Maryland Trivia & Tidbits - Page 11

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

The Chesapeake Bay Retriever, an American-bred dog used to fetch waterfowl, is not only Maryland’s state dog but also the University of Maryland’s official mascot.

first appeared: 4/20/2003

Parts of U.S. Route 40 through Maryland were built along the National Road, America’s first federally funded highway, started in 1806. A tollhouse in Cumberland (pop. 22,300) collected fees for the road’s use.

first appeared: 4/13/2003

The poem conceived by Francis Scott Key on the night of Sept. 13-14, 1814, originally was titled The Defense of Fort McHenry. When the Baltimore Patriot published it a few days later, it had become The Star-Spangled Banner.

first appeared: 4/6/2003

Poet Ogden Nash—longtime resident of Baltimore—was honored August 2002 with the first stamp to be issued at the new rate of 37 cents. The stamp marked the centennial of his birth.

first appeared: 3/30/2003

Maryland’s state seal recognizes its residents’ major occupations by depicting a farmer and a fisherman standing on either side of the Great Seal.

first appeared: 3/23/2003

The most popular names for babies in the state, according to the Social Security Administration, is, for girls: Emily, Taylor, Sarah, Alexis, and Kayla; for boys: Michael, Jacob, Matthew, Nicholas, and Joshua.

first appeared: 3/16/2003

The Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry in Baltimore contains thousands of items relating to the history of the profession—including one of George Washington’s bottom dentures—the top was lost—carved from hippopotamus ivory.

first appeared: 3/9/2003

Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries have 11,684 miles of shoreline, more than the entire West Coast, and is the largest estuary (a semi-enclosed body of water where rivers meet the sea) in the country.

first appeared: 3/2/2003

The eastbound span of the 4-mile-long Chesapeake Bay Bridge was completed in 1952 at a cost of $45 million. The westbound span, finished in 1973, cost $148 million.

first appeared: 2/23/2003

Winston Churchill High School in Potomac is named after Britain’s World War II prime minister, one of several schools bearing Churchill’s name in the United States.

first appeared: 2/16/2003

Gymnast Dominique Dawes, 26, three-time Olympic medalist from Silver Spring, has won more national championships (15) than any other American gymnast, male or female, in the last 40 years.

first appeared: 2/9/2003

Mystery writer Dashiell Hammett, author of The Maltese Falcon and creator of the character Sam Spade, worked briefly as a Pinkerton detective in Baltimore.

first appeared: 2/9/2003

The Maryland state quarter depicts the dome of the Maryland Statehouse, a wooden structure built without nails. The dome is held together by wooden pegs reinforced by iron straps forged in Annapolis.

first appeared: 2/2/2003

Sixteen of the 23 Maryland counties border on tidal water. The combined length of the state’s tidal shoreline, including islands, is 4,431 miles.

first appeared: 1/26/2003

Baltimore’s Fort McHenry, attacked by the British in 1814, inspired The Star-Spangled Banner. That was the last time the fort was attacked. It became a national monument in 1939.

first appeared: 1/19/2003

To get to school, students living on Smith Island take a “school bus boat” to Crisfield (pop. 2,723) on the mainland, a trip of about five miles.

first appeared: 1/12/2003

At 22, Samuel Kirk opened a store in Baltimore in April 1815 and began making silverware. His sterling silver cutlery sets were among the first to be manufactured in America.

first appeared: 1/5/2003

When the 4.3-mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened in 1952, it carried 1.1 million vehicles a year. With a second span added in 1973, it now carries more than 20 million annually.

first appeared: 12/29/2002

The state’s first brewery was established in Annapolis in 1703 by Benjamin Fordham. It remained in operation until his death in 1716.

first appeared: 12/22/2002

Forests cover approximately 2.7 million acres in Maryland or 43 percent of the state. Oak and hickory are the dominant hardwood types, making up 60 percent of the woods.

first appeared: 12/15/2002

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