Oklahoma Trivia & Tidbits - Page 12

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

Oil was discovered in the state in 1901 when a gusher blew near Tulsa. Four years later, another well near the city tapped into one of the richest oil fields in history. Tulsa was soon considered the “Oil Capital of the World.”

first appeared: 3/21/2004

The state has 39 federally-recognized tribal nations’ headquarters and ranks second to California for the size of its American Indian population.

first appeared: 3/14/2004

Many of the American Indians who traveled the Trail of Tears into Oklahoma in the 1830s later fought with the Confederacy during the Civil War. One of them, Stand Watie, served as commander of the Cherokee Mounted Rifles.

first appeared: 3/14/2004

Sequoyah’s Cabin in Akins (pop. 449) is a frontier log house, occupied from 1829 to 1844 by the Cherokee leader who in 1821 invented a syllabary that made it possible to read and write the Cherokee language.

first appeared: 3/7/2004

State law requires that children from ages 5 to 18 attend school. This is the longest education commitment of any state in the nation.

first appeared: 2/29/2004

Bob Dunn, of Fort Gibson (pop. 3,359), is credited with making one of the earliest electric guitar recordings in the 1930s, for Decca Records.

first appeared: 2/29/2004

Oklahoma has been home to many country music singers, including Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Roy Clark, John Denver, Conway Twitty and Vince Gill.

first appeared: 2/29/2004

The Oklahoma Peanut Commission and the Oklahoma Wheat Commission created what was reported to be the world’s largest peanut butter and jelly sandwich in Oklahoma City on Sept. 7, 2002. The sandwich, which weighed in at nearly 900 pounds, contained 350 pounds of peanut butter and 144 pounds of jelly.

first appeared: 2/22/2004

Known as the Antique Capital of Oklahoma, Jenks (pop. 9,557) is home to more than 200 antique malls and shops.

first appeared: 2/15/2004

Idabel (pop. 6,952) is home to the Museum of the Red River, which houses more than 20,000 objects, including some of the finest examples of American Indian art and artifacts in the country.

first appeared: 2/15/2004

The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, known as the cowboy hall of fame, is located in Oklahoma City. In it, the Joe Grandee Museum of the American West consists almost entirely of an extensive collection of artifacts assembled by Western artist Joe Ruiz Grandee.

first appeared: 2/8/2004

The state Capitol is the only one in the world surrounded by oil wells. A well near the building’s south entrance was nicknamed “Petunia #1” because drilling began in the middle of a flowerbed in 1941. The well produced up to 600 barrels of oil a day before running dry in 1986.

first appeared: 2/1/2004

The nickname “Sooners” derives from when the Oklahoma Territory was opened with the Land Run of 1889. Prospective settlers of free land lined up and waited for a shotgun blast to signal the beginning of the run. A “sooner” was someone who snuck past territory markers ahead of the gunshot to get a head start; “jumping the gun,” as it were.

first appeared: 1/25/2004

Police Captain Clinton Riggs of Tulsa designed the “Yield” sign, which was first installed in that city in 1951.

first appeared: 1/18/2004

Harry Aurandt, secretary to the Tulsa police commissioner, was shot and killed by car thieves in 1921. His son, who grew up in the city, later became famous under the name Paul Harvey.

first appeared: 1/18/2004

The state has more man-made lakes than any other state, with more than a million surface acres of water. The largest lake, Eufaula, has more than 600 miles of shoreline.

first appeared: 1/11/2004

The state’s official bimonthly magazine, Oklahoma Today, has been covering people, places, history and culture of the state since 1956.

first appeared: 1/4/2004

Delbert Autry was born in Texas but considered Oklahoma his home. He worked for the railroad in Tulsa after high school, before trying his luck as a radio performer in 1928. He went on to make more than 600 recordings and appear in 93 films as Gene Autry (1907-98).

first appeared: 12/28/2003

In 1935, the world’s first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City. The device charged five cents an hour, and was not designed to make money but to keep drivers from hogging the best parking spots in front of stores.

first appeared: 12/21/2003

A fire in the license plate factory at the Oklahoma State Prison in 1974 left the state with no new license plates for that year. It issued temporary stickers instead.

first appeared: 12/21/2003

jump to page: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22

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.