Arizona Trivia & Tidbits - Page 2

Looking for Arizona trivia? Try our list Arizona little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

—When two airliners collided over the Grand Canyon the morning of June 30, 1956, 128 people died. The worst airline tragedy of its time, the crash led to a number of changes in aviation, including formation of the Federal Aviation Administration in 1958 and improvement in air traffic control.

first appeared: 2/8/2009

—When Patty Talahongva was named an anchor for Village America in 2002, she became the first American Indian to host a national news program. Talahongva, who hails from First Mesa (pop. 1,124), and also contributed to the national radio talk show Native America Calling, named her company White Spider Communications, after herself—her Hopi name is Qotsakookyangw Mana, which means “white spider girl.”

first appeared: 1/11/2009

—In September, NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander, which landed on Mars in May, photographed a series of “dust devils” or mini-whirlwinds and sensed an air pressure dip as one passed nearby. The mission, with its Science Operations Center at the University of Arizona in Tucson, is investigating the Martian environment.

first appeared: 12/29/2008

Ranging from pea- to softball-size, the semi-precious stones known as Apache Tears—a type of obsidian—are found only near Superior (pop. 3,254), in the foothills of Apache Leap Mountain. Local legends say that after a group of Apaches facing defeat by the U.S. Cavalry leapt to their deaths from the mountain in the 1870s, the tears of their grieving families turned into the stones.

first appeared: 12/29/2008

—The Arboretum at Flagstaff (pop. 52,894) has one of the nation’s largest collections of high country wildflowers, specializing in plants native to the Colorado Plateau and featuring more than 2,500 species in total. The 200-acre botanical garden once was a working cattle ranch and home to Frances and John McAllister. Frances, who loved to garden, donated the property for the Arboretum in 1981.

first appeared: 11/30/2008

—Atmospheric scientist Carl Hodges, founder of the Tucson-based Seawater Foundation, believes that bringing seawater inland can irrigate saltwater crops and solve the problem of rising ocean levels. He has created a test site near Bahia Kino in Mexico to prove it, using a crop called salicornia, a salt-tolerant plant that can be used for both food and biofuel.

first appeared: 11/16/2008

In 1965, four Western artists—Joe Beeler, Charlie Dye, John Hampton and George Phippen—met at the Oak Creek Tavern in Sedona (pop. 10,192) and formed Cowboy Artists of America to promote the culture and art of the West. The organization holds an annual sale of its members’ work at the Phoenix Art Museum, also helping to raise money for the museum.

first appeared: 11/16/2008

—At the Springerville Generating Station Solar System, near Springerville (pop. 1,972), the Tucson Electric Power Co. produces 4.6 megawatts of power annually, enough to supply 727 homes with electricity. Among the largest solar generating systems in the world at 44 acres, the site uses photovoltaic technology, in which solar panels tilted toward the sun transform the sun’s energy into electricity.

first appeared: 11/2/2008

—The Shoofly Village Ruins site, located north of Payson (pop. 13,620) at an elevation of 5,240 feet, preserves the remains of an American Indian village that was occupied between A.D. 1000 and 1250. The village, which once featured some 79 structures whose rock wall bases still can be seen, was excavated in the 1980s by archeologists from Arizona State University.

first appeared: 10/19/2008

Photographer LeRoy DeJolie was named one of 10 Arizona Culturekeepers last year for his work to capture images of the state’s landscape, especially the Navajo land of his childhood. Culturekeepers are recognized for their historic and cultural impact. DeJolie, who lives in LeChee (pop. 1,606), is dedicated to handing down the traditions and stories of the Navajo to future generations.

first appeared: 10/19/2008

—Located on the banks of Oak Creek, Tlaquepaque, an arts and crafts shopping area that has been built to resemble a traditional Mexican village, has been a landmark in Sedona (pop. 10,192) since the 1970s. Along with more than 40 shops and galleries, it offers a chapel that features whitewashed adobe walls, stained glass windows and hand-carved leather pews.

first appeared: 10/5/2008

—Located in the Santa Rita Mountains near Green Valley (pop. 17,283), Madera Canyon is known for its birds, especially hummingbirds. From late March through October each year, volunteers band the fast-winged birds, contributing data that helps researchers with the national Hummingbird Monitoring Network understand more about hummingbird diversity and abundance.

first appeared: 9/21/2008

—Formally established as a desert preserve in 1985, Tohono Chul Park in Tucson now features 49 acres of Sonoran desert and gardens. The park—whose name translates as “desert corner” in the Tohono O’odham language—includes a hummingbird garden, featuring plants that attract the fast-winged birds, and an ethnobotanical garden filled with plants used medicinally and ceremonially by the Tohono O’odham people.

first appeared: 9/7/2008

Visitors to Tucson can walk through the community’s past on the Presidio Trail, a self-guided walking tour that connects 23 historic sites. The 2.5-mile loop, a project of the Tucson Presidio Trust for Historic Preservation, is marked with a turquoise stripe on the sidewalk, and begins and ends at the site of the Presidio San Agustin de Tucson, founded by the Spanish in 1775.

first appeared: 9/7/2008

—For the last six years, more than 1 million baseball fans have attended Cactus League spring training games in Arizona each season, setting an all-time record of 1.3 million attendees this year. The two-team baseball league that began in 1947 now totals 12 teams that play in seven cities: Mesa, Phoenix, Peoria, Scottsdale, Surprise (pop. 30,848), Tempe and Tucson.

first appeared: 8/24/2008

—In April 2008, the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix opened its new Sybil B. Harrington galleries, which are home to some 5,000 plants, including 3,000 cacti and 2,000 succulents. Designed by landscape architect Steve Martino, the two galleries incorporate 28-foot-tall arched steel mesh canopies to shade the plants, such as a 22-foot-tall cactus that had outgrown the previous structure.

first appeared: 8/10/2008

—Based on a cultural exhibit mounted during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, the 7,000-square-foot Explore Navajo Interactive Museum, which opened in Tuba City (pop. 8,225) last summer, showcases the Navajo Nation’s culture and beliefs. The museum is based around the importance of the number 4 to the Navajo, particularly the four directions of north, south, east and west.

first appeared: 7/27/2008

Leonard Gene, a Navajo born and raised on the Navajo Indian Reservation, is a self-taught silversmith whose jewelry is displayed at the Heard Museum Indian Market in Phoenix. His work combines contemporary and traditional patterns, and is created with tools that Gene has designed himself.

first appeared: 7/27/2008

—Guides from the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff (pop. 52,894) take visitors on a journey from Earth outward to the edge of the universe, thanks to the John Vickers McAllister Space Theater, which opened last year. The 24-seat, planetarium-like theater presents programs on a 5-foot-diameter concave screen directly in front of the audience and is named for the late husband of Frances McAllister, a major donor.

first appeared: 7/13/2008

—Thirteen locally-owned-and-operated restaurants, a tortilla factory and a chili farm make up the Salsa Trail, a driving route through southeastern Arizona that features Mexican food specialties in the towns of Clifton (pop. 2,596), Duncan (pop. 812), Pima (pop. 1,989), Safford (pop. 9,232), Solomon, Thatcher (pop. 4,022), Willcox (pop. 3,733) and York. Recipes are made from scratch and, of course, include salsa.

first appeared: 6/29/2008

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