The Strangest Little-Known Fact About Every State

Your state (and even your charming small town) probably has some really weird history that you don't know about. Whether it's a story of how it got its name over 200 years ago or how they chose your state's official bug, every state in America has some odd, silly, or at the very least semi-interesting fact about it. 

The Active Times has searched the internet to uncover the strangest, weirdest, and wackiest fact about every state in America, plus the District of Columbia. Some of them are attractions you can visit, and some are just thought-provoking wonders that you can't see, but can imagine from the annals of history. 

The United States is riddled with random facts that likely won't serve much purpose outside of winning trivia games or entertaining your friends and family, but it's still interesting to discover that your state has the largest produce because it gets the most sun, or that it's exclusively just your state's tradition to drop a potato instead of a silver ball on New Year's Eve. They're all weird and they're all true, even if you've never heard of it before. These are the strangest little-known facts about every state.

Alaska has larger and sweeter produce than anywhere else in America. The sun can shine for up to 20 hours during this far northern state's summer months. For this reason, plants in Alaska, particularly cabbage, can grow to be abnormally large. According to NPR, the longer exposure to sunlight contributes to the sweetness of Alaskan produce.

Find a diamond. pick it up, all the day you'll have....a diamond! If you find a diamond while scouring the field at the Crater of Diamonds, you are allowed to keep the gem. If you are serious about your search, the Arkansas center rents out mining tools that you can use. The colors of the diamonds you'll likely find here include white, brown and yellow. This is the only diamond mine in the United States, so if you're looking to find something shiny and free, this is your best bet!

Your sucker is named for a horse! The lollipop (originally "Lolly Pop") received its name in New Haven, Connecticut, from inventor George Smith, who trademarked the name in 1931 after being inspired by a race horse named Lolly Pop.

Florida's Brevard County has the area code is 321 in recognition of the countdown to each launch from the Kennedy Space Center. So if you get a call from 321, it might be NASA calling.

The Hawaiian post office in Molokai has the cutest program: They will let you send a coconut through U.S. mail as long as postage is attached. They call it the "Post-A-Nut" service, and it has been around for two decades. That's a lot of mailed coconuts!

Watch out Paris! Aurora, Illinois, is also called the "City of Lights," though not because of its dazzling scenery and architecture (or involvement in the Age of Enlightenment), but because it was the first U.S. city to use electric street lighting city-wide. Funnily enough, there is also a Paris, Illinois.

It's problematic, but Iowa has held a yearly National Hobo Convention since 1900. The winners have their portraits done in celebration.

According to the Kentucky Distillers' Association, there are more barrels of bourbon in Kentucky than there are people. There are 4.7 million barrels of bourbon and 4.3 million people! That's a barrel per-person with a little left over!

Maine is the only state in the U.S. with a one-syllable name. Did you just say it out loud? Did you just try to think of another state to prove us wrong?

It's actually illegal to scare a pigeon out of its home anywhere in Massachusetts. It's listed in Section 132 of the state's general laws and the offense is punishable by an up to $20 fine or a month in prison!

Minnesota has more golfers per capita than any other state. According to Golf.com, "Approximately one resident of every five in the Gopher state hits the links each year."

Missouri has an entire museum dedicated to hair art, and it claims to be the only one in the world. Leila Cohoon, founder of Leila's Hair Museum, displays 600 hair wreaths and over 2000 pieces of jewelry in her museum. All pieces are made from human hair as was popular in the Victorian era. The oldest piece in the museum is from 1680! Leila, a former hairdresser, also gives classes on hair art techniques.

Kool-Aid has been the official state soft drink of Nebraska since 1998.

A six-person group of do-gooders were sued in the city of Keene, New Hampshire, for paying random people's tickets for expired parking meters in 2013. The charges were later dropped by the judge.

Three-fourths of New Mexico's roads are surfaced with either dirt or sedimentary rock. People in New Mexico probably wash their cars more often than anywhere else in America.

North Carolina is the largest sweet potato producer in the U.S. Their sweet potatoes make up 60 percent of the U.S.'s sweet potato crop. Think about that the next time you're at the supermarket.

The first ever traffic light in America was installed in Cleveland, Ohio, on August 5, 1914.

Portland, Oregon, is home to 68 breweries. That's more breweries than any other city in the United States!

Rhode Island is home to America's oldest carousel, The Flying Horse Carousel. It's located in Watch Hill.

In the more frequented South Dakota, the small town of Clark hosts Potato Day to celebrate their spuds. On this day guests can take part in events such as a Mashed Potato Wrestling Contest and a Potato Dish Cooking Contest.

This state once accidentally honored the Boston Strangler. On April 1, 1971, Texas state Rep. Tom Moore proposed a bill that would honor the Boston Strangler, a man who allegedly murdered 13 women. He did this to prove that his colleagues did not read the bills that they were voting on. He later retracted the bill after it passed, but could you imagine? National Boston Strangler Day!

Planners for the town of Winooski once proposed covering the whole town with a giant dome to solve the winter energy conservation problem. Though the proposal received worldwide media attention, it received little political support and never began construction or planning.

The Washington state dance is the square dance.

West Virginia was almost named something completely different. When Virginia's western counties split from that state during the Civil War, a delegate convention in 1862 considered names like New Virginia, Kanawha, Vandalia, Augusta, and Allegheny before settling on West Virginia.

One Wyoming town was built on top of an abandoned airport. The town of Bar Nunn exists where Wardwell Field airport used to be, and the town's more than 2,000 people use the original runways as streets. One of the town's two restaurants is actually located in a repurposed hangar. But that's not the only airport-related place with good eats. Jackson Hole's airport is home to some of the best food and drink in Wyoming!

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