Fun Facts About Ohio

Ohio is known as the Buckeye State because of the heavy presence of a nut called a buckeye. It's a brown nut with a light tan core. Candy stores in both Ohio and Kentucky make candies called buckeyes, which are balls of chocolate with peanut butter cores, to closely resemble this nut. Like all regions of this world, there are quirky, unique and interesting facts that people may or may not know about the Buckeye State

Above each section is the link where the information came from

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-Known as the "Birthplace of Aviation" because the Wright Brothers created their first airplane at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton

-Cleveland is known as the place where the first traffic light went into operation on 8/5/1914. It was placed at the intersection of Euclid Ave and East 105th St. Euclid Ave is where the massively successful Cleveland Clinic Medical Center is located

-Eight of the US presidents were born in Ohio. They are: Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, Warren G. Harding, William Henry Harrison. In fact, William Henry Harrison has a tomb at the Congress Green Cemetery in Cleves

-Unlike other state flags, which are rectangular in shape, Ohio's state flag is shaped like a swallow tail

-1899 saw Akron as the first city to use police cars

-The state name, Ohio, comes from the Iroquois word "ohi-yo", meaning "great river"

-1865 seen Cincinnati as the first city to establish an ambulance service

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/geography/states/article/ohio

-Ohio is known as the Buckeye State because of a nut that grows here. It resembles a deer's eye

-The official state bird of Ohio is the cardinal while the official state animal of is white-tailed deer

-Some of the most common animals found in Ohio include black bears, coyotes, American beavers, white-tailed deer, great horned owls, wild turkeys, ring-necked pheasants, red-headed woodpeckers, blue jays, American robins. Ohio also has snakes. The official state reptile is the black racer, a non-venomous snake

-There is a historical park in Dayton called Carillon Historical Park that provides a glimpse into life in the past. It includes a bell tower, one room school house, a covered bridge, a gristmill, a cafeteria from the 1930s and a carousel where the cars are celebrating Dayton-based factories and companies

https://blog.njm.com/14-fun-facts-about-ohio

-Despite becoming a state in 1803, it didn't get official approval until President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed off on it and made it an official state in 1953

-Thomas Alva Edison, despite being a popular inventor in Menlo Park, New Jersey, was actually born in Ohio on 2/11/1847. He invented the incandescent lightbulb, phonograph and motion picture camera and was born in Milan, Ohio

-Sugarcreek, Ohio is home to the world's largest, fully functional cuckoo clock. The town is nicknamed "Little Switzerland of Ohio"

-Pennsylvania and Ohio both have something in common. Both Ohio and Pennsylvania have a very high Amish population. In Ohio, the Amish citizens live in the east-central region and approximately 40,000 Amish people live there. One area that includes these residents is Lancaster, Ohio

-There are 88 counties in Ohio

-1900 was the year that Harry M. Stevens gave the world it's first hot dog. He was born in Derby, England, but emigrated to Niles, Ohio

https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2016/10/40_facts_about_ohio_you_didnt.html

-Neil Armstrong, one of the famous astronauts who walked on the moon, was from Auglaize County, which includes Wapakoneta, the city he's from

-20% of the state's population, which rounds out to about 2,367,313 people, live in rural areas and work as farmers

-1985 seen the song "Hang on Sloopy" by The Vibrations being made as the official rock song of Ohio

-The third largest university in the country, by enrollment figures, is The Ohio State University. It's also one of the few universities to feature "The" in its title

-Oberlin College was the first college in the US to admit women in 1833 and later on admit black students in 1835

-Carl Stokes became the first black mayor of Cleveland in 1967

-Cincinnati athlete DeHart Hubbard became the first black athlete to gold at the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924. He won this by performing the long jump

 -The iconic superhero Superman was created by two Cleveland high school students named Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1933. The first version that came before the one we all know and love was a villain with psychic powers

-Despite being born in London, England, Bob Hope moved to the US and was raised in Cleveland when he was four years old

-The prison used in The Shawshank Redemption was located in Ohio. The Mansfield Reformatory, also known as the Ohio State Reformatory, located in Mansfield, Ohio, was used in this movie. This movie actually saved the building from destruction. Now tours are given of the site. And every year, a music and tattoo festival called Iron and Ink is held there. There were also music videos for various musicians that were shot here, including a video by hard rockers Godsmack

-The much loved television program WKRP in Cincinnati was set in Ohio. There was no actual radio station with those call letters. Those call letters do, however, connect with a local TV station

-There were various TV shows set in Ohio. Hot in Cleveland, Family Ties, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Glee, Clarissa Explains It All, The Drew Carey Show

-The Columbus Blue Jackets are the only NHL team located in Ohio. The name was chosen over Columbus Justice. The Blue Jackets was the chosen name because Ohio sent more soldiers to the Union Army during the American Civil War than any other state that existed at the time. As a side note, every time the Blue Jackets score a goal, the cannons they have in the building light up and imitate the shooting of a cannonball while playing "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" by AC/DC

-There are Ohio-based teams that have won 17 championships in major sports: Cleveland Browns (8), Cincinnati Reds (5), Cleveland Indians (2), Cleveland Cavaliers (1), Cleveland Rams (1)

-Two of the best selling fast food chains were created in Ohio. Wendy's, founded in Columbus, and Arbys', founded in Boardman Township, Ohio

-Court Ave in Bellfontaine, Ohio was the first concrete-paved street to be placed in 1891

-1955 seen the Ohio Turnpike opening. This 241-mile road was built between 1949-1955, costing $326 million to build

-In 2016, Port Columbus Airport was renamed John Glenn Columbus International Airport

-1870 seen Cedar Point in Sandusky going into construction. It is the second oldest amusement park in the country, riding fast on the heels of Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut

The blue roller coaster you see in the background is called Gatekeeper

-Out of all the cities in the US to get snow, Cleveland is the 8th city in the US to have heavy snowfalls. It's because of their location right on one of the Great Lakes, which results in a heavy snow, called "lake effect snow." Cleveland averages 68.5'' annually

-Ohio does have black bears. The population includes between 50-100 black bears according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources

-The popular candy Life-Savers were invented by Clarence A. Crane in 1912. He was originally from Garrettsville, Ohio, but invented the candy in Cleveland, Ohio

-Akron-based company General Mills marketed Quaker Oats in 1877 as a popular choice for breakfast

https://www.cuflowers.com/ohio-trivia

-Kettering, Ohio saw Ermal Fraze inventing the first pop-top can

-In 1879, James J. Ritty invented the cash register in Dayton to prevent people from stealing house profits

-Akron is known as the Rubber Capital of the World because of the many tire-producing factories here, such as Goodyear, Firestone and Goodrich

-Jesse Owens, the famous black runner who won multiple gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, under the hateful gaze of then chancellor Adolf Hitler, was from Ohio. He grew up in Cleveland

-In New Carlisle in 1938, Ohio Roy J. Plunkett invented the material we all know of now as Teflon, the material that goes inside bulletproof Kevlar vests

https://ohiohasit.com/ohio-has-it-fun-facts/

-Several movies were filmed in Cleveland. They include A Christmas Story (1983), Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014), Air Force One (1997), Antwone Fisher (2002), The Deer Hunter (1978), The Avengers (2012), Spiderman 3 (2007) 

-The Akron Candy Company started producing the ever-popular Dum Dum Lollipops in 1924 in Akron, Ohio

-Lima, Ohio is the home of the world's second oldest burger chain. It's called Kewpee! Hamburger with a giant Kewpie doll as their mascot

-The trucking industry got its start in 1930 in Akron, Ohio. The first official trucking company was Roadway Express, founded in 1930 to move tires around from the various tire-producing companies that exist there. This company is still up and running to this day

-The first black professional football player was Charles Follis. He played football at Wooster High School in Wooster, Ohio

-Quite a few famous musicians are from Ohio. The 80s-era band Devo is from Kent, Ohio, which is home to Kent State University. Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders is from Akron, Ohio, The Black Keys are from Akron, Ohio

Devo

Chrissie Hynde

The Black Keys

-Gahanna is known as the Herb Capital of Ohio

-The popular Scott's Miracle-Gro Company is headquartered in Marysville, Ohio

-The popular Bath and Body Works company is headquartered in New Albany, just outside of Columbus, Ohio

-Piqua, Ohio was home to eight knitting mills in the early 1900s. They produced lingerie and other underwear items. This city even held a Great Outdoor Underwear Festival from 1988-1998. In the popular children's book series Captain Underpants, the town it takes place in is a fictionalized version of Piqua

-Waynesville, Ohio is home to Renaissance Park, where the annual Ohio Renaissance Festival is held. It's one of the largest Renaissance-themed events in the entire United States. They have themed weekends each weekend of the season. Check the official site to see what weekend you want to go. If you're into Steampunk, they have a weekend for that!

https://northeastohiofamilyfun.com/fun-facts-about-ohio/

-Ravenna, Ohio is known as "flag city" because it is where the Ohio State flag was created initially

-Tourists can walk along the shores of Lake Erie to find glass that came from shipwrecks

-1852 saw Ohio creating laws to protect working women

-Founded in 1804, Ohio University is said to be the first university in all of Ohio

-Rumor has it that Lake Erie has a Loch Ness-like monster lurking within its dark depths, named Bessie

-Dublin, Ohio is home to one of the largest Irish-themed festivals in the world. It's called the Dublin Irish Festival

-The Cincinnati Observatory is the oldest observatory in the United States. It was built in 1842 and is still in operation to this day

-Garrett Morgan, who invented the gas mask and traffic light, is from Cleveland, Ohio

-The National Museum of the United States Air Force, known to most locals as just the Dayton Air Force Museum, is located in Dayton, Ohio. This museum is said to be the oldest aviation-themed museum in the world (Definitely worth a visit; there's a piece of the actual Berlin Wall here, complete with barbed wire and spray paint)

-Akron is also known as the "Duct Tape Capital of the World" because the DUCK Duct Tape brand was created here. There is an annual duct tape festival here

-Rio Grande, Ohio is the home Bob Evans, a sausage maker who would have a successful chain of affordable restaurants named after him. The original farm exists here to this day

-Sandusky, Ohio is home to Cedar Point, the second oldest amusement park in the United States. Sandusky is also referred to as "the roller coaster capital of the world." Cedar Point is home to at least 16 different roller coasters, including the new one recently built, Siren's Curse

-X-Rays were used for the first time in Marietta, Ohio by Dr. John Gilman in 1896

-Nearly 50% of Ohio's population lives within a 600 mile radius of Columbus

-The ladybug is the official state insect

-NBA legends Stephen Curry and Lebron James were both born at Akron General Medical Center

https://funworldfacts.com/ohio-america/

-The National Football League (NFL) was created in 1920 in Canton, Ohio

-Legendary shock rocker Marilyn Manson hails from Canton, Ohio

-Maya Lin, a native of Athens, Ohio, designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Her submission was chosen over the other 1,400 submissions

-Ohio is known for its strong manufacturing history. This state has produced jet aviation, auto assembly, machine tools, heating equipment, refrigerators, office machines and tires

-In Marysville, Ohio in 1982, Honda became the first Japanese automotive company to start production in the US. The Honda Accord went into production in Marysville