New York Trivia & Tidbits
Looking for New York trivia? Try our list New York little know facts, tidbits and trivia.
Founded in 1891 with money generated in a campaign by Columbia University botanists Nathaniel Lloyd Britton and his wife, Elizabeth, the New York Botanical Garden is located on the grounds of the former Belmont Estate in New York City, once owned by a tobacco magnate. The garden is a National Historic Landmark.
first appeared: 3/7/2010
Mark Carr, a logger from the Catskill Mountains, is credited with creating the first Christmas tree lot in 1851. Carr rented space for $1 along a New York City sidewalk that holiday season to sell the trees and make extra money. He sold them all.
first appeared: 2/21/2010
The apple was named New York's official state fruit in 1976. New York is the second largest apple-producing state in the nation, and produces an average of 25 million bushels annually. Washington is No. 1 in apple production.
first appeared: 2/7/2010
Syracuse resident M. Waldo Hanchett patented the surgical chair in 1848. Called more "simple, durable and convenient" than traditional surgery chairs, the adjustable chair was used both for dental and surgical operations.
first appeared: 1/24/2010
In 1933, the Postal Telegraph Co., of New York City, delivered the first singing telegram.
first appeared: 1/10/2010
The 14,000-square-foot Museum of Chinese in America, in New York City, was designed by Maya Lin, creator of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The building is six times larger than the second floor of a schoolhouse where the museum's exhibits formerly were housed.
first appeared: 12/27/2009
In July, the U.S. Postal Service dedicated its first and New York City's largest "green" roof at its Morgan mail processing facility. In 2007, when the roof was scheduled for replacement, engineers determined it could support the weight of soil and vegetation. The new "living" roof will reduce energy costs and storm water runoff, and is expected to last up to 50 years.
first appeared: 12/13/2009
Although false teeth had been in use for centuries, Charles M. Graham of New York City received a patent for artificial teeth in 1822.
first appeared: 11/29/2009
Racehorses Seabiscuit and War Admiral were inducted in 1958 into the Hall of Fame at the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs (pop. 26,186). The rivalry between the two horses is perhaps best remembered in their 1938 race at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, won by Seabiscuit.
first appeared: 11/15/2009
Vaseline Petroleum Jelly was introduced in 1870 by Robert Augustus Chesebrough of New York City, who made use of the waxy residue that clogged oil field pumps. Petroleum jelly first was used to heal the burns and cuts of oil field workers.
first appeared: 11/1/2009
In 1853, German immigrant John Jacob Bausch opened an optical goods shop in Rochester, peddling everything from spectacles and field glasses to thermometers and microscopes. Borrowing about $60 from friend Henry Lomb in 1854, he promised to make Lomb a full partner if the business was successful. Lomb joined Bausch the next year, and their business became known as Bausch & Lomb Optical Co.
first appeared: 10/18/2009
Hakeem Bennett, 13, a student at Public School 36 in New York City, earned himself and his teacher a role in a Superman book after winning the Stone Arch Books national essay contest earlier this year. Students were asked to write about their real-life heroes, and Hakeem chose his teacher Matthew Brown.
first appeared: 10/4/2009
The New York Eye Infirmary, the oldest speciality hospital in the Western Hemisphere, opened in New York City in 1820. In 1864, its name was changed to New York Eye & Ear Infirmary, although the facility had treated ears since its inception.
first appeared: 9/20/2009
Livingston Arts Center in Mount Morris (pop. 4,567) is home to more than 200 paintings created through the Work Progress Administration (WPA) arts program during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The works hang in the center's New Deal Gallery on a rotating basis.
first appeared: 9/6/2009
In 1933, the Budweiser Clydesdales began traveling across the country to mark the repeal of Prohibition. Their first stop was New York City for a presentation of Budweiser beer to Gov. Al Smith, who was instrumental in repealing the federal ban on alcoholic beverages.
first appeared: 8/23/2009
Victor Ernest Shelford (1877-1968), born in Chemung (pop. 2,665), was a zoologist and animal ecologist who helped establish ecology as a scientific discipline through his studies of animal communities.
first appeared: 8/9/2009
"Sticks Nix Hick Pix" was the headline on July 17, 1935, in Variety, a long-running show business newspaper with offices in New York City. The article with the rhyming headline reported that rural audiences had rejected motion pictures that featured stories and characters from the countryside.
first appeared: 7/26/2009
—Fala, a Scottish terrier, was the personal pet and constant companion of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. When Roosevelt died in 1945, Fala went to live with his widow, Eleanor Roosevelt, at Val-Kill in Hyde Park (pop. 20,851). Fala died in 1952 and is buried near his master in the Springwood Rose Garden.
first appeared: 7/12/2009
—In 1935, Eastman Kodak, based in Rochester, introduced Kodachrome, the first commercially successful color film for amateurs.
first appeared: 6/28/2009
—On the New York City "Skyride," visitors are taken on a virtual reality tour over, around and through the city. The attraction, located at the Empire State Building, uses simulation technology and motion picture projections to create realistic feelings, including dodging cars in Times Square and riding the Cyclone roller coaster at Coney Island.
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first appeared: 6/14/2009
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