mythology.
Geography – The study of places and the relationships between people and their environments. – Understanding the geography of a region helps explain its historical development and cultural practices.
Politics – The activities associated with governance, or the debate between parties having power. – The politics of ancient Rome were complex and influenced the development of modern democratic systems.
Celebration – A social gathering or enjoyable activity held to mark a special occasion. – Independence Day is a national celebration in the United States, commemorating the country’s freedom from British rule.
Architecture – The art or practice of designing and constructing buildings, often reflecting cultural values. – The architecture of the Parthenon in Greece is a testament to the advanced engineering skills of the ancient Greeks.
Exploration – The action of traveling in or through an unfamiliar area to learn about it. – The exploration of the New World by European navigators led to significant cultural exchanges and historical changes.
