Nebraska Trivia & Tidbits - Page 15

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

The mammoth was named the official state fossil in 1967. Remains of the prehistoric animal have been found in most Nebraska counties, and one of the world’s largest elephant fossils was discovered near Wellfleet (pop. 76).

first appeared: 11/4/2001

George Flippin of Stromsburg (pop. 1,232) was the first African-American athlete at the University of Nebraska. He played football in 1892 and also excelled in wrestling, baseball, and track before returning to Stromsburg as a doctor to open a hospital and pharmacy.

first appeared: 10/28/2001

Shortly after Fort Hartsuff was built in 1874 near Burwell (pop. 1,130), soldiers traveled to Long Pine (pop. 341), 70 miles to the north, where they cut a pine tree more than 100 feet tall to serve as their flagpole.

first appeared: 10/21/2001

The only rodeo grounds listed on the National Register of Historic Places is located at the Garfield County Fairgrounds in Burwell (pop. 1,130).

first appeared: 10/14/2001

Nebraska is an American Indian term meaning “flat water,” referring to the big river that traverses the state. French traders later called the river the Platte, which also means flat.

first appeared: 10/7/2001

Encompassing 19,000 square miles, the Sand Hills region occupies about one-quarter of Nebraska’s land mass and forms the largest sand dune formation in the Western Hemisphere.

first appeared: 9/30/2001

Television talk show host Dick Cavett was born Nov. 19, 1936, in Gibbon (pop. 1,462). His television career with ABC-TV and PBS began in 1968.

first appeared: 9/23/2001

Built in 1890, the Olde Main Street Inn in Chadron (pop. 5,634) remains in business as a hotel, restaurant, and saloon. It served as the headquarters for Army Gen. Nelson Miles from 1890 to 1891.

first appeared: 9/16/2001

The largest hailstone ever recorded in Nebraska—17.2 inches in circumference and 1.51 pounds—fell in Potter (pop. 390) July 6, 1928.

first appeared: 9/9/2001

In the sandstone cliffs along Rose Creek, near Fairbury (pop. 4,262), is a mausoleum carved by Nelson McDowell from 1925-27. Although it has two rooms with two coffin benches, the mausoleum has always been empty.

first appeared: 9/2/2001

A continuously blinking strobe in the tower of the Hamilton County Courthouse in Aurora (pop. 4,225) honors native Harold E. Edgerton, inventor of the electronic strobe light.

first appeared: 8/26/2001

The Cornhusker State’s only fire tower is located at the Nebraska National Forest, near Halsey (pop. 59), where 22,000 acres of pine trees were planted in the early 20th century.

first appeared: 8/19/2001

Instead of doing away with a deteriorating 1940s-era swimming pool, residents of Sidney (pop. 6,129) turned it into a sunken garden in 1982. Its nearby wading pool also was made into a smaller garden called the Pixie Garden.

first appeared: 8/12/2001

Gov. Mike Johanns was raised on an Iowa dairy farm, received his bachelor’s degree from St. Mary’s College in Winona, Minn., and was mayor of Nebraska’s capital city, Lincoln, before being elected governor of the Cornhusker State in 1998.

first appeared: 8/5/2001

The Museum of the Fur Trade, the only museum devoted solely to the history of North American fur trade, is on the site of a fur trading post built in 1837 near Chadron (pop. 5,634).

first appeared: 7/29/2001

Eva Bowring of Merriman (pop. 155), the state’s only female U.S. senator, served from April to November 1954, filling a vacancy created by the death of Sen. Dwight Griswold.

first appeared: 7/22/2001

Lake McConaughy, a 22-mile-long man-made reservoir on the North Platte River north of Ogallala (pop. 5,216), is the state’s largest lake.

first appeared: 7/15/2001

Students at Columbus High School are building a replica of a World War II landing craft that carried vehicles and personnel. The project honors the boat’s designer, Andrew Higgins, who was born in Columbus (pop. 20,678) Aug. 28, 1886.

first appeared: 7/8/2001

The state’s most recent longhorn cattle drive occurred in November 2000 when drovers moved 142 animals 170 miles in 10 days between pastures near Valentine (pop. 2,862) and Crawford (pop. 1,019).

first appeared: 7/1/2001

A special election in 1963 concerning a proposed tax for Omaha University was the first time a computer was used to compile the results of a public election.

first appeared: 6/24/2001

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