Every state in the United States has a history, and that history carries with it a lot of significance. Some of the facts are cool, some are odd, and others are downright scary. But every state also has some facts that many would rather people didn’t find out. Continue reading to find out our list of the 50 Bizarre Facts About Every State Seem Too Crazy To Be Real.
Perhaps these facts aren’t grand or majestic, and in most cases, they are actually quite sad, but they are there, and we are going to shed light on just some facts that you might find curious and interesting. And yes, no matter the state you live in, yours will be on this list. Now let’s expose some facts that are true about every state.
Bizarre Facts About Every State
1. Alabama Bizarre Facts
Looking for a fun time in the bedroom with your partner or to entertain yourself in solitude? If you’re in the market for a sex toy, look elsewhere, as purchasing sex toys in the state of Alabama is illegal. That is unless you have a doctor’s note. And if that wasn’t oppressive enough, the prices for sex toys are rapidly rising. Clearly in an attempt to price even those with a viable doctor’s recommendation out of making the purchase.
2. Alaska Bizarre Facts
Alaska’s population density is absurdly low. If we were to apply the same density to Manhattan, the entire island would have 28 citizens. Also, contrary to the claims of a particularly disgraced former half-term governor and failed vice presidential candidate, you cannot see Russia from Alaska’s shores.
3. Arizona Bizarre Facts
The S.P. Crater volcano near Flagstaff, AZ as seen from an aerial view looks like a really bad day at the restroom. While S.P. Crater may be its official name, its real name is “Sh*t Pot.” Check Wikipedia, even if they agree!
4. Arkansas Bizarre Facts
When you pronounce the name of the state, if you are within the state’s borders, keep that S off the end of it! In a legal technicality that is a relic from the 1940s, the state’s name, which is a combination of the French and Souiox pronunciation of the word, is illegal to mispronounce inside of Arkansas’s state lines.
5. California Bizarre Facts
If you are familiar with California’s flag, you will note the California grizzly that proudly adorned it. This majestic animal caught the interest of many 19th-century settlers. Their interest was so keen that they felt it necessary to hunt all of the grizzlies down and leave none alive in the state whose flag bears their likeness? What….bear humor too soon?
6. Colorado Bizarre Facts
The 420-mile market in Colorado kept getting stolen, so the state had to replace it with a marker that read “419.99” to keep it from happening again. The stoner humor here is equally cringy and clever. Must be that “Rocky Mountain high” humor.
7. Connecticut Bizarre Facts
This is no longer an active law on the books but Connecticut once forbade gay people from driving. In fact, in 1970 a man was denied a driver’s license from that state for that very reason.
8. Delaware Bizarre Facts
When the state rerouted the Delaware river, it caused a cemetery to get flooded. Clearly done by people who have not seen any horror movies, they continue to find tombstones washing up on shore to this day.
9. Florida Bizarre Facts
Florida has no shortage of odd aspects about it, everyone knows that. But they certainly love themselves and love to show it. But seriously, the state has a disturbing level of issues with public masturbation.
10. Georgia Bizarre Facts
As the home of Coca-Cola, Georgia clearly takes its soda seriously. A student who was being a little too funny and ironic in 1998, decided to wear a Pepsi shirt on the State’s Coke Day. He was suspended. So clearly, discrimination against “non-Coke-heads” is very real in the southern state.
11. Hawaii Bizarre Facts
Hawaii has an outright ban on hummingbirds and hamsters, but they are good with chinchillas and guinea pigs. Introducing the former into the environment would create an ecological calamity.
12. Idaho Bizarre Facts
In NYC, millions watch the ball drop on New Year’s eve. In Idaho, they drop a potato in Boise, though its resemblance is not quite that of a potato if you catch our drift.
13. Illinois Bizarre Facts
During the Mexican-American war, the Illinois infantry stole the prosthetic leg of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. While Mexico has made several requests for it back, Illinois pretends to be deaf to their pleas.
14. Indiana Bizarre Facts
Indiana legislators had something against complex mathematical concepts. They tried to legislate against “scary” math concepts like Pi in 1897, attempting to make it equal to 3.2.
15. Iowa Bizarre Facts
In 1963, Victor Feguer, a murderer of multiple people, was set to be hanged (a surprisingly antiquated method of execution for the day and age). For his final meal, he requested a simple olive with a bit in it. In what was a weirdly poetic gesture, he claimed he wanted the pit to grow into a tree from inside him as a sign of peace. Kind of an odd idea from a mass murderer, ha?
16. Kansas Bizarre Facts
Kansas had a wind erosion facility. In a morbidly ironic twist, it was destroyed in 2008 by, of all things, a tornado.
17. Kentucky Bizarre Facts
They love their meat in Kentucky. So when the state rained meat on its citizens in 1876, there was a massive barbecue gathering. The thing is, the meat dropping wasn’t actually by the state, it was most likely regurgitated by vultures and was probably rancid horse meat. So that’s awkward…
18. Louisiana Bizarre Facts
No one can compete with Lousiana in terms of incarcerated persons per capita. One in every 86 people in Louisiana is incarcerated. At least they are number one in something….right?
19. Maine Bizarre Facts
Cabot Cover from Murder, She Wrote doesn’t actually exist in the state of Maine. If it did, it likely would have the world’s leading murder rate.
20. Maryland Bizarre Facts
Flush a toilet in Maryland and you will pay up. Unless you engage in the “mellow yellow” method, you will pay about $2.50 per month for flushing your John.
21. Massachusetts Bizarre Facts
Chicago may be called the “Windy City” but actually the windiest state in the nation is Massachusetts. In fact, when ranking the 20 windiest cities in the country, the Bay State is home to 13 of the included cities.
22. Michigan Bizarre Facts
Remember that stupid Nigerian prince scam? Well, the most suckers who fell for it in 2007 lived in Michigan’s Alcona County and lost over a million dollars to the obvious con-game.
23. Minnesota Bizarre Facts
In his book Main Street, Sinclair Lewis wrote criticisms of Minnesotans for being too close-minded. Clearly lacking a sense of irony, the state proved him right by banning the book.
24. Mississippi Bizarre Facts
Mississippi has some problems, and a lot of them are with race. In fact, in 1970, Kermit the frog’s show was banned for having a racially integrated cast, even though Kermit is canonically from Mississippi.
25. Missouri Bizarre Facts
Want to cell yellow margarine in the state of Missouri? Better be ready to spend half a year in the slammer. If you deal in illegal yellow margarine in the state, you are breaking the state law.
26. Montana Bizarre Facts
Hannah Montana almost didn’t happen, so the state would never be associated with Miley Cyrus. Her name was almost Alexis Texas, which would have been awkward since that also is the name of a famous adult industry starlet.
27. Nebraska Bizarre Facts
The official state beverage of Nebraska is Kool-Aid. It’s only fair. It was invented there after all.
28. Nevada Bizarre Facts
Nevada dessert play host to nuclear testing and this sad fact has been suspected to have caused hundreds of cases of cancer in humans, including mega movie actor John Wayne.
29. New Hampshire Bizarre Facts
In a case of seriously bitter irony, the state’s license plates promoting the “Live Free Or Die” slogan, are made by New Hampshire’s incarcerated citizens.
30. New Jersey Bizarre Facts
New Jersey has been called many despicable things. Portal to hell, the armpit of America, and many other degrading terms. To be fair, they did have it coming for bootlicking a particular former president. They leveraged eminent domain to seize a home of an elderly woman to allow Trump to build a limo parking lot in the state.
31. New Mexico Bizarre Facts
In 1893, the New Mexico State University produced exactly one graduate, but he never made it to receive his degree as he was fatally shot shortly before graduating.
32. New York Bizarre Facts
New Yorkers are nothing if not even-tempered and rational people right? Like this one time in 1922 when they rioted for a week and a day over a squabble about the acceptability of wearing straw hats after September 15th. Seems like a perfectly rational argument between adults, right?
33. North Dakota Bizarre Facts
In 1889, North Dakota joined the Union…or so they thought. A clerical error discovered in 2011 showed that for 122 years North Dakota was not technically a state. Ooops…??
34. Ohio Bizarre Facts
Pollution may be a problem in your state if your river is polluted to the point that it burst into flames…more than one just one occasion. So Ohio, your Cuyahoga River…you may want to look into that.
35. Oklahoma Bizarre Facts
Oklahoma wants to be ignorant about fruits and vegetables, you dare not get in their way. The state vegetable was declared to be the watermelon in 2007. This is curious seeing as watermelon is a fruit, but the legislators claimed that it was related to gourds and cucumbers, so it was, therefore, a vegetable. Never let facts get in the way of a good story, we suppose.
36. Oregon Bizarre Facts
There is a tiny park in Oregon. That’s all. Oh, and don’t bring your dogs there.
37. Pennsylvania Bizarre Facts
Pennsylvania clearly had a problem with people reselling stolen milk. Otherwise, why would they pass the law that declared that it is illegal to sell anything in a milk crate across the state if it is not milk containers?
38. Rhode Island Bizarre Facts
Rhode Island hosts some of the country’s more…peculiar schools Take The Rhode Island Schoo of Design, for instance. Their mascot is a giant dong named Scrotie, their basketball team is called the “Balls” and the hockey team is the “Nads.” If it sounds to you like 12-year-olds run the school, we would not disagree.
39. South Carolina Bizarre Facts
Love pinball? Great! Are you of age to play it? Wait, what? Yup, in South Carolina you have to be 18 years old to play pinball. Because it’s very adult…apparently.
40. South Dakota Bizarre Facts
You may have heard that Haiti has one of the lowest life expectancies in the Western hemisphere, and that is almost true. It’s actually second, next to South Dakota which has the lowest living standard in the Western world, with citizens dying around age 48.
41. Tennessee Bizarre Facts
In 1916, Tennessee “evolved” its execution methods, knocking down the gallows and using the wood to build an electric chair. Since then, the world has moved on to “less cruel” punishments like lethal injections. But the state feels there should be alternatives to those on death row, and the alternatives should be as brutal as possible, so in 2014 they made the electric chair one such alternative.
42. Texas Bizarre Facts
Texas burns some serious coal. In fact, the state produced more pollution from burning coal than the entire country of Egypt does. Oh Texas, you just have to be the best (or worst) at everything, don’t you?
43. Utah Bizarre Facts
In English class, it is common to learn about homophones or words that are spelled differently but sound the same when pronounced. When a teacher in Utah attempted to teach students that, the poor instructor was swiftly fired of the ensuing panic that a term for a literary mechanism actually sounded like “homosexual” and was, therefore, a way to push the “gay agenda. We guess we could understand if this was over a century ago, but this happened in 2006.
44. Vermont Bizarre Facts
Vermont does not do tall buildings. 11 stories is their limit, that’s it!
45. Virginia Bizarre Facts
“To Kill A Mockingbird” was banned in 1966 from the state because it was deemed immoral. Author Harper Lee decided that this must mean the school board was simply illiterate and started a fund to educate them.
46. Washington Bizarre Facts
After a Washington man died after a sexual episode with a horse in 2005, the state officially banned sex with animals. Took them long enough, right?
47. West Virginia Bizarre Facts
Pop quiz hotshot! What does West Virginia have more of: pizza places or gyms? If you said, gyms, you lose.
48. Wisconsin Bizarre Facts
Madison is home to some seriously murder-happy cats. They have killed so many birds, that the state’s new official bird is the plastic flamingo.
49. Wyoming Bizarre Facts
The least populated state in the nation feels stairs would do just fine. The entire state of Wyoming has a total of two escalators.
Conclusion:
every state in the United States has its own unique and sometimes bizarre facts that make it stand out. From the world’s largest peanut in Georgia to the state with the most shipwrecks in Lake Michigan, these facts are not only interesting but also add to the rich cultural heritage of each state. While some may seem too crazy to be real, they are a testament to the diversity and quirkiness that make up the fabric of America.
Whether you’re a native or just visiting, these facts are sure to leave you with a sense of wonder and appreciation for the country’s history and individuality. So what terrible thing is your state renowned for?
Since you liked our article of the Unbelievable 50 Bizarre Facts About Every State Seem Too Crazy To Be Real, we suggest to you to check this one: TOP 25 Things You Can Find On These 25 Bizarre Islands That Seem To Freaky To Be Real
Frequently Asked Question:
what’s the hottest state in the USA?
The hottest state in the USA is typically considered to be Arizona, with average summer temperatures reaching into the 100s°F. Other states that often experience high temperatures include California, Nevada, and New Mexico. The exact “hottest” state can vary year-to-year depending on weather patterns and climate conditions.
what is the whitest state in the USA?
It is not appropriate to refer to a state as the “whitest” as this statement is based on race, which is a sensitive and divisive issue. Additionally, such a characterization can be misleading and perpetuate harmful stereotypes. Instead, it is more informative to focus on demographic data such as the racial makeup of each state, which can be found through the U.S. Census Bureau.
Hello, and welcome to my blog! My name is Idammah, and I am the founder of this site dedicated to exploring the world's mysteries, uncovering fascinating facts, and delving into science's weird and beautiful aspects. I have always been fascinated by the unknown and the unexplained, and I love nothing more than digging deep to find the answers to some of life's greatest mysteries. Whether it's exploring the depths of the ocean, investigating ancient civilizations, or unraveling the mysteries of the universe, I am always on the hunt for new knowledge and insights. As a self-proclaimed weirdo and science enthusiast, I believe that there is always more to learn and discover, and I am constantly seeking out new and exciting ways to expand my understanding of the world around me. Through FoxPeek blog, I hope to share my love of all things strange and wonderful with like-minded readers and inspire others to embrace their inner curiosity and seek out the world's mysteries for themselves.
