Delaware Trivia & Tidbits - Page 4

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

—Along the Maryland-Delaware border is an 800-acre, wedge-shaped tract of land that for more than a century was claimed by Pennsylvania but governed by Delaware. In the late 19th century, a bi-state commission awarded the land to Delaware, an act that was ratified by Congress in 1921.

first appeared: 4/22/2007

—Basketball standout Val Whiting of Wilmington, a two-time Kodak All-American at Stanford University, graduated in 1994 as its leading scorer with 2,077 points. She went on to play professional hoops in the Women’s National Basketball Association.

first appeared: 4/8/2007

—Sussex County, located in the southernmost part of the state, is the largest of Delaware’s three counties at nearly 950 square miles. The county also is famous for its string of popular Atlantic Seaboard resorts, including Rehoboth Beach (pop. 1,495).

first appeared: 3/25/2007

—Cross-country runner Vic Zwolak of Wilmington won the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s 3,000-meter steeplechase title in 1963 and 1964 and was the 3,000-meter steeplechaser for the 1964 U.S. Olympic team. He was inducted into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame in 1976.

first appeared: 3/11/2007

—The Dansey Flag, named for a British officer who captured the banner from the Delaware Militia during the Revolutionary War, was taken to England as a war trophy. The flag remained there until 1927, when the Historical Society of Delaware bought it from the Dansey family and brought it home.

first appeared: 2/27/2007

—As head football coach, Harold “Tubby” Raymond led the University of Delaware Blue Hens to three national titles—in 1971, 1972 and 1979—during his 36 years in the post.

first appeared: 2/11/2007

—On July 2, 1996, Belemnitella americana, the ancestor of today’s squid, was named the state’s official fossil. The belemnite mollusk had an internal shell covered by a leathery skin, tentacles and a siphon that expelled water propelling it forward.

first appeared: 1/28/2007

In September 1985, the Panamanian tanker Grand Eagle ran aground on Marcus Hook Bar near Claymont (pop. 9,220) and began spilling oil into the Delaware Estuary. The tanker lost about 435,000 gallons of its total capacity of 2.3 million gallons.

first appeared: 1/14/2007

—Before U.S. women won the right to vote in 1920, one of the fiercest political battles was in Delaware, where more than 600 suffragists converged on Wilmington in 1914 to protest the Legislature’s failure to pass a statewide suffrage amendment.

first appeared: 12/17/2006

—A cannonball fired by the British during the War of 1812 is lodged in the foundation of the Cannonball House, built circa 1760, in Lewes (pop. 2,932). Today, the house is home to the Lewes Historical Society’s maritime museum.

first appeared: 12/3/2006

—In 1847, the state adopted the motto “Liberty and Independence,” which is emblazoned on the state seal, coat of arms and flag.

first appeared: 11/19/2006

—Most of Delaware lies on the Atlantic coastal plain. The extreme northern part of the state sits on the Piedmont plateau, a hilly area between the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic coastal plain.

first appeared: 11/5/2006

—Sweet goldenrod was designated Delaware’s state herb in 1996. Members of the International Herb Growers and Marketers Association of Delaware suggested the herb, whose Latin name is “Solidago odora,” for its beautiful golden blossoms.

first appeared: 10/22/2006

Clearfield Farm, near Smyrna (pop. 5,679), was built in the mid-1700s by Capt. David Clark. It later became the home of his grandson, John Clark, governor of Delaware from 1817 to 1820. John Clark also served as a colonel in the Delaware militia, justice of the peace, and president of the Commercial Bank of Smyrna. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the home is located on the grounds of the Delaware Correction Center.

first appeared: 10/22/2006

—Scientists have identified 278 bird species that use the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge based in Smyrna (pop. 5,679), where visitors can view migrating shorebirds, waterfowl and nesting bald eagles. The refuge hosts a birding festival each spring.

first appeared: 10/8/2006

A native of Newport (pop. 1,122), Dallas Green was a standout University of Delaware basketball player who went on to play major league baseball. He managed the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies to a World Series title.

first appeared: 9/24/2006

During the Brandywine campaign of the American Revolution, the Hale-Byrnes House in Stanton hosted Gen. George Washington and his staff. Today, the mid-18th-century brick building, with its fieldstone springhouse, is a historic site and tourist attraction.

first appeared: 9/10/2006

Artist Felix Darley, often referred to as the "Father of American Illustration," died in 1888 in Claymont (pop. 9,220). His illustrations adorned many of America's important mid-19th century literary works, though he is best known for his artwork in the reprinted novels of Charles Dickens and James Fenimore Cooper.

first appeared: 8/27/2006

A man known only as "Anthony" was Delaware's first known black settler. He arrived from the West Indies in 1639 aboard the Swedish ship Vogel Grip and later became a free man and was employed by Gov. Johan Printz.

first appeared: 8/13/2006

In 1900, social reformers founded Arden (pop. 474) and created a community based on the concept of single-tax economics. Such taxation and community ideals continue to define the town. All residential land is held in a trust while leaseholders own their homes and pay one property tax based on land value alone, not the structures on the land.

first appeared: 7/30/2006

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