95 Weird American Facts You Won't Believe Are True

The United States of America is a massive country with a rich and varied history. Even though it’s only been a country for around 250 years, America has been through civil wars, economic revolutions, depressions, and many more impactful events that have shaped its short history. Throughout that time many strange and interesting things have happened, leading to some weird American facts you won’t believe are true.

Did you know that Oregon is the fastest-speaking state? Or that the flag of the United States was created by a 17-year-old boy? What about the fact that Lake Superior gets its name from the amount of water it holds? If these unusual facts are surprising to you and you’re ready to digest more, read on and discover more weird American facts that will have you scratching your head in disbelief.

1. There is no official language in the United States.

While most people speak English, there is no actual official language.

2. St Louis was the first American city to host the modern Olympics.

The Games were held in 1904.

3. One in eight people has worked at Mcdonald’s.

The fast food chain employs around 1 million people in the United States every year.

4. The current flag was designed by a 17-year-old.

Robert Heff designed the flag as part of a school project in 1958. He only got a B- for his design from his teacher despite it becoming the official flag of the country.

5. American’s eat 3 billion pizzas a year.

That’s enough to cover 100 acres.

6. It’s legal for children to smoke.

Yep, kids under the age of 18 can light one up, except in Nevada, which is weird within itself.

7. Kansas produces enough wheat in one year to feed everyone in the world for two weeks.

If it could be distributed around the world in a safe and logical way it could end world hunger.

8. The New River is thought to be the oldest in North America.

It flows from the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina to Virginia and West Virginia.

9. Russia sold Alaska to the United States for 2 cents per acre.

It cost $7.2 million in total, which America has made back more than 100 times.

10. Lake Superior gets its name from the amount of water it holds.

Not only is it the largest freshwater lake in the world, but it holds three quadrillion gallons of water.

11. Cows outnumber humans three to one in Montana.

There are around 2.6 million cattle in Montana.

12. The word “Pennsylvania” is misspelled on the Liberty Bell.

Someone didn’t have Spellcheck.

13. You can get a unicorn hunting license from Michigan’s Lake Superior State University.

Even though unicorns don’t exist.

14. New York was once called New Amsterdam.

The name New York originated after the English invaded and took over.

15. Arizona and Hawaii don’t observe daylight savings time.

They are the only two states to do so.

16. Corn Palace is the only place in the world made entirely out of corn.

Over 500,000 tourists visit every year. It’s found in Mitchell, South Dakota, United States.

17. John Hancock was a smuggler.

He failed to pay tax on goods imported into the United States but got off thanks to his good friend John Adams.

18. It would take you more than 400 years to spend a night in every hotel room in Las Vegas.

There are over 150,000 hotels on the Strip and surrounding areas.

19. There is a town in Washington with treetop bridges made specifically to help squirrels cross the street.

The main one is called Nutty Narrows Bridge.

20. 40% of babies are born to unmarried women.

In 1940 that number was just 3.8%.

21. The average American spends 4.4 years at each job they have.

The increase in the cost of living means people are always on the lookout for higher-paying jobs.

22. West Virginia is home to the first brick street in the world.

It was laid in Charleston on Summers Street.

23. London Bridge is located in Arizona.

Originally built in the 1830s, it was transported to America in the 60s to form a new bridge.

24. Most Presidents were born in Virginia.

There are five all up. They were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson.

25. There are 43 giant Presidential heads in a field in Croaker, Virginia.

Most stand between 18 – 20 feet and cost around $10 million to build.

26. James Maddison was the smallest President of the United States of America.

He stood just 5 feet 4 inches.

27. America has the longest cave system in the world.

Mammoth Cave National Park goes for some 400 odd miles, with a further 600 miles still yet to be explored.

28. St Augustine, Florida, is the oldest city in America.

It was claimed by Spanish explorer Ponce De Leon in 1513.

29. More people live in New York City than in 40 of the 50 states.

The city is home to 8.5 million people.

30. Hawaii is the only archipelago state.

This means it is the only state in the United States entirely made up of islands.

31. Three Presidents died on Independence Day.

Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Monroe all died on July 4.

32. There’s an island off the coast of South Carolina that is home to a colony of monkeys.

No humans inhabit Morgan Island.

33. The first book published in America was the Bay Psalm Book in 1640.

Of the 11 books remaining, one sold for $14.2 million in 2013.

34. George Washington never lived in the White House.

He passed away before ever getting the chance to live there.

35. There’s a Darth Vader “gargoyle” on the National Cathedral in D.C.

It was part of a design carving competition held by National Geographic World magazine. The other carvings are a raccoon, a girl with pigtails and braces, and a man with large teeth and an umbrella.

36. Only two of America’s Historical Landmarks can move.

They are San Francisco’s cable cars and New Orleans’s St. Charles streetcar line.

37. Peggy Whitson is the American to have spent the most time in space.

She has accumulated 665 days in space.

38. The Empire State building has its own zip code.

It is 10118.

39. The Hoover Dam has enough concrete to build a highway from San Francisco to New York.

It’s also the first structure to contain more stone than the Great Pyramid at Giza.

40. Abraham Lincoln created the Secret Service.

Unfortunately, he did so on the day he was shot and killed.

41. Oregon’s Crater Lake is one of the deepest lakes in America.

It can cover six Statues of Liberty placed on top of each other.

42. The Los Angeles Coroner’s Office has its own gift shop.

It’s called “Skeletons in the Closet” and sells all sorts of strange memorabilia.

43. Mt Kilauea in Hawaii is the most active volcano in the world.

It last started erupting again in late 2021.

44. There is a basketball court in the upstairs gym of the Supreme Court Building.

It is referred to as “The Highest Court in the Land” and is not open to the public.

45. The United States has 42,000 ZIP codes.

All but one of them, the President’s, can be found by searching online.

46. Massachusetts’s Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg has the longest place name in America.

It comprises 46 letters and was initially a joke name.

47. American independence actually occurred on July 2.

It is celebrated on July 4 because that’s when the papers were signed.

48. The majority of dinosaur fossils have been found in America.

They are also the most diverse.

49. There is a house in Rockport, Massachusetts that contains furniture made entirely from newspapers.

100,000 newspapers were used.

50. The Library of Congress contains approximately 838 miles of bookshelves.

That’s long enough to stretch from Houston to Chicago.

51. Denver International Airport is twice the size of Manhatten.

It’s also said to be involved with the Illuminati and Freemasons.

52. Three American towns are inspired by Christmas and named Santa Claus.

The town of Santa Claus can be found in Indiana, Arizona, and Georgia.

53. George Washington didn’t have wooden teeth.

This long-standing rumor has been debunked. His teeth were actually made from a combination of donkey, horse, and human teeth.

54. The Florida Everglades is the only place on earth where both alligators and crocodiles coexist.

Crocodiles live in both freshwater and saltwater, while alligators prefer freshwater environments.

55. An amendment was made in 1893 to rename America the United States of Earth.

Thankfully it never got passed.

56. California’s latest GDP of around $3.2 trillion surpasses that of the entire United Kingdom.

If it were a country it would have the fifth-largest economy in the world.

57. Bourbon is America’s only native spirit.

Congress declared bourbon whiskey a United States-only product in 1964. Now more than 95% of the world’s bourbon is made in Kentucky.

58. The bison is the largest mammal in North America.

Males can grow up to 6 feet tall and weigh around 2,000 pounds.

59. A highway in Lancaster, California plays classical music as you drive over it.

Grooves in the road have been specially made to play the “William Tell Overture.”

60. Harriet Tubman was a war hero.

As well as helping free slaves, she fought in the Civil War and was the first woman to lead an excursion into enemy territory.

61. The Frankford Avenue Bridge in Philadelphia is the oldest bridge in America.

The 73-foot stone bridge was built in 1967, making it older than America itself.

62. You can visit the future birthplace of Star Trek’s Captain Kirk.

It’s located in Riverside, Iowa.

63. In 1844, many Americans sold all their belongings because Jesus was coming back.

He didn’t return and the event was known as “The Great Disappointment.”

64. The first native the Pilgrims met asked “Where’s the beer?”

The natives had learned English from previous explorers and were used to being offered beer as a gift.

65. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the longest-serving President.

He served four terms from 1933 to 1945.

66. Nine American states have more cows than humans.

These states are Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

67. The town of Centralia, Pennsylvania has been burning since 1962.

A coal mine fire under the town is the culprit.

68. Hawaii is the happiest state in America according to WalletHub.

The least happiest state is West Virginia.

69. The highest mountain peak in the United States is Denali.

It stands some 20,310 feet tall.

70. Despite discovering America, Christopher Columbus never set foot on mainland North America.

He did visit the Caribbean Islands and parts of Central America and South America

71. Elsie Eiler is the only resident of Monowi, Nebraska.

She is the city’s mayor, librarian, and bartender.

72. The Hartford Courant, originally known as The Connecticut Courant, is the oldest still running newspaper in America.

It was first published in 1764.

73. The Statue of Liberty isn’t technically in New York.

It is classified as being in New Jersey.

74. Philadelphia was the original capital of America.

It resided there between 1790 – 1800 as Washington D.C. was being built.

75. There is an eight-foot statue of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Colombus, Ohio.

The bronze statue is outside the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

76. President Abraham Lincoln is in the Wrestling Hall of Fame.

He won 299 out of his 300 matches.

77. The first person on the $1 bill wasn’t George Washington.

It was in fact Secretary of Treasury Salmon P. Chase, who was also the designer of America’s first bank notes.

78. The first federal bank was established in Philadelphia in 1971.

The man responsible was Alexander Hamilton.

79. Atlantic City has the world’s longest boardwalk.

It is 4.5 miles long.

80. Oklahoma is the only state to have its own official meal.

The meal consists of squash, cornbread, fried okra, barbecued pork, grits, biscuits, sausage and gravy, corn, strawberries, chicken-fried steak, black-eyed peas, and pecan pie. Yummy.

81. You don’t need a driver’s license to compete in NASCAR.

Even if you have one and it’s suspended, you can still take part in a race.

82. The world’s smallest park is located in Portland.

It’s two feet wide.

83. The residents of Whittier, Alaska all live under one roof.

The majority of the 200-odd townsfolk live in Begich Towers, a former Army Barracks built in 1974.

84. More than 70 streets in Atlanta contain the name “Peachtree.”

Examples include Peachtree Circle, Peachtree Battle Avenue, Peachtree Center Avenue, and Peachtree Street.

85. There are more dead people than live ones in Colma, California.

The “City of Souls” has several cemeteries where around 1.5 million people are buried, with the town itself only having a population of 1,500.

86. You can see the Lavender Labyrinth in Western Michigan from space.

It takes an hour to walk to the center of the labyrinth.