Maine Trivia & Tidbits - Page 11

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

Maine is the only one of the 48 contiguous states to border only one other state. Bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the north by Canada, its western neighbor is New Hampshire.

first appeared: 5/4/2003

Covered bridges in Maine once numbered 120, but fire, flood, ice, and progress have whittled their number to 10. In 1959, the state Legislature enacted a law to fund their protection and maintenance.

first appeared: 4/27/2003

Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay was born in Rockland (pop. 7,905) in 1892. Her poem Renascence, written at age 20, earned her both a national literary prize and public acclaim.

first appeared: 4/20/2003

The USS Maine, commissioned in 1895, was one of the U.S. Navy’s first battleships. Its mysterious explosion in Havana harbor in 1898 was a precipitating cause of the Spanish-American War.

first appeared: 4/13/2003

Helen Augusta Blanchard of Portland earned 28 patents, including the first zigzag stitching machine, a hat-sewing machine, and surgical needles.

first appeared: 4/6/2003

A dog-powered mill (similar to a hamster wheel) once used to turn a butter churn is on display at the Southern Aroostook Historical and Art Museum in Houlton (pop. 5,270).

first appeared: 3/30/2003

During World War II, the airport in Presque Isle (pop. 9,511) became a base for planes bound to and from Great Britain, transforming the town into a busy transport center during the war.

first appeared: 3/23/2003

Born in Paris (pop. 4,793), Hannibal Hamlin became the first person from Maine to serve as vice president after Abraham Lincoln chose him to be his running mate.

first appeared: 3/16/2003

More than 98 percent of the nation’s low bush blueberries are harvested in Maine and are one of the state’s largest exports.

first appeared: 3/9/2003

Maine’s lobstermen took more than 57 million pounds of lobster in 2000, a big year and a record harvest, contributing more than $185 million to the state’s economy.

first appeared: 3/2/2003

Our Dec. 23 tidbit should have said Margaret Chase Smith was Maine’s first woman U.S. senator, not America’s. America’s first elected senator was Hattie Caraway from Arkansas in 1932. Our thanks, for sending in a correction, go to reader Florence Pyle—whose aunt, Gladys Pyle, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1938.

first appeared: 2/23/2003

In 1604, Pierre Dugua Sieur de Mons, accompanied by Samuel de Champlain and 77 other men, established a settlement on St. Croix Island, preceding Jamestown (1607) and Plymouth (1620). The outpost was one of the earliest European settlements on the North Atlantic coast of North America.

first appeared: 2/16/2003

The Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge near Wells (pop. 9,400) is named after the biologist and author (Silent Spring), who spent many summers exploring Maine tidal waters.

first appeared: 2/9/2003

Thanks to an offer to give settlers 100-acre lots free during the French and Indian Wars, Maine’s population doubled from 12,000 to 24,000 between 1743 and 1763.

first appeared: 2/2/2003

Born in Portland and educated at the University of Maine, horror writer Stephen King still lives in his native state, at home in Bangor (pop. 31,473). More than 100 million copies of his books are in print and several have been made into popular movies.

first appeared: 1/26/2003

The town of Gray (pop. 6,820) sent proportionately more of its sons into Civil War battles than any other town in Maine—178 Union soldiers are buried in the town cemetery.

first appeared: 1/19/2003

At 5,267 feet, rugged Mount Katahdin can be a difficult climb, but so great is its lure that Maine’s highest summit gets as many as 50,000 visitors a year.

first appeared: 1/12/2003

James Longley, elected governor in 1974, became the first popularly elected independent governor (not a member of a political party) in Maine’s history.

first appeared: 1/5/2003

Margaret Chase Smith, born in Skowhegan (pop. 6,696), was the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate. Smith served from 1949 to 1973.

first appeared: 12/29/2002

Maine has many residents of French descent. The major French immigrations came from the Huguenots (escaping religious persecution in France), the Acadians (from Nova Scotia), and the Québécois (who left Quebec when the British took Canada).

first appeared: 12/22/2002

jump to page: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17

newspaper partner login create account

Recent

Popular

Recipes

Below are the most recent American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile recipes:

Relish

Spry

Below are the most recent articles from our Relish sister site. Click on the "Spry" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.

Below are the most recent articles from our Spry sister site. Click on the "Relish" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.