Utah Trivia & Tidbits - Page 12

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

The Bingham Canyon mine southwest of Salt Lake City has produced more copper than any mine in history. It’s considered the largest excavation on the planet, and can even be seen from outer space. Since excavation of the open pit mine began in 1906, the mine has produced more than 16 million tons of copper—enough to put copper wiring in every house and apartment in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

first appeared: 6/22/2003

Stephen R. Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, bases his Covey Leadership Center in Provo. Covey’s book has sold more than 6 million copies in 32 languages.

first appeared: 6/15/2003

The state adopted the Bonneville cutthroat trout as its state fish in 1997. The fish is native to Utah, and is believed to have been an important source of food for American Indians and Mormon pioneers. The name “cutthroat” comes from a “cut” or patch of orange or red on the fish’s throat.

first appeared: 6/8/2003

Mrs. Fields Famous Brands, which Debbi Fields began in California in 1977 as Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chippery, is now headquartered in Salt Lake City. Today, there are more than 450 Mrs. Fields Cookies stores in the United States, and the company does business in 57 countries around the world.

first appeared: 6/1/2003

The Coral Pink Sand Dunes Tiger Beetle can be found in only one place—Utah’s Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. The sand in the park has a pink hue, thanks to high concentrations of iron oxides.

first appeared: 5/25/2003

The 4th Fighter Squadron at Hill Air Force Base near Clearfield (pop. 25,974) became the Air Force’s first operational F-16 tactical fighter squadron in March 1980. The squadron is known as the Fightin’ Fuujins, having adopted Fuujin, the Okinawan god of wind, as its emblem after a windstorm destroyed half its combat aircraft in Japan in the late 1940s.

first appeared: 5/18/2003

The Uinta Mountains are one of the few ranges in the United States that run east-west. Located south of the state’s border with Wyoming, the range extends from Flaming Gorge to Kamas (pop. 1,274), covering 3,500 square miles and containing almost a dozen peaks with elevations higher than 13,000 feet.

first appeared: 5/11/2003

Although one story has Levan (pop. 688) being named by Brigham Young for LeVan (possibly meaning the rear portion of a moving army), another story says it was named because, spelled backward, it reads “navel,” meaning center. Indeed, the town isn’t far from Utah’s geographic center just north of Manti (pop. 3,040).

first appeared: 5/4/2003

In 1999, Brett Herbst created one of the largest cornfield mazes in history. The maze in Lindon (pop. 8,363) covered 12.6 acres, and had paths 7.5 feet wide. Herbst launched his first maze in 1996, and his company (The MaiZE) has now created more than 330 corn mazes in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

first appeared: 4/27/2003

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary near Kanab (pop. 3,564) is one of the nation’s largest sanctuaries for companion and domestic animals. Some 1,800 creatures can usually be found at the sanctuary, from cats and dogs to horses, wild birds, rabbits, sheep, goats, and pigs. Best Friends is a ‘lifelong-care’ sanctuary—animals that can’t find good homes with new families find a permanent refuge there.

first appeared: 4/20/2003

Farmers, ranchers, and miners around the town of Ajax in Tooele County could once shop entirely underground at an 8,000-square-foot store built in 1870 by William Ajax. Known as the “Big Store in the Wilderness,” the underground store closed in 1913, and Ajax itself is now a ghost town.

first appeared: 4/13/2003

The Highway 12 Scenic Byway in south-central Utah, from the junction at U.S. 89 to the town of Torrey (pop. 171), has been designated an All-American Road—one of only 20 in the country. The byway’s 124-mile length passes through a sandstone landscape that includes the natural wonders of the Kodachrome Basin and Petrified Forest state parks.

first appeared: 4/6/2003

The state’s dramatic scenery, especially the red rock cliffs near Moab (pop. 4,779), is often featured on the big and small screens. Movies shot here include John Wayne classics, Mission: Impossible 2, Independence Day, and Thelma and Louise. The television series Touched by an Angel is also filmed on location in Utah.

first appeared: 3/30/2003

A phenomenon known as the Great Salt Lake Effect contributes to the light, fluffy snow at Utah’s ski resorts. When warm water from the lake evaporates into colder winter air, the moisture rises as clouds of snow squalls along the lake’s eastern edge, creating snowfalls of deep powder.

first appeared: 3/23/2003

One of the great trailblazers of the West and one of the earliest to explore Utah was the fur trader Jedediah Smith. He was the first explorer to travel the north-to-south length of the state (in 1826) and the first to reach California from Utah soil.

first appeared: 3/16/2003

Lake Powell’s red cliffs and sandstone formations have often been featured in movies. Scenes from both the original and the 2001 versions of Planet of the Apes were filmed here, along with the movies Maverick and Broken Arrow.

first appeared: 3/16/2003

Before Utah became a state in 1896, Christoper Layton planted the first alfalfa near the town of Layton, establishing a crop that would become one of Utah’s major agricultural products—together with hay, wheat, apples, and barley.

first appeared: 3/9/2003

Coal is Utah’s official rock. The state’s 18 recognized coalfields together contain approximately 39 billion tons of the energy-producing rock—nearly all of which is accessed through underground mines. The Book Cliffs, Wasatch Plateau, and Kaiparowits coalfields are Utah’s most productive.

first appeared: 3/2/2003

Utah’s Great Salt Lake, located at the western margin of the Wasatch Mountains, is the largest body of water between the Great Lakes and the Pacific Ocean and also is the largest salt lake in the Western Hemisphere. Over the centuries, it has been mined for its salt and minerals by various peoples. The lake’s surface—with an average elevation of 4,200 feet—saw its highest recorded elevation in 1983 at 4,211.85 feet.

first appeared: 2/23/2003

Dave Houle, a coach at Mountain View High School in Orem, was named National High School Girls Basketball Coach of the Year for 2002. Houle also coaches the cross country and track and field teams. His teams have brought home 55 state titles, a national record.

first appeared: 2/16/2003

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