Some Fun Oklahoma History

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dancer4life

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Here's some Fun Oklahoma History, Feel free to add to the list.



**Some Fun Oklahoma History!**

1. Oklahoma produced more astronauts than any other state.
2. The first Girl Scout Cookie was sold in Muskogee in 1917.
3. The nation's first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City in 1935.
4. The shopping cart was invented in Ardmore in 1936.
5. During the 'Land Rush', Oklahoma City went from a vast, open prairie to a city of over 10,000 in a single day.
6. The Oklahoma State Capital is the only capital in the U.S. with working oil wells on its grounds.
7. Boise City, OK was the only city in the United States to be bombed during World War II. On Monday night, July 5,1943, at 12:30 am, a B-17 Bomber based at Dalhart Army Air Base, Texas,
dropped six practice bombs on the sleeping town, mistaking the city lights as target lights.
8. WKY Radio in Oklahoma City was the first radio station transmitting west of the Mississippi River.
9. The nation's first 'Tornado Warning' was issued on March 25,1948 in Oklahoma City minutes before a devastating tornado. Because of the warning, no lives were lost.
10. Oklahoma has the largest Native American population of any state in the U.S. It also has 234 different Indian Tribes.
11. The name 'Oklahoma' comes from two Choctaw words... Okla. meaning 'people' and humma meaning 'red'. So the name means, 'Red People.' The name was approved in 1890.
12. The bread twist tie was invented in Maysville, OK.
13. Oklahoma has more man-made lakes than any other state.
14. Cimarron County, located in the Oklahoma Panhandle, is the only county in the U.S. bordered by four separate states: TX, NM, CO & KS.
15. The nation's first traffic 'Yield' sign was erected in Tulsa on a trial basis.
16. Pensacola Dam is the longest multi-arched dam in the world at 6,565 feet.
17. The 'Port of Catoosa' (just north of Tulsa) is the largest inland port in America.
18. The aerosol can was invented in Bartlesville.
19. Per square mile, Oklahoma has more tornadoes than any other place in the world.
20. The highest wind speed ever recorded on earth was in Moore, OK on May 3rd,1999 during the Oklahoma City F-5 tornado. Wind speed was clocked at 318 mph.
21. The Will Rogers World Airport and the Wiley Post Airport are both named after two famous Oklahomans-- both killed in an airplane crash together.
22. Cushing, OK is the "Pipeline Crossroads of the World" and has the world’s largest storage of oil.
23. The song "Oklahoma" from the Broadway play of the same name is now the official state song.
24. Oklahoma is the only State to have its capital stolen and moved in the middle of the night from Guthrie to Oklahoma City.
25. Guthrie has an original Carnegie Library and the Largest Masonic Temple in the World!
26. Watonga, OK has more rattle snakes than people.

Why Travel To Other States? Oklahoma has other US cities too!
Cleveland, Oklahoma
Delaware, Oklahoma
Kansas, Oklahoma
Orlando, Oklahoma
Miami, Oklahoma
Pensacola, Oklahoma
Pittsburgh, Oklahoma
Santa Fe, Oklahoma
St. Louis, Oklahoma
Chattanooga, Oklahoma
Peoria, Oklahoma
Burbank, Oklahoma
Fargo, Oklahoma

Don't Forget The Wildlife!
Wolfe, Oklahoma
Eagle, Oklahoma
Buffalo, Oklahoma
Fox, Oklahoma
Bison, Oklahoma
Deer Creek, Oklahoma
Elk City, Oklahoma

We Have A Town Named After A Number: Forty-One, OK
And A Town Whose Letters Don't Spell Anything: IXL, OK

We Even Have A City Named After Earth's Only Satellite: Moon, OK
And A City Named After Our State: Oklahoma City, OK

Even Presidential Cities!
Adams, Oklahoma
Carter, Oklahoma
Clinton, Oklahoma
Fillmore, Oklahoma
Grant, Oklahoma
Jefferson, Oklahoma
Johnson, Oklahoma
Lincoln, Oklahoma
Reagan, Oklahoma
Roosevelt, Oklahoma
Taft, Oklahoma
Taylor, Oklahoma
Washington, Oklahoma
Wilson, Oklahoma

Other City Names In Oklahoma To Make You Smile:
Bowlegs, Oklahoma
Bugtussle, Oklahoma
Bushyhead, Oklahoma
Frogville, Oklahoma
Gotebo, Oklahoma
Hooker, Oklahoma
Loco, Oklahoma
Slapout, Oklahoma
Slaughterville, Oklahoma
Gay, Oklahoma
Straight, Oklahoma

And in case you've never been there, you could go to: Nowhere, Oklahoma
 

SoonerP226

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#24 is an urban legend that's only believed in Guthrie, and only because the secretary forgot to take the state seal and had to go back for it that night. The legislature moved the capital to OKC, it wasn't "stolen."

Oklahoma has more miles of shoreline than the eastern seaboard. (Or maybe it's the west coast; it has been a long time since I learned that one.)

Oklahoma has no natural lakes; they're all reservoirs.

The Port of Catoosa is the world's northernmost ice-free sea port.

Along Oklahoma's southern border with Texas, the Red River is actually within Oklahoma's borders, as set by the Louisiana Purchase treaty. This fact was successfully exploited by Governor William "Alfalfa Bill" Murray when Oklahoma built free bridges across the Red River. Texas sent Texas Rangers to close the free bridges (which were competing with toll bridges owned by Texans) and got the Federal courts to side with him. Governor Murray said that no Federal judge was going to tell the Governor what he could or couldn't do inside the state of Oklahoma, so he sent the Oklahoma National Guard to reopen the bridges in what was termed the Red River Bridge War.

The Rangers have a saying, "one riot, one Ranger," but the OKNG reopened the bridges, and the appellate courts agreed with Governor Murray.
 

Snattlerake

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We have Lotawatah and Nowata Exits from I-40

We also have a governor's mansion built in another town, Kingfisher, in hopes of it becoming the state capitol.

https://www.okhistory.org/sites/seaymansion

Governor Seay served as the third territorial governor from 1892 to 1893. He built the three-story mansion named Horizon Hill for approximately $11,000 on fifteen acres of land just outside of Kingfisher, Oklahoma Territory. The mansion was completed in March of 1892


www.ctokmuseum.org_uploads_4_4_6_8_44689473_5003554_orig.jpg
 
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dennishoddy

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Oklahoma has more miles of shoreline than the eastern seaboard.

By a long shot. Grand lake O’ the Cherokees alone has 1366 miles of shoreline.
The distance between the Northern tip of Maine to the Southern tip of Florida is 1383 miles as the crow flies.

A machine shop owner in Ponca City was the inventor of the turn signal.

Conoco refinery R&D department in Ponca is the place where the “Walmart bag” type of plastic bag was finally perfected.
 

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