Nebraska State Facts

Catch up on your trivia with these Nebraska history firsts and fun facts.

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Nebraska History Firsts - Nebraska State Facts

• 1872 - J. Sterling Morton founded Arbor Day in Nebraska City. 
• 1882 - Buffalo Bill Cody held his first rodeo in North Platte, Nebraska July 4, 1882.
• 1895 - The goldenrod was declared the state flower on April 4, 1895.
• 1917 - Father Edward Flanagan founded Boys Town in Omaha, Nebraska in 1917.
• 1927 - Edwin E. Perkins of Hastings invented the powered soft drink Kool-Aid.
• 1932 - The cost of the Nebraska Capitol building was $ 9,800,440.07 in 1932. The construction job came in under budget and the building was paid for by the time it was completed.
• 1945 - The state nickname used to be the "Tree Planter's State", but was changed in 1945 to the "Cornhusker State".
• 1950 - Omaha became the home of the College World Series.
• 1963 - Nebraska became one of the first states to provide the entire state with educational television. 
• 1986 - In Nebraska, for the first time ever, two women ran against each other for governorship of a state.

More Nebraska History Firsts - Nebraska State Facts

• Nebraska was once called "The Great American Desert".
• The Lied Jungle located in Omaha is the world's largest indoor rain forest. 
• Nebraska is the only state in the union with a unicameral (one house) legislature.  
• The 911 system of emergency communications, now used nationwide, was developed and first used in Lincoln, Nebraska. 
• Mutual of Omaha Corporate headquarters is a public building built with 7 floors underground.  
• The world's only museum dedicated to Fur Trading is located at Fort Atkinson near Blair. 
• There are five army forts open to the public in Nebraska: Atkinson, Kearny, Hartsuff, Sidney, and Robinson. 
• One of the greatest American novelists, Willa Cather, grew up on a farm near Red Cloud and later attended the University of Nebraska. 
• The Sand Hills in central and north central Nebraska consist of grass-covered sand dunes and cover one-quarter of the state. 
• The Ogallala aquifer, which stretches as far south as Texas, is Nebraska's primary source of irrigation water
• State insect is the honeybee.
• State motto: Equality before the law.
• The Naval Ammunition Depot located in Hastings was the largest US ammunition plant providing 40% of WWII's ammunition.
• The Lied Jungle located in Omaha is the world's largest indoor rain forest.
• Nebraska is the birthplace of the Reuben sandwich.
• Spam (canned meat) is produced in Fremont.
• Nebraska has the US's largest aquifer (underground lake/water supply), the Ogalala aquifer.
• Nebraska has more miles of river than any other state.
• The Union Pacific's Bailey Yards, in North Platte, is the largest rail classification complex in the world.
• Nebraska is the only state in the union with a unicameral (one house) legislature.
• Nebraska was the first state to complete its segment of the nations mainline interstate system, a 455 mile stretch of four lane highway.
• Nebraska is both the nation's largest producer and user of center pivot irrigation.
• Nebraska's Chimney rock was the most often mentioned landmark in journal entries by travelers on the Oregon Trail.
• Nebraska has more underground water reserves than any other state in the continental US
• Marlon Brando's mother gave Henry Fonda acting lessons at the Omaha Community Playhouse.
• Lincoln County is the origin of the world's largest "Wolly Mammoth" elephant fossil.
• Weeping Water is the nations largest limestone deposit and producer.
• Mutual of Omaha Corporate headquarters is a public building built with 7 floors underground.
• The Nebraska Cornhuskers have been to a record 27 consecutive bowl games and 27 consecutive winning seasons.
• The University of Nebraska Cornhusker football team has produced more Academic All-Americans than any other Division I school.
• In Blue Hill, Nebraska, no female wearing a 'hat that would scare a timid person' can be seen eating onions in public.
• The world's first college course about radio personality Rush Limbaugh is taught at Bellevue University in Nebraska.
• Origin of Nebraska's Name: From an Oto Indian word meaning flat water.
• Nebraska's Motto: Equality Before the Law
• Nebraska's State Gem is the Blue Agate
• The largest porch swing in the world is located in Hebron, Nebraska and it can sit 25 adults.
• The world's largest hand-planted forest is Halsey National Forrest near Thedford, Nebraska
• The world's only museum dedicated to Fur Trading is located at Fort Atkinson near Blair.
• The famous architect, Edward Durrell Stone, designed the Stuhr Museum near Grand Island, Nebraska.
• The University of Nebraska-Lincoln weight room is the largest in the country. It covers three-fourths of an acre.
• Chevyland USA near Elm Creek, Nebraska is the only museum dedicated to a single line of cars.
• The largest Kolache Festival in the world is located in Prague, Nebraska.
• Cozad, Nebraska is located on the 100th Meridian where the humid east meets the arid west.
• Union Pacific Railroad's museum is headquartered in Nebraska.
• There are five army forts open to the public in Nebraska: Atkinson, Kearny, Hartsuff, Sidney, and Robinson.
• Sidney, Nebraska was the starting point of the Black Hills Gold Rush.
• Antelope and Buffalo are counties in Nebraska named after animals.
• Dr. Harold Edgerton of Aurora, Nebraska is the inventor of the strobe light.
• Kearney, Nebraska is located exactly between Boston and San Francisco.