Top 100 Useless Facts About America

Top 100 Useless Facts About America

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 100 Useless Facts About America.

If you picked up any random tidbits about the USA in history class, share your insight in the comments.

#1: When preacher William Miller predicted that Jesus would return in 1844, some of his followers left their jobs and sold their properties. Miller’s inaccuracy sparked the Great Disappointment.

#2: Teddy Roosevelt advocated carrying a big stick, but his youngest son Quentin enjoyed walking on stilts through the rose garden.

#3: 16 months into his presidency, Zachary Taylor died from stomach disease. Historians debate what caused this, but it may have been the cherries and iced milk Taylor ate at a July 4th celebration days earlier.

#4: In 1799, Loyalist William Augustus Bowles attempted to establish a sovereign nation in Florida called the State of Muskogee. Bowles named himself Director General and Commander-In-Chief, but his “reign” ended in 1803 following his capture.

#5: More than 6,000 Americans died in battle during the Revolutionary War, but over an estimated 10,000 neglected Americans died on prison ships during this period.

#6: The U.S. usually gets a new president every 4 or 8 years. On “24,” the job is a revolving door with 11 different individuals holding the position throughout the show’s nine season run.

#7: The Centralia mine fire broke out in 1962 and it’s still burning beneath the Pennsylvania borough over 60 years later.

#8: Whittier, Alaska is known as a “town under one roof” since almost every resident lives in the Begich Towers.

#9: POTUS is a deadly gig. While in office, 4 have died from natural causes and 4 were assassinated. At least another 15 have been linked to assassination attempts or plots.

#10: The average American throws away almost five pounds of trash a day.

#11: Since 2011, an estimated two-thirds of U.S. $100 bills are located outside of the country.

#12: Despite being a New York landmark, the Statue of Liberty is technically closer to the shoreline of New Jersey.

#13: The California grizzly bear became the state’s official animal in 1953, although this subspecies of brown bear has been extinct since 1924.

#14: Based on a OnePoll study, the average American possesses more than $54,000 worth of debt.

#15: A 21-year-old Abraham Lincoln became his county’s wrestling champion. Fast-forward to 1992, Honest Abe officially entered the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

#16: Uncle Sam is based on Samuel Wilson, an American meat packer. So, we guess Uncle Sam wants you to pack his meat?

#17: Before George Washington’s portrait was on the $1 bill, Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase had his mug plastered on the dollar to raise his profile.

#18: Got Milk? California does, being the country’s top dairy producer.

#19: According to Forbes Advisor, Texas is the U.S. state with the worst drivers while the best can be found in Washington, D.C.

#20: The Empire State Building is so big that it has its own ZIP Code: 10118.

#21: Competing in NASCAR comes with several requirements, but a state driver’s license isn’t one of them.

#22: According to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming all have more cows than humans.

#23: The Hoover Dam has enough concrete to construct a two-lane highway between San Francisco and New York.

#24: The crack in the Liberty Bell isn’t its only imperfection. Pennsylvania is spelled “Pensylvania” with one “n” missing. It’s also spelled like this in the U.S. Constitution.

#25: Lake Superior has enough water to flood North and South America with a depth of one foot.

#26: With nearly 8.5 million residents, more people live in New York City than in almost 80% of all U.S. states.

#27: Longview, Washington has a bridge specifically for squirrels called the Nutt Narrows Bridge.

#28: The U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million in 1867. That’s around $150 million today.

#29: If you want to hunt a unicorn in Michigan, you’ll need to get a license from Lake Superior State University.

#30: There are over 150,000 hotel rooms in Las Vegas, meaning it would take over 400 years to spend the night in each of them.

#31: Only two U.S. states don’t follow daylight saving time: Arizona and Hawaii.

#32: There’s a limestone Darth Vader grotesque at the Washington National Cathedral.

#33: There are almost 2,600 U.S. national landmarks, but only two of them move: New Orleans’ St. Charles streetcar line and San Francisco’s Clay Street cable car line.

#34: Jimmy Carter had solar panels added to the White House, although Ronald Reagan had them removed in 1986.

#35: If Texas was a separate country, it would be among the world’s 10 largest economies by gross domestic product.

#36: The Denver International Airport is two times bigger than Manhattan Island.

#37: In 1893, Representative Lucas M. Miller suggested changing the country’s name to the United States of the Earth. His proposed amendment didn’t pan out.

#38: There’s a monument commemorating the “Future Birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk” in Riverside, Iowa. Don’t miss the delivery on March 22, 2228!

#39: 89-year-old Elsie Eiler is the only resident of Monowi, Nebraska, serving as its mayor, librarian, and bartender, among other things.

#40: Some U.S. states list English as their official language, but the country as a whole actually doesn’t have one.

#41: Although the Declaration of Independence was officially published on July 4, 1776, the Lee Resolution for Independence was passed two days earlier, leading some to believe July 2 would become an American holiday.

#42: Where most countries write the day followed by the month and year, the U.S. is among the few that subscribe to the Month/Day/Year format.

#43: Juan Ponce de León helmed the first documented European expedition to Florida, arriving in 1513.

#44: In 1914, Cleveland, Ohio received the world’s first electric traffic signal.

#45: The U.S. has one of the world’s most diverse climates, covering everything from topical to polar regions.

#46: You have to be at least 18 to rent a car in most U.S. states, although if you’re under 25, there may be additional fees and regulations attached.

#47: In America, football is generally referred to as soccer while American football is called… well, football.

#48: A series of silent shorts called “Monkeyshines” are believed to be the first films shot in the States.

#49: The White House got its first Christmas tree during Franklin Pierce’s presidency in the 1850s.

#50: Hawaiian pizza wasn’t invented in Hawaii or even the U.S. The Greek-born Sam Panopoulos first broke out the pineapples while living in Chatham, Ontario in 1962.

#51: Robert G. Heft was 17 when he designed the current U.S. flag with 50 stars. Heft claims that it started as a school project he got a B- on, although historians call that part into question.

#52: Until her death in May 2020, Irene Triplett was the last American to collect a Civil War pension, which amounted to $73.13 per month.

#53: The only U.S. president to serve more than two terms, Franklin D. Roosevelt held office for four from 1933 to 1945.

#54: Girl Scout troop leader Loretta Scott Crew is credited for inventing s’mores in the 1920s, although originally, they were called “some more.”

#55: The Supreme Court Building has its own basketball court, earning the name “Highest Court of the Land.”

#56: It’s widely believed that the Iroquois Confederacy helped inspire the U.S. Constitution.

#57: Sacagawea embarked with Lewis and Clark just two months after giving birth to her son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, who accompanied his mother on the expedition.

#58: While George Washington lost many of his teeth, they weren’t substituted with wooden ones. Instead, metal, ivory, and even other peoples’ teeth were used as replacements.

#59: Mustangs are symbols of the Western U.S., although they were imported to North America by the Spanish.

#60: The Hollywood Sign is protected by its own nonprofit trust fund, which was formed in 1978 - the same year it was rebuilt.

#61: You’re inclined to find red Solo cups at American parties, but not necessarily at parties around the world.

#62: Through “Grapes of Wrath” author John Steinbeck, U.S. Route 66 came to be known as the Mother Road.

#63: Independence, Missouri used to have a hair museum named after cosmetology teacher Leila Cohoon.

#64: At one point, Joe Simon considered naming Captain America “Super American,” but he figured there were enough superheroes with “super” in their title.

#65: Ohio was retroactively declared the 17th U.S. state in 1953.

#66: In 1953, the first McDonald’s restaurant with the iconic Golden Arches was built in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1986, it was replaced with an Arby’s. Today, it’s Yoshi’s Restaurant.

#67: Typically, female Bald eagles are ⅓ larger than males.

#68: U.S. farmers grow roughly 90 million acres of corn annually. That’s twice the size of Oklahoma.

#69: In the country song “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” Alan Jackson professes that he doesn’t know the “the difference in Iraq and Iran”... three times.

#70: The Broadway play “Moose Murders” opened and closed at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre on the same date, February 22, 1983.

#71: Levi Spear Parmly, a New Orleans dentist, invented dental floss.

#72: American manufacturer John Deere had nine kids.

#73: In the 1920s, Elis F. Stenman used newspapers as insulation for his house. The Paper House still stands in Rockport, Massachusetts.

#74: Christopher Sell of Rugby, England brought the deep-fried Twinkie to America in the early 2000s.

#75: Originating from Cincinnati, Ohio, Play-Doh was sold as a wallpaper cleaner before it was a plaything.

#76: In America, Thanksgiving takes place on the fourth Thursday of November, but this wasn’t tradition until 1863 under Abraham Lincoln’s presidency.

#77: Barbie and Ken are from Willows, Wisconsin. Creator Ruth Handler based them on her children, Barbara and Kenneth.

#78: Everglades National Park is the only place on Earth where wild alligators and crocodiles coexist.

#79: In 2014, it was reported that chickens outnumber Delaware’s residents by more than 200 to 1.

#80: Pogo started as a comic strip in 1948. In 1992, the titular character was adopted as Georgia’s official state possum.

#81: Samoset was the first American Indian to approach the Pilgrims. He said, “Welcome, Englishmen,” and asked for beer.

#82: Cawker City, Kansas is home to the world’s largest ball of twine.

#83: The North Loup is considered the Popcorn Capital of Nebraska.

#84: A thief attempted to steal George Washington’s skull from his grave. They accidentally took one belonging to one of Judge Bushrod Washington’s in-laws.

#85: New Mexico has an official state question: “Red or Green?” - referring to chilies.

#86: Texas is bigger than any European country.

#87: The world’s largest cranberry festival takes place in Warrens, Wisconsin.

#88: Wyoming has just two escalators, both in Casper.

#89: The Paleobiology Database has recorded almost 2,000 dinosaur fossils in California, more than any other state in the U.S.

#90: Lollipops were invented by George Smith from New Haven, Connecticut in 1908.

#91: Before he was POTUS, Gerald Ford was a model, working for the John Robert Powers and Harry Conover agencies.

#92: President Herbert Hoover’s personal physician, Joel T. Boone, created a medicine ball game naturally called Hooverball.

#93: Ulysses S. Grant is the only U.S. president to be arrested while in office. The crime? Speeding in a horse-drawn carriage.

#94: Bill Clinton’s cat almost had a Super Nintendo game, “Socks the Cat Rocks the Hill.” Failing to meet its 1993 release date, the platformer was canceled, but the prototype was made public in 2018.

#95: Apparently, Richard Nixon loved himself some cottage cheese mixed with ketchup.

#96: George H.W. Bush thought about making Clint Eastwood his Vice President. We’ve heard of crazier things.

#97: Harry Truman might’ve received a turkey, but he didn’t pardon one.

#98: Prior to his presidency, Grover Cleveland was a sheriff, which entailed carrying out hangings.

#99: On October 17, 1984, Ronald Reagan wrote about Drew Barrymore in his diary, calling her “a nice little person.”

#100: David Beckham sent Barack Obama 50 pairs of boxers from his underwear line.