New York Trivia & Tidbits
Looking for New York trivia? Try our list New York little know facts, tidbits and trivia.
—About 80 acres in size, Prospect Park in Troy (pop. 49,170) was designed by Garnet Baltimore, the first black American to graduate from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Built on a site overlooking the city with views of the Hudson River Valley, the park opened in 1907.
first appeared: 5/4/2008
—Covering 400 acres, Oakwood Cemetery in Troy (pop. 49,170) is among the larger rural cemeteries in the nation and overlooks 100 miles of the Hudson Valley. Famous people buried in the cemetery include “Uncle Sam” Wilson, who inspired the patriotic U.S. symbol; educator Emma Willard; and Civil War Gen. George H. Thomas.
first appeared: 3/9/2008
—Visitors can enter an old-time jail cell, see turn-of-the-century mug shots and gaze on the spiked baseball bat used by the original gangs of New York when they step inside the New York City Police Museum. The museum highlights every facet of police life in the city over the last 160 years.
first appeared: 2/24/2008
—The Hudson River School Art Trail commemorates the group of artists that made use of large canvasses and portrayed the natural American landscape as a modern-day Eden. The trail maps some of the sites where 19th-century artist Thomas Cole and others created their paintings and formed the art movement known as Hudson River School.
first appeared: 2/10/2008
—Peter Minuit was responsible for the 1626 purchase of the island of Manhattan from the Canarsie tribe of the Algonquin Indians. Minuit reportedly paid 60 guilders ($24) in trinkets.
first appeared: 1/27/2008
—The area that is now Schenectady originally was the land of the Mohawk Indian tribe of the Iroquois Nation. The Mohawk called the area “Schau-naugh-ta-da,” meaning “over the pine plains.” The city was first settled by the Dutch in 1661.
first appeared: 1/13/2008
—Established in 1987, the Toy Town Museum of East Aurora chronicles the history of toy making in western New York, including Fisher-Price toys. The museum offers exhibits, educational and toy-making programs, and special events.
first appeared: 12/30/2007
—New York City’s Battery, an open public space at the southern tip of Manhattan, served a strategic purpose in its early years. Dutch settlers posted cannons on the site after settling there in 1623. The Battery also played a defensive role during the Revolutionary War and War of 1812. Today, the 25-acre Battery is a major tourist attraction with its monuments, memorials and gardens, and includes a ticketing center for ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
first appeared: 12/2/2007
—The Newgate State Prison, the first penitentiary in the state, was built on four acres in the Greenwich Village section of New York in 1797. The prison was closed and dismantled in the late 1820s.
first appeared: 11/18/2007
—Jim Brown, a standout in several sports at Manhasset (pop. 8,362) High School, was an All-American in lacrosse and football at Syracuse University in 1956. In nine years with the Cleveland Browns he ran for 12,312 yards. Brown retired at the height of his game when he was 30 years old.
first appeared: 11/4/2007
—The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, located at the New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site in Vails Gate (pop. 3,319) in the Hudson Valley, is the nation’s first tribute entirely dedicated to more than 1.7 million American servicemen and servicewomen killed or wounded in combat—all recipients of the Purple Heart decoration. The Roll of Honor, a database the staff is building, eventually will contain the story of each medal recipient.
first appeared: 10/21/2007
—In 1702, a yellow fever outbreak devastated New York City, with more than 500 deaths reported—a number that represented about 10 percent of the city’s population at the time.
first appeared: 10/7/2007
—In 1945, Sixth Avenue in New York City was renamed “Avenue of the Americas” along its entire length south of Central Park. When aluminum lampposts began appearing on the avenue, dozens of medallions bearing the flags of countries in North, South and Central America were attached to the poles.
first appeared: 9/30/2007
—When the 612-foot Singer Building in New York City was razed in 1968, it was the world’s tallest building ever demolished. Built between 1906 and 1908, the structure originally housed the Singer Manufacturing Co., famed sewing machine maker.
first appeared: 9/9/2007
—The Shawangunk Mountains, commonly called the “Gunks,” are popular with rock- and ice-climbing enthusiasts. Some 50,000 climbers visit the area each year to scale the precipices, located about 90 miles north of New York City.
first appeared: 8/26/2007
—The scripts of author and producer Sidney Aaron “Paddy” Chayefsky, born in 1923 in New York City, were notable for their depiction of second-generation Americans and their sentiment and humor. One of his most acclaimed dramas was Marty, which aired on television in 1953 with Rod Steiger in the lead role and later became a movie starring Ernest Borgnine.
first appeared: 8/12/2007
—The “white hot” hot dog, made of uncured and unsmoked pork, has been a specialty of Zweigle’s Meats of Rochester since 1925. The company popularized the hot dog by securing a contract to sell it at Rochester Red Wings baseball games. It’s also the official hot dog of the Buffalo Sabres hockey team.
first appeared: 7/29/2007
—In 1905, the National Association of Audubon Societies for the Protection of Wild Birds and Animals was founded in New York City. The organization officially united numerous state groups that had formed since 1896 and established a strong national voice for conservation. In 1940, the association became known as the National Audubon Society.
first appeared: 7/15/2007
—In 1873, women’s rights leader Susan B. Anthony was tried for unlawful voting in the Ontario County Courthouse in Canandaigua (pop. 11,264) and was ordered to pay a $100 fine. Her crime: voting in the 1872 presidential election. She never paid the fine.
first appeared: 7/1/2007
—Ithaca (pop. 29,287), one of many towns claiming the invention of the ice cream sundae, backs its
claim with a local newspaper ad that appeared in the spring of 1892. The ad was
published after pharmacy owner Chester Platt and the Rev. John Scott named
Platt’s creation of ice cream, cherry syrup and candied cherries after the day
it was invented: Cherry Sunday.
first appeared: 6/17/2007
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