Alabama Firsts, Facts, and Trivia
Alabama Famous Firsts, Alabama Interesting Facts, Alabama Trivia
Rosa'a Ride
In 1955 a black woman named Rosa Parks refused to
give up her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white passenger. Martin
Luther King, Jr. led a successful boycott of the city's public
transportation and brought the technique of passive resistance to
national prominence.
More Alabama Firsts, Facts, and Trivia
- Alabama introduced the Mardi Gras to the western world. The
celebration is held on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent begins.
- Alabama workers built the first rocket to put humans on the
moon.
- The world's first Electric Trolley System was introduced in
Montgomery in 1886.
- Alabama is the only state with all major natural resources
needed to make iron and steel. It is also the largest supplier of
cast-iron and steel pipe products.
- Montgomery is the capital and the birthplace of the Confederate
States of America.
- The Confederate flag was designed and first flown in Alabama in
1861.
- Alabama became the 22nd state on December 14, 1819.
- The town of Enterprise houses the Boll Weevil Monument to
acknowledge the role this destructive insect played in encouraging
farmers to grow crops other than cotton.
- Baseball player Henry Louis (Hank) Aaron was born in Mobile in
1934.
- Boxer Joe Louis was born in Lexington in 1914. He died in 1981.
- "Alabama" is the official state song.
- Baseball player Willie Howard Mays was born in Westfield in
1931.
- A skeleton of a pre-historic man was found in Russell Cave.
- At 2,405 feet Cheaha Mountain is Alabama's highest point above
sea level.
- Huntsville is known as the rocket capital of the World.
- The Alabama Department of Archives is the oldest state-funded
archival agency in the nation.
- The musical singing group Alabama has a Fan Club and Museum in Fort Payne.
- In 1902 Dr. Luther Leonidas Hill performed the first
open heart surgery in the Western Hemisphere by suturing a
stab wound in a young boy's heart. The surgery occurred in
Montgomery.
- To help fund education Alabama instituted its state
sales tax in 1937.
- Schools established in Mobile include Washington Academy
(founded in 1811) and Huntsville Green Academy (founded in
1812).
- Between 1817 and 1819 Old Saint Stephens was the first
territorial capital of Alabama.
- In 1956 the Army Ballistic Missile Agency was
established at Huntsville's Redstone Arsenal.
- Governor George C. Wallace served four terms in office.
- In 1995 Heather Whitestone serves as first Miss America
chosen with a disability.
- Alabama's geographic center is located in Chilton a
community located 12 miles southwest of Clanton.
- The word Alabama means tribal town in the Creek Indian
language.
- The United States Army Chemical Corps Museum in Fort
McClellan contains over 4000 chemical warfare artifacts.
- Hitler's typewriter survived from his mountain retreat
and is exhibited at the Hall of History in Bessemer.
- Blount County was created on February 7, 1818 and is
older than the state.
- Winston County is often called the Free State of
Winston. It gained the name during the Civil War.
- Mobile is named after the Mauvilla Indians.
- Peter Bryce is recognized as the state's first
psychiatrist. He was born in 1834 and died in 1892.
- The Alabama State Flag was authorized by the Alabama
legislature on February 16, 1895.
- Hematite is Alabama's official state mineral and is
known as oxide of iron (Fe2O3).
- The Monarch butterfly (Danaus pleipuss) is the state's
official insect.
- The star blue quartz is the state's official gemstone.
- The Florence Renaissance Faire is the Alabama's official
fair.
- The pecan is the Alabama's official nut.
- People from Alabama are called Alabamians.
- On January 11, 1861 Alabama becomes the fourth state to
secede from the Union.
- On January 28, 1846 Montgomery was selected as capital
of Alabama.
- Tallulah Bankhead entertained as a star of stage,
screen, and radio during the 1930s-1950s. She was born in
Huntsville in 1902 and died in 1968.
- Singer and entertainer Nathaniel Adams (Nat King) Cole
was known as the man with the velvet voice. He was born in
Montgomery in 1919 and died in 1965.
- Alabama resident Sequoyah devised the phonetic, written
alphabet of the Cherokee language.
- The Birmingham Airport opened in 1931. At the time of
the opening a Birmingham to Los Angeles flight took 19
hours.
- Alabama's mean elevation is 500 feet at its lowest
elevation point.
- Audemus jura nostra defendere is the official state
motto. Translated it means "we dare defend our rights."
- Washington County is the oldest county in Alabama.
- General Andrew Jackson defeated the Creek Indians in
1814. Following the event the Native Americans ceded nearly
half the present state land to the United States.
- At the Battle of Mobile Bay Admiral David Farragut issued his famous command, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead." The event occurred on August 5, 1864
Experience the World Book Difference!
For over 80 years, World Book has been committed to publishing encyclopedias and references that meet the highest standards of editorial excellence while keeping pace with the technological developments that define the computer age. This commitment has culminated in the publication of the number-one selling print encyclopedia in the world, World Book, and market leading electronic products such as World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia and World Book Online. Recent publications include World Book Student Discovery Encyclopedia, a new Childcraft-The How and Why Library, and Animals of the World. |
