1-10 Fun Facts About Kansas
1. Kansas is the 15th largest state in the US, with a land area of 82,278 mi² (213,100 km²).
2. To put it into perspective, it’s about twice the size of Iceland or South Korea.
3. The capital city of Kansas is Topeka, which means “place where we dig potatoes” in the Kansa-Osage language. With a population of 127,000, it serves as the political hub of the state.
4. Kansas is named after the Kansa Native American tribe, also known as Kaws, which means “people of the south wind.”
5. The state is dubbed “the Wheat State” and stands as the top wheat producer in the US, making over 330,000 bushels per year, surpassing Montana, Oklahoma, and Idaho’s combined output.
6. The state’s motto is “ad astra per aspera,” which translates to “through difficulties to the stars” in Latin.
7. The state animal of Kansas is the buffalo, which is also the state animal of Oklahoma, Wyoming, and the Canadian province of Manitoba.
8. With 86% of its population identifying as Christians, Kansas sits on the fringes of the area considered the Bible Belt.
9. Defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi pledged to pay the adoption fees for every dog at a Missouri shelter if the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl. They did, and Nnadi followed through on his promise. Soon after, all 109 shelter dogs found loving homes.
10. Did you know that in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Utah, women can legally be topless in public? It’s true!
11-20 Interesting Facts About Kansas
11. In 1887, a group of men in Kansas played a prank by adding Susanna M. Salter to the mayoral ballot. To their surprise, she won by a 2/3 majority, becoming America’s first female mayor and breaking down gender barriers in politics.
12. A Kansas State University professor decided to embark on a Twinkie diet in 2010, where he ate mostly Twinkies, Oreos, and Doritos to show that calorie counting is more important for weight loss than nutritional value. To everyone’s surprise, he shed 27 pounds in just two months!
13. A man suffering from gastrointestinal distress in a Kansas Home Depot bathroom kindly warned other patrons by saying, “You need to get out of here because I’m fixin’ to blow it up.” Unfortunately, police were called on suspicion of a bomb threat, but luckily no charges were laid.
14. The default location of an IP address in the USA, if no more granular location information is available, is mapped to a farm in Kansas. As a result, the farm’s owners have been the victims of constant harassment by the FBI, IRS, and others who have fallen prey to scammers with US IP addresses.
15. Hazel Ying Lee was the first Chinese-American pilot to support the US Army during World War II. During an emergency landing on a Kansas farm, the farmer mistook her for a Japanese invader and chased her around the plane with a pitchfork, shouting to his neighbors that Kansas was being invaded by the Japanese.
16. Goodland, Kansas is home to the largest-easel in the world, which holds a massive 40,000-pound, 80-foot steel replica of Vincent Van Gough’s sunflower painting.
17. A Japanese professor searching for Einstein’s brain discovered that it was being kept in a mason jar by a retiree in Kansas. The retiree would occasionally slice off pieces with a kitchen knife and mail them to those who asked for them.
Read More: 20 Mysterious Facts About Einstein That Will Blow Your Mind
18. Kansas is known for its agriculture, with over 88% of the state’s total land area being farmland. Only Texas and Montana have more farmland.
19. Kansas is the second state in the US with the most tornadoes, averaging around 88 per year, just after Texas.
20. Wichita, Kansas, is where the famous pizza chain, Pizza Hut, was founded by brothers Dan and Frank Carney. Although now headquartered in Texas, the company’s roots are firmly planted in Kansas.
21-25 Crazy Facts About Kansas
21. With 35% of all American planes being made there, Wichita, Kansas has been dubbed the “Air Capital of the World.”
22. Kansas has some peculiar laws. For instance, in Topeka, it is illegal to scream in a haunted house or sing/whistle in the streets at night.
23. Additionally, snowball fights are technically illegal in the city.
24. Cat lovers beware! In Wellington, it is unlawful to own more than four cats.
25. Although Kansas is nowhere near the ocean, there is still a state law against hunting whales.
That’s it for this post guys, I hope you had fun while reading 25 Interesting Kansas Facts For Students.
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