INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT MISSISSIPPI

• The name “Mississippi” comes from the Ojibwa (Chippewa) Indian word meaning “great river or gathering of waters”.​​

• ​The Teddy Bear was created as a direct result of President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt’s refusal to shoot a captured bear in 1902, while on a hunting expedition in Sharkey County, Mississippi

• ​The state butterfly is the Spicebush Swallowtail.​

• Mississippi became the 20th state on December 10th, 1817.​​

• Milk is the state beverage.​

• ​Although cotton is the most important crop in MS, corn, peanuts, pecans, rice, sugar cane, sweet potatoes, soybeans, food grains, poultry, eggs, meat animals, dairy products, feed crops and horticultural crops are all important to the state’s economy.​​

• ​The Mississippi State shell is the Oyster.​​

• ​The wood duck is the state waterfowl.​​

• ​Jackson, MS has only been the capital of Mississippi since 1822. ​

• The highest point in the state is Woodall Mountain, 246 meters (806 ft)

• Alcorn State University is the nations oldest African American land-grant college.​

• After the Civil War, famed hat-maker John B. Stetson learned and practiced his trade at Dunn’s Falls near Meridian.​

• Lumberton, Mississippi is the home to the world’s largest pecan nursery.​

• Belzoni, Mississippi is called the “Catfish Capital of the World.”​

• Greenwood, Mississippi is commonly called the “Cotton Capital of the World.”​

• Root Beer was invented in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1898 by Edward Adolf Barq, Sr.​

• The Space Shuttle’s main engines were test-fired at the Stennis Space Center in Hancock County.​

• The University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1963 performed the world’s first human lung transplant and, on January 23, 1964, Dr. James D. Hardy performed the world’s first heart transplant surgery.​

• MCW in Columbus, Mississippi (est 1884) was the first state college for women in the U.S.​

• The oldest Holiday Inn is in Clarksdale, MS.​

• Football Hall of Famer Walter Peyton was from Columbia, Mississippi. He was also the first football player on the Wheaties box.​

• In 1894, Coca-Cola was first bottled by Joseph A. Biedenharn in Vicksburg, MS.​

• The Mississippi Gulf Coast has the world’s longest man-made beach.​

• National Geographic Magazine is printed in Corinth, MS.​

• Jackson, MS is one of only 4 cities of the world sanctioned by The International Theater/Dance Committee to host the International Ballet Competition: Moscow, Russia; Varna, Bulgaria; Helsinki, Finland are the other 3.​

• Borden’s Condensed Milk was first canned in Liberty, MS.​

• The first bottle of Dr. Tichener’s Antiseptic was produced in Liberty, MS.​

• Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, on January 8, 1935.​

• Viking Range Corp. was founded and still operates in Greenwood, MS.​

• The international Checkers Hall of Fame is in Petal.​

• Peavey Electronics was founded in Meridian, Mississippi and is the world’s largest manufacturer of musical amplification equipment.​

• The Natchez Trace Parkway, named an All American Road by the federal government, extends from Natchez to just south of Nashville, Tennessee. The Trace began as an Indian Trail more than 8,000 years ago.​

• Pine Sol was invented in 1929 by Jackson, MS native Harry A. Cole, Sr.​​

• Vardaman is called the Sweet Potato Capital of the World.​

• Mississippi has more tree farms than any other state.​

• The 4-H Club began in Holmes County in 1907.​

• Shoes were first sold as pairs in 1884 at Phil Gilbert’s Shoe Parlor in Vicksburg, MS.​

• Every commercial airliner has at least one hydraulic component manufactured by Vickers in Jackson, MS.​

• Oliver Pollock invented the dollar sign ($). He is buried near Pinckneyville, MS.​

• Resin Bowie, the inventor of the Bowie Knife, is buried in Port Gibson, MS.​

• The Mississippi Legislature passed one of the first laws in 1839 to protect the property rights of married women.​

• The Mississippi Delta is the birthplace of the Blues, which preceded the birth of Jazz, the only other original American art form.​

• Babe Ruth’s last home run was hit off a Mississippian, Guy Bush of Tupelo, MS.​

• Norris Bookbinding Company in Greenwood is the largest Bible rebinding plant in the nation. ​

• David Harrison of Columbus owns the patent on the "Soft Toilet Seat." Over one million are sold every year. ​

• The Teddy Bear's name originated after a bear hunt in Mississippi with President Theodore Roosevelt. President Roosevelt refused to shoot an exhausted and possibly lame bear. News of this spread across the country, and a New York merchant capitalized on this publicity by creating a stuffed bear called "Teddy's Bear."​

• H. T. Merrill of Iuka flew the first round-trip transoceanic flight in 1928. The flight to England was made in a plane loaded with ping-pong balls. ​

• Blazon-Flexible Flyer, Inc., in West Point, manufactures the best snow sled in the country, the Flexible Flyer. ​

• Emil and Kelly Mitchell, the King and Queen of Gypsies, are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Meridian. Since 1915, people from all over the world have left gifts of fruit and juice at their grave sites.​

• The Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg is the largest research, testing, and development facility of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. ​

• On April 25, 1866, women in Columbus decorated the graves of Confederate and Union soldiers in Friendship Cemetery. This gesture became known as Decoration Day, the beginning of what we observe as Memorial Day.​

• Inventor James D. Byrd of Clinton holds seven patents and developed the plastic used as a heat shield by NASA. ​

• Mississippi University for Women in Columbus was the first state college for women in the country, established in 1884. ​

• Alcorn State University, in Lorman, is the oldest African American land grant college in the world.​

• Fred Montalvo, from Edwards, MS, owns the company that makes "Icee" drinks.​

• The oldest book in America, an ancient Biblical manuscript, is located at the University of Mississippi.​

• The official world's record for keeping a plane aloft is held by Al and Fred Key of Meridian. They refueled in the air and kept their plane aloft for 653 hours and 34 minutes (27 days, 5 hours, and 34 minutes) in 1935.​

• Mississippi's Petrified Forest near Flora is the only such site in the eastern United States.​

• The rarest of North American cranes lives in Mississippi in the grassy savannas of Jackson County. The Mississippi Sandhill Crane stands about 44 inches tall and has an eight-foot wing span. ​

• Oxford, Mississippi has a thriving music scene and has often been compared to Austin, Texas and Athens, Georgia.

• Pascagoula is home to Mississippi’s largest employer, Ingalls Shipbuilding, owned by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems.

• ​Columbus Air Force Base produces nearly one-third of our nation's best-trained pilots.​​