This is the fourth of my five part blog, each week dealing
with ten states listed alphabetically.
Everyone's home state has special…and weird…claims to fame,
maybe even weirder than you realize. For
every proud historical landmark, event and hero your state has produced, there
are countless bizarre ones it can claim.
I hope you enjoy these random pieces of trivia about the states.
New
Mexico—Psychologists and psychiatrists were nearly legally required to dress up
as wizards when testifying in court.
In 1995, the state Senate unanimously passed a bill to
require psychologists and psychiatrists to wear the appropriate costume and
wave a wand when testifying in court because the senators were annoyed with how
often their expert testimony was
relied upon. The bailiff would also be required to dim the lights and ring a
gong. Needless to say, the bill didn't pass the state House. [and if it had
passed, I'm sure the state Supreme Court would have struck it down as
unconstitutional]
New York—Referring to
the city as Gotham was originally
supposed to be an insult.
Washington Irving, the author of RIP VAN WINKLE and THE
LEGEND OF SLEEPY HALLOW, was the first to call New York City Gotham. The intended reference was to a
medieval English story of a town named Gotham which meant Goat’s Town and was populated by "simple-minded fools."
Irving was also the first to associate the term knickerbocker with New Yorkers.
North Carolina—Two
nuclear bombs were accidentally dropped on the state.
One of them almost detonated. In 1961, two nuclear bombs 260
times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima were accidentally
dropped over Goldsboro, North Carolina. One of the bombs even activated, but
was defused by an emergency kill switch that was known to be regularly faulty.
North
Dakota—"Where in North Dakota is Carmen Sandiego?"
This is the only state-themed game in the WHERE IN THE WORLD
IS CARMEN SANDIEGO series. North Dakota was the only state to complete a
state-specific version of the classic "Carmen Sandiego" games, even
though 20 different states were also given the same opportunity. The game was
played in North Dakota school classrooms in the 1990s, but surviving copies are
difficult to find.
Ohio—The state wasn't
officially admitted into the Union until 1953 because of a technicality.
The United States Congress failed to go through all the
proper procedures of recognizing Ohio as an official state when it was first
designated as such in 1803. Congress corrected the error in 1953 after it was
discovered, but decided to retroactively make the official founding date
reflect the original year.
Oklahoma—A resident
of this state is the only known person to be hit by space junk.
In 1997, a woman was hit by debris from a U.S. Delta II
rocket, launched the year before. The woman wasn't injured by the piece of
rocket, but did become the only person ever to be hit by falling space junk,
according to the Aerospace Corporation.
Oregon—The town of
Boring, Oregon, has become official partners with the Scotland town of Dull.
The two sleep-inducing towns joined forces in 2013 in an
attempt to increase tourism. Oregonians declared a new state holiday called Boring and Dull Day to celebrate the
occasion, while Scotland invited a bagpipe player to provide some tunes.
Pennsylvania—A
Norwegian musician once tried to build a New
Norway in this state.
For a short time in 1852, Norwegian musician Ole Bull
attempted to establish a New Norway colony in Pennsylvania, which is now
commonly referred to as the Ole Bull
Colony. The project failed when there wasn't enough land to till, and Bull
ended up going back to performing concerts.
Rhode Island—The
White Horse Tavern is the oldest operating tavern remaining in its original
building.
The White Horse Tavern in Newport has been in operation
since 1673 and still resides in the original building, built in 1652 as a
residence. The structure's survival over three and a half centuries makes it
the oldest surviving tavern building in the U.S.
South
Carolina—There's an island full of wild monkeys off the coast.
Morgan Island is one of many sea islands in Beaufort County
and is home to a population of rhesus monkeys. The monkeys were originally
moved to the island in 1979 for research purposes and are owned by the National
Institute of Health.
Next week is the last blog of my 5 part series covering
South Dakota through Wyoming with a bonus fact about Washington, D.C. thrown
in. Be sure to stop by for the finale.
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