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Washington Trivia & Tidbits - Page 2

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

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Though experts estimate the North Cascades National Park Complex contains between 800 and 2,000 fungi species, collecting mushrooms in the park is prohibited. The National Park Service ended picking in the area after the hunt for mushrooms got out of control following media coverage of recent discoveries that the Northwest region contains some of the world’s largest fungi.
first appeared: 2/8/2009
—Tim Kennedy and his family founded Tim’s Cascade-Style Potato Chips in 1986, by hand-turning the chips in kettles in a warehouse in Auburn (pop. 40,314). Two years later, Tim’s was named “best potato chip in Seattle,” and today it’s a subsidiary of Birds Eye Foods. The company’s top selling flavor is the jalapeno potato chips.
first appeared: 1/11/2009
—Dr. Saul Rivkin founded the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research in the mid-1990s, after his wife, Marsha, died of the disease. The center, based in Seattle, works with scientists around the world, and is dedicated to saving lives and reducing suffering through improved treatment, detection and prevention.
first appeared: 12/29/2008
In the morning hours of March 1, 1910, an avalanche rumbled down a mountainside near Stevens Pass, northwest of Leavenworth (pop. 2,074), onto two westbound trains—a passenger train and the Fast Mail train—that were waiting for a major snowstorm to pass. The event was one of the nation’s worst rail disasters, with 96 passengers and railway workers killed.
first appeared: 12/29/2008
—Born in 1972 in Ellensburg (pop. 15,414), quarterback Drew Bledsoe spent 14 years in the NFL, with the New England Patriots, the Buffalo Bills and the Dallas Cowboys. When he retired in 2007, he’d earned a Super Bowl ring and stood fifth in NFL history in pass attempts and completions, seventh in passing yards and 13th in touchdown passes.
first appeared: 11/30/2008
—One of the last victories of local American Indians over the U.S. Army took place on May 17, 1858, at a site in present-day Rosalia (pop. 648). Known as Steptoe Battlefield State Park after the leader of the American soldiers, Lt. Col. E.J. Steptoe, the site is commemorated with a 25-foot granite memorial erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1914.
first appeared: 11/16/2008
—Sonoji Sakai Intermediate School on Bainbridge Island (pop. 20,308) was built in the late 1990s, using safe building materials to create a healthy environment inside; the school achieved the same aim outside by minimizing harm to a nearby wetland and salmon stream. Today, students at the school continue to monitor the stream for pollutants and learn about sustainable practices in some of their classes.
first appeared: 11/2/2008
—The Chocolate Flower Farm in Langley (pop. 959) specializes in chocolate-colored plants. Marie Lincoln and Bill Schlicht established the garden center in 2005, combining Lincoln’s love of gardening and Schlicht’s love of chocolate. Their plants, which feature dark foliage and petals in varying shades, include the canna “Australia” and the delphinium “Kissed by Chocolate,” along with “chocolate” sunflowers and callas.
first appeared: 10/19/2008
—The University of Washington replaced its early nickname of “Sundodgers” in the 1920s with the “Huskies” label that’s still used today, recognizing its Seattle location as the gateway to Alaska. An Alaskan malamute named Frosty I was chosen as the football team’s first mascot, serving from 1922 to 1929 and beginning a long tradition of the husky-like malamutes as team mascots.
first appeared: 10/5/2008
—Last year, state lawmakers designated the Walla Walla sweet onion, which is grown in and around Walla Walla County (pop. 55,180), the state’s official vegetable. A French soldier who found an onion seed on the island of Corsica and brought it to the region more than a century ago is credited with starting the region’s onion industry. Two school classes supported the bill to honor the vegetable.
first appeared: 9/21/2008
—The Ruby Theater in Chelan (pop. 3,522) has operated almost continuously as a movie theater since it opened in 1914, showing silent films. One of the Northwest’s oldest movie theaters, the Ruby remains much as it was in its early days. The theater was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
first appeared: 9/7/2008
—Whatcom County’s first salmon cannery was built in 1881 in Blaine (pop. 3,770) on Semiahmoo Bay. Semiahmoo means “half moon” in the language of the local Salish people, and reflects the bay’s shape. Later purchased by the Alaska Packers Association, the cannery eventually became one of the West Coast’s largest. Today, the site is home to the Semiahmoo Resort.
first appeared: 8/24/2008
—Earth Sanctuary is a 72-acre wildlife sanctuary and spiritual retreat near Freeland (pop. 1,313) that contains a range of spaces designed for meditation and prayer. The spaces include stone circles, a hedge-lined labyrinth, an American Indian medicine wheel, two Tibetan prayer wheels that each contain 1.3 trillion prayers, and the Tara Meditation Center for the Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism.
first appeared: 8/10/2008
—With its nutrients from the Skagit and Stillaguamish rivers, and sunshine due to the rain shadow effect of the Olympic Mountains, Penn Cove, near Coupeville (pop. 1,723) on Whidbey Island, is ideal for growing mussels. That’s why the location was chosen for the Penn Cove Shellfish farm, founded by the Jefferds family in 1975.
first appeared: 7/27/2008
—On Feb. 19, residents of Idaho and Washington state reported a rumble and a ball or flash of light as a meteor crossed the early morning sky. A witness from Walla Walla (pop. 29,686) even reported a sonic boom and a shockwave after seeing the heavenly body enter the atmosphere. According to a Horizon Airlines pilot, the meteor fell to earth in Adams County (pop. 16,428).
first appeared: 7/13/2008
—The 260-acre Capitol Lake, located adjacent to the Capitol grounds in Olympia (pop. 42,514), creates a reflecting pool for the stately building. The lake was constructed in 1951, when a dam was built at the mouth of the Deschutes River.
first appeared: 6/29/2008
Cliff Michel established the Othello Rodeo in Othello (pop. 5,847) in 1948, with 56 cowboys competing in seven events for a chance to win part of a $500 purse. Michel continued to fund the amateur rodeo until the early 1950s, when the nonprofit Othello Rodeo Association was formed. The annual event became a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association-sanctioned world championship rodeo in 1962.
first appeared: 6/29/2008
—Earlier this year, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Friday Harbor (pop. 1,989) on San Juan Island one of its “dozen distinctive destinations” for 2008. About a square mile in size, the community features nearly 150 historic buildings reflecting its civic, commercial and residential history.
first appeared: 6/15/2008
Europe specialist Rick Steves is known for his travel advice—his series about Europe currently airs on more than 300 public television stations, reaching 95 percent of U.S. markets—but he calls Edmonds (pop. 39,515) home. Steves is the author of more than 30 books.
first appeared: 6/15/2008
—In 2006, Washington reduced total greenhouse gas emissions by more than 3 million tons—or 1,000 pounds per person. According to the state Department of Ecology, the reduction was equivalent to removing 2.5 million passenger cars, or more than half of the vehicles in the state, from the roadway.
first appeared: 6/1/2008
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