*1
Alabama -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| There is evidence in
Russell Cave that people lived here
8,000 years ago.

|DATA:| The Spanish explored Alabama in
the 1500s. In 1701, French settlers
arrived near Mobile Bay. England won the
area in 1763, after the French and
Indian War. Spanish troops claimed it
until 1813. Alabama became the 22nd
state on December 14, 1819.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Alabamans are
writer Helen Keller, sportsmen Hank
Aaron and Jesse Owens, and musician Nat
King Cole.
*2
Alaska -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| The Eskimos (Inuit) and
Aleut Indians were the first to live
here.

|DATA:| The first European in Alaska
was Danish explorer, Vitus Bering. He
arrived in 1741 and worked for Russia.
In 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William
H. Seward bought Alaska from Russia for
$7.2 million. Some called this deal
"Seward's Folly" because they thought
Alaska was worthless. Alaska became the
49th state on January 3, 1959.

|OTHER DATA:| Anchorage is Alaska's most
populated city.
*3
Arizona -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| The British sold the old
London Bridge to Havasu City, Arizona.

|DATA:| In 1539, Spanish explorers
visited Arizona. The first settlements
were Spanish missions built in the late
1600s. In 1848, Mexico lost the land to
the U.S. after the Mexican War. The U.S.
battled the Apaches for the land in
1886. Arizona became the 48th state in
1912.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Arizonans are
Apache Chief Geronimo, and Senator and
presidential candidate, Barry Goldwater.
*4
Arkansas -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| Mineral springs at Hot
Springs drew explorers as early as 1541.

|DATA:| Arkansas was first explored in
1541 by Spaniard Hernando de Soto.
French settlers arrived in 1686,
founding Arkansas Post. The U.S. bought
the land in 1803 as part of the
Louisiana Purchase. Arkansas became the
25th state on June 15, 1836.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Arkansans are World
War II hero Douglas MacArthur and
baseball brothers Dizzy and Daffy Dean.
*5
California -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| San Francisco's 49ers
football team is named for gold
prospectors who came during the Gold
Rush of 1849.

|DATA:| The Spanish first sent explorers
to California in 1542. The first
settlement was the San Diego Alcala
mission in 1769. The U.S. won
California in the Mexican War in 1848.
California became the 31st state on
September 9, 1850.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Californians are
naturalist John Muir, writer William
Saroyan, and President Richard Nixon.
*6
Colorado -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| Cliff dwellings at Mesa
Verde prove people lived here more than
1000 years ago.

|DATA:| The U.S. bought Colorado as part
of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. It
was first explored in 1806 by Zebulon
Pike. Mexican and U.S. settlers came
after the Mexican War ended in 1848.
Colorado became the 38th state on
August 1, 1876.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Coloradans are
Astronaut Scott Carpenter, and football
player and Supreme Court Justice
Byron R. White.
*7
Connecticut -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| Connecticut was the
first state to elect a woman governor:
Ella Grasso, in 1974.

|DATA:| The Dutch explored Connecticut
in 1614 and built the first fort there
in 1633, at Hartford. Connecticut became
the 5th state to ratify the U. S.
Constitution on January 9, 1788. It was
one of the original 13 states.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Nutmeggers are
circusman P. T. Barnum, dictionary
writer Noah Webster and others "so
clever they could sell fake nutmegs."
*8
Delaware -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| Nylon was invented in
Wilmington in 1937. Its name is short
for "New York (NY) and London (LON)."

|DATA:| Delaware was explored and
settled by the Dutch in 1631, at present
day Lewes. They lost the land to the
British in 1664. Delaware became the
first state to ratify the U. S.
Constitution on December 7, 1787. It was
one of the original 13 states.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Delawareans are
businessman E. I. duPont and artist
Howard Pyle.
*9
Florida -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| St. Augustine is the
oldest city in the U. S. It was settled
by the Spanish in 1565.

|DATA:| Spanish explorers arrived in
1539. The U. S. invaded Florida in 1814
and won it in 1819. Seminole Indians
lost it in 1812 after fighting with the
U. S. for more than 15 years. They were
forced to move to Oklahoma. Florida
became the 27th state on March 3, 1845.

|OTHER DATA:| The nation's first
wildlife refuge, Pelican Island, opened
here in 1903.
*10
Georgia -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| Okefenokee Swamp was the
setting of the comic strip "Pogo."

|DATA:| Georgia was settled in 1733 as a
home for English debtors. Georgians
played major roles in the Revolution.
Georgia became the 4th state to ratify
the U. S. Constitution on January 2,
1788. It was one of the original 13
states.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Georgians are
President James Earl "Jimmy" Carter,
sportsman Jackie Robinson, and civil
rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr.
*11
Hawaii -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| Volcanoes formed Hawaii
and keep the islands growing today.

|DATA:| Polynesians, people from other
Pacific Islands 2,500 miles south of
Hawaii, settled here about 400 A.D. The
first European visitor was British
Captain James Cook, in 1778. Planters
came in the 1800s. Hawaii came under
U. S. government rule in 1898, and
became the 50th state on August 21,
1959.

|OTHER DATA:| Spanish, Dutch, and
Japanese explorers may have visited the
Hawaiian Islands as early as the 1500s.
*12
Idaho -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| Sacagawea, an Indian
woman from Idaho, guided Lewis and
Clark.

|DATA:| Lewis and Clark explored Idaho
in 1805 as they traveled west. Mormons
made the first settlement at Franklin in
1860. That year the discovery of gold
bought more people here. Wars with the
Indians ended when troops forced the Nez
Perce tribe to walk to the Canadian
border. Idaho became the 43rd state on
July 3, 1890.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Idahoans are Nez
Perce Chief Joseph and Sacagawea.
*13
Illinois -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| The very first
McDonald's opened in Des Plaines in
1955.

|DATA:| The first permanent settlement
was a fur-trading post. The French built
a fort near Peoria in 1680. Britain won
the area from France in the French-
Indian War in 1763. The U. S. won it
during the Revolution. Illinois became
the 21st state on December 3, 1818.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Illinoisans are
Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Ronald
Reagan, writer Ernest Hemingway, and
feminist Betty Friedan.
*14
Indiana -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| Burial mounds prove
Indians lived here 7,000 years ago.

|DATA:| The French settled near
Vincennes in 1731. Britain won the land
from France in 1763 and lost it to the
U. S. in the Revolution. The Tecumseh
Indians were defeated by the U. S. in
1811. Indiana became the 19th state on
December 1, 1816.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Hoosiers are
musicians Cole Porter and aviator
Wilbur Wright.
*15
Iowa -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| One thousand years ago,
several groups of prehistoric Indians
built mounds in Iowa's fertile plains.

|DATA:| French explorers claimed Iowa in
1673. The U. S. bought it in 1803 as
part of the Louisiana Purchase. By the
middle of the 1800s, Indians had been
forced west. Iowa became the 29th state
on December 28, 1846.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Iowans are Buffalo
Bill Cody, President Herbert Hoover, and
First Lady Mamie Eisenhower.
*16
Kansas -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| The nearest town to the
geographical center of the 48 contiguous
states is Lebanon, Kansas.

|DATA:| Spanish explorers arrived in
1541, followed by the French. The U. S.
bought the area as part of the Louisiana
Purchase in 1803. Before the Civil War,
violence over slavery here led to the
nickname, "Bleeding Kansas." Kansas
became the 34th state on January 29,
1861.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Kansasians are car
businessman Walter P. Chrysler and
aviator Amelia Earhart.
*17
Kentucky -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| Abraham Lincoln was born
in a log cabin near Hodgenville.

|DATA:| Kentucky was the first area west
of the Allegheny Mountains to be settled
by American pioneers. The first town was
Harrodsburg, settled in 1774. In 1775,
Daniel Boone blazed the famous
Wilderness Trail through Cumberland Gap.
Kentucky became the 15th state on
June 1, 1792.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Kentuckians are
American jurist and people's attorney
Louis Branders, and boxer Muhammed Ali.
*18
Louisiana -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| French settlers brought
the famous Mardi Gras festival to
Louisiana.

|DATA:| Louisiana was explored in 1541
by the Spanish. It was claimed in 1682
by the French, who made it a royal
colony in 1699. The first town, founded
in 1699, was Biloxi. It is now part of
Mississippi. The U. S. bought the area
as part of the Louisiana Purchase in
1803. On April 30, 1812, Louisiana
became the 18th state.

|OTHER DATA:| Jazz trumpeter Louis
Armstrong was a Louisianan.
*19
Maine -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| Vikings, led by Leif
Ericson, probably visited Maine about
1,000 A. D.

|DATA:| The British sent an explorer to
Maine in 1498. The French sent explorers
in 1524 and 1604. In 1652 Maine was
annexed to Massachusetts. During the
Revolution, Maine soldiers fought at the
Battle of Bunker Hill. Maine became the
23rd state on March 15, 1820.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous "Down Easters" are
poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and
Congresswoman Margaret Chase Smith.
*20
Maryland -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| Francis Scott Key wrote
"The Star-Spangled Banner" during a
battle in Baltimore Harbor during the
War of 1812.

|DATA:| The British explored Maryland in
1608 and settled in 1631. Britain
granted the land to Cecil Calvert, Lord
Baltimore, in 1632. It became the 7th
state to ratify the U. S. Constitution
on April 28, 1788. It was one of the
original 13 states.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Marylanders are
"The Sultan of Swat," Babe Ruth and
scientist Benjamin Banneker.
*21
Massachusetts -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| The first U. S. apple
orchard was planted in Boston in 1625.

|DATA:| The Pilgrims first explored
Massachusetts in 1620, and settled at
Plymouth. They held the first
Thanksgiving in 1621. The Boston Tea
Party and the first battle in the
Revolution happened here. On February 6,
1788, Massachusetts became the 6th state
to ratify the U. S.  Constitution. It
was one of the original 13 states.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Bay Staters are
Presidents John Adams, John Quincy
Adams, and John F. Kennedy.
*22
Michigan -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| The Annual Tulip
Festival in Holland, Michigan, staged by
Dutch-Americans, rivals the beauty of
the tulips in the Netherlands.

|DATA:| Michigan was first explored by
French fur traders in 1618. The first
settlement was a mission built in 1668
at Sault Ste. Marie. The British won the
area in 1763 as part of the French and
Indian War. Michigan became the 26th
state on January 26, 1837.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Michiganders are
car pioneer Henry Ford, diplomat Ralph
Bunche, and aviator Charles Lindbergh.
*23
Minnesota -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| Many of the tall tales
told about Paul Bunyan and his blue ox,
Babe, began in lumber camps here.

|DATA:| The area was settled in the
1600s by French fur traders from Canada.
In 1763, the British won the eastern
part of the state. The western part was
bought by the U. S. in 1803 in the
Louisiana Purchase. Minnesota became the
32nd state on May 11, 1858.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Minnesotans are
"Peanuts" cartoonist Charles M. Schulz
and writer Sinclair Lewis.
*24
Mississippi -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| Jefferson Davis,
President of the Confederacy during the
Civil War, lived here.

|DATA:| Spanish explorers came in 1540.
In 1682, French explorers claimed the
Mississippi River Valley. Britain won it
in 1763 and lost it to the U. S. after
the Revolution. Mississippi became the
20th state on December 10, 1817.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Mississippians are
musicians Elvis Presley, Leontyne Price,
and Charles Pride.
*25
Missouri -- Past Facts

|DID YOU KNOW:| Gateway Arch in St.
Louis honors all settlers who passed
through on their way west.

|DATA:| Spanish explorer Hernando
DeSoto came in 1541. The French built
the first town, Ste. Genevieve,
in 1735.  The U. S. bought the area in
1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase.
Missouri became the 24th state on
August 10, 1821.

|OTHER DATA:| Famous Missourians are
scientists George Washington Carver,
writer Mark Twain, and President Harry
Truman.