Introduction - Ohio
Ohio is a fairly large state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ohio has five bordering states which include Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia. Among the many places where visitors to the state are drawn to each year include the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where football history is documented and celebrated, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Did you know that Ohio is the birthplace to seven past presidents? In the historical facts section below, you'll find out who they are. This list of interesting information also includes what famous inventions were created in Ohio and when they were created. The kid-friendly format assures easy content reading for all ages.Click here for a great selection of Amazon.com books about Ohio.
State of Ohio Quick Facts
- Ohio was the seventeenth state to join the union.
- Ohio officially became a state on March 1, 1803.
- The state capital of Ohio is Columbus and it is also the largest city in Ohio.
- Ohio is the 7th most populated state (source 2013 United States Census Bureau estimate).
- The population of Ohio is 11,594,163 (source 2014 United States Census Bureau estimate).
- The state flower of Ohio is the Scarlet Carnation.
- Ohio's main nickname is The Buckeye State but other state nicknames include, The Heart of it All, The Mother of Presidents, and the Birthplace of Aviation.
- Residents of Ohio are called Ohioan's.
- There are several major bodies of water in Ohio, most of which are rivers including the Cuyahoga River, Ohio River, Maumee River, Muskingham River, Sandusky River, Miami River and Scioto River. The two major lakes are the Grand Lake and Lake Erie.
- The Ohio state song is "Beautiful Ohio" written by Ballard MacDonald.
State of Ohio Interesting Facts
- On August 5, 1914, America's first traffic light was installed in Cleveland, Ohio.
- The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is in Cleveland, Ohio.
- Akron, Ohio is known as the rubber capital of the world. In 1899 it also became the first city to use police cars.
- Both John Glenn and Neil Armstrong were born in Ohio. Glenn was not only the oldest man to explore outer space but he also became the first man to orbit the earth in 1962. In 1969, Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.
- The Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first professional baseball team in the United States in 1869.
- At the 1924 Olympic games DeHart Hubbard, who was born in Cincinnati Ohio, became the first African American to earn an Olympic Gold Medal in an individual Olympic event; the long jump.
State of Ohio Historical Facts
- Ohio is the birthplace of seven U.S. Presidents' they are Ulysses Grant, William Henry Harrison, James Garfield, William McKinley, Benjamin Harrison, Rutherford Hayes, and William Taft. The only state home to more Presidents is Virginia.
- The Glacial Grooves on Kelly's Island, Ohio were created about 30,000 years ago as a result of a glacier that formed during the Pleistocene Ice Age. The result is fascinating grooves and striations in the earth's limestone where the glacier once passed.
- Harriet Beecher Stowe was an abolitionist and famous author of Uncle Tom's cabin. Her house in Cincinnati, Ohio is recognized as part of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom because of the freedom-seekers that were helped there by her family.
- The first permanent settlement in Ohio was founded in 1788. It was the town of Marietta, which was named in honor of the Queen of France at the time, Marie Antoinette.