Colorado Trivia & Tidbits - Page 2

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

Silent film actor Lon Chaney, born in 1883 in Colorado Springs to deaf-mute parents, learned early how to communicate with his hands and face, expressing emotions without uttering a word. Known as “the man of a thousand faces,” Chaney appeared in more than 150 films, including classics The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera.

first appeared: 2/22/2009

—A portion of writer Helen Hunt Jackson’s house is reconstructed in Colorado Springs’ Pioneers Museum. The late author (1830-1885) and former Colorado Springs resident wrote Ramona and The Indian’s Plight, which called attention to the condition of American Indians. The rooms and the author’s possessions were preserved when the Victorian-era house was demolished in the 1960s.

first appeared: 2/8/2009

When a railway official in 1890 asked W.A. Davis who owned the land in the vicinity of present-day Ione, Davis is said to have replied, “I own it,” leading to the town’s name.

first appeared: 2/8/2009

—Sleeping in the classroom is encouraged at the former Cripple Creek High School, which now is Carr Manor, an inn in Cripple Creek (pop. 1,115). The 1897 building served as a school for more than 70 years before being converted into a small hotel in 1983.

first appeared: 1/11/2009

For the correct time, right up to the millionth of a second, check with the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, the nation’s official timekeeper. The government research agency runs the NIST-F1, one of the world’s two most accurate atomic clocks, which reportedly doesn’t lose or gain a second in 60 million years.

first appeared: 1/11/2009

—On menus in Pueblo is the green chili slopper, which locals claim originated in the town. The slopper is half of a grilled bun and hamburger patty served in a bowl and topped with green chili. Cheese and onions can be added.

first appeared: 12/29/2008

Founded in 1929, Denver Bookbinding Co. is the only commercial bookbinder in the state and specializes in binding books and magazines in small production runs from one to 1,000. Owner Gail Lindley is the third generation of her family to operate the business and twice has been honored by the National Federation of Independent Business as the state’s Small Business Champion of the Year.

first appeared: 12/29/2008

—Steamboat Springs (pop. 9,815) played host to the first International Special Olympics Winter Games in 1977, with more than 500 athletes competing in skiing and skating events. In 1946, the nation’s first radio wave telephone service began at Cheyenne Wells (pop. 1,010), allowing farmers at far-flung ranches to make telephone calls. The town’s Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Museum, which opened this year, tells the story.

first appeared: 11/30/2008

—The vintage Kissel Gold Bug automobile owned by aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart is a top attraction at the Forney Museum of Transportation in Denver. The museum exhibits more than 500 antique cars, locomotives, buggies, bicycles and motorcycles.

first appeared: 11/16/2008

—Golf Hall of Famer Hale Irwin, who won the U.S. Open in 1974, 1979 and 1990, attended the University of Colorado at Boulder. There, he was a two-sport athlete, winning the NCAA Championship in golf in 1967 and, in football, being named All-Big Eight as a defensive back for two seasons.

first appeared: 11/2/2008

Boulder’s first luxury hotel, opened in 1909, was named Hotel Boulderado so guests wouldn’t forget where they had stayed.

first appeared: 11/2/2008

—Adults can play with sandbox toys, too, at Dig This, the first heavy equipment play arena in the nation, near Steamboat Springs (pop. 9,815). The site offers full-day and half-day construction adventures for people who want to play in the dirt with full-size bulldozers, excavators or skid-steer loaders.

first appeared: 10/19/2008

Breckenridge (pop. 2,408) was isolated from the rest of the world during the winter of 1898-99 when snow blanketed the mountain village daily from November to February. Residents were forced to dig tunnels to travel around town.

first appeared: 10/19/2008

—The Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum in Golden (pop. 17,159) is America’s first and only museum dedicated to mountain and rock climbing. Opened in February in partnership with the Colorado Mountain Club, the American Alpine Club and the National Geographic Society, the museum’s exhibits include a 135-square-foot scale model of Mount Everest, interactive exhibits on what it’s like to sleep on a mountain face, a climbing wall, and historic artifacts from famous mountain climbers.

first appeared: 10/5/2008

The nation’s first U.S. forest ranger was William Kreutzer, of Sedalia (pop. 211), who was appointed in 1898 to battle forest fires in Colorado and who worked in the U.S. Forest Service until 1939. A peak in Gunnison County (pop. 13,956) is named in his honor.

first appeared: 10/5/2008

—The Cadet Chapel at the U.S. Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs is distinguished by its soaring 17 aluminum-clad spires. The modernist structure, designed by architect Walter Netsch, was completed in 1963 and is considered one of the best examples of modern American architecture.

first appeared: 9/21/2008

Headquartered in Cortez (pop. 7,977), the Hovenweep National Monument straddles the Colorado-Utah state line. The 785-acre site protects prehistoric, Puebloan-era villages built by nomadic people who settled in the area by A.D. 900, with most of the structures dating from 1200 to 1300. The site was proclaimed a national monument in 1923.

first appeared: 9/21/2008

—Alec Greven, 9, of Castle Rock (pop. 20,224), has signed with HarperCollins Children’s Books to publish How to Talk to Girls. The book will expand on Alec’s 10-page list of tips, which was sold at the Soaring Hawk Elementary School book fair. That led to an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

first appeared: 9/7/2008

Aprons are making a comeback, thanks in large part to EllynAnne Geisel, author of The Apron Book: Making, Wearing, and Sharing a Bit of Cloth and Comfort. Geisel, of Pueblo, has collected more than 400 aprons and has a traveling exhibit managed by The Women’s Museum of Dallas.

first appeared: 9/7/2008

—Snazzy sleds are crafted at Mountain Boy Sledworks in Silverton (pop. 531) where company founder Brice Hoskin designs and sells several models, including a Scandinavian-inspired kicksled that can glide on icy streets like a skateboard, an Ultimate Flyer steerable wooden sled, and sleds that are made from exotic woods and signed and numbered.

first appeared: 8/24/2008

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