Washington Trivia & Tidbits - Page 6

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

At Ilwaco (pop. 950) on Nov. 21, 1991, Gerard d’Aboville took his first steps on land after spending 134 days rowing across more than 6,000 miles of the Pacific Ocean. A native of France, d’Aboville had left the fishing port of Choshi, Japan, on July 11, rowing his 26-foot boat 10 to 12 hours—or about 7,000 strokes—each day.

first appeared: 2/26/2006

Entrepreneur Buford Seals’ Hat ’n’ Boots Gas Station in Seattle featured a 44-foot-wide cowboy hat and a 22-foot-tall pair of cowboy boots. Opened in the 1950s and closed in 1988, the gas station is where Elvis Presley reportedly gassed up his Cadillac in 1963. The steel hat and boots were moved for restoration to a park four blocks away in 2003.

first appeared: 2/12/2006

In the mid-1980s, metal sculptor David Govedare, who makes his home and studio in Chewelah (pop. 2,186), created 40 steel statues of people jogging, in honor of Spokane’s Bloomsday Run, held annually in May. Located along a sidewalk in Riverfront Park, the life-size sculptures re-create a scene from the race and are titled "The Joy of Running Together." Race participants have been known to dress the sculptures with their T-shirts on race day.

first appeared: 1/29/2006

Pitcher Mel Stottlemyre, who hails from Mabton (pop. 1,891), helped the New York Yankees win 164 games during his major league baseball career between 1964 and 1974. Stottlemyre, who bats and throws right-handed, had three 20-win seasons and was named an All-Star five times—in 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969 and 1970. He became a pitching coach after retiring as a player.

first appeared: 1/15/2006

MISS WASHINGTON 2006—Tina Marie Mares of Lynnwood (pop. 33,847) has an impressive resume: law student at Seattle University, volunteer at Seattle’s Children’s Hospital, classical pianist and five years as a ball girl for the Seattle Mariners baseball team. But she’s most passionate about ensuring that children receive health insurance.

first appeared: 1/8/2006

The New York City Ballet, Zurich Ballet, Rambert Ballet Company in London and the Ballet of the Paris Opera are among dance troupes that have performed the work of choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was born in Centralia (pop. 14,742) in 1919. In 1953, Cunningham founded the dance company that bears his name at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. Since then, he has choreographed nearly 200 works for the company.

first appeared: 1/1/2006

On April 6, 1924, four U.S. Army Air Service Douglas World Cruiser seaplanes left Seattle on the first aerial circumnavigation of the world, to help prove that airplanes could be a valuable form of transportation. Two of the planes—named the Chicago and the New Orleans—made the entire 27,553-mile journey, landing back at Sand Point Field in Seattle on Sept. 28, 1924.

first appeared: 12/18/2005

At 5,223 feet long and 550 feet high, Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River is one of the world’s largest concrete dams. Located near Grand Coulee (pop. 897), the dam was built between 1933 and 1942 at a cost of $56 million to impound water for irrigation and to generate electricity.

first appeared: 12/4/2005

Washington State Parks will celebrate its centennial year in 2013, and to prepare for the event, the department is calling upon volunteer community organizations to undertake specific projects in the parks. Suggested work includes constructing a fishing pier with wheelchair access at Battle Ground Lake, building a warming hut for cross-country skiers at Fields Spring, renovating the Wheeler Theater at Fort Worden and constructing rental cabins at Blake Island.

first appeared: 12/4/2005

Discovered on the Columbia River banks near Kennewick (pop. 54,693) in 1996, "Kennewick Man" is one of North America’s oldest and most complete human skeletons. Scientists, who are studying the 9,300-year-old bones, hope to learn how the man died and how he lived.

first appeared: 11/20/2005

In 1952, African-American actor/singer Paul Robeson performed in Blaine (pop. 3,770) at Peace Arch Park. He had been invited to perform in Canada, but the State Department revoked his passport and denied him permission to leave the country because he was a suspected Communist. He set up a stage on a flatbed truck 1 foot away from the Canadian border and performed for a crowd of 40,000 Americans and Canadians.

first appeared: 11/20/2005

From Manson Bay Park on the eastern shore of Lake Chelan to the Rock Island Hydro Park two miles south of East Wenatchee (pop. 5,757) on the Columbia River, 14 parks dot the landscape. The Chelan County Public Utility District spent $67 million developing these recreation areas between 1978 and 1995. They attract about 3 million visitors annually. Facilities range from full hook-up camp sites, soccer fields and boat launches to picnic and swimming sites.

first appeared: 11/6/2005

The community of Port Gamble, north of Poulsbo (pop. 6,813), gave away an entire wedding to celebrate Valentine’s Day earlier this year. The prize—worth more than $30,000—went to a lucky Seattle bride, and included chocolate fountains, 300 assorted truffles, handmade goblet charms, catering, a wedding cake, church rental, a horse-drawn carriage, flowers and even a spa package.

first appeared: 10/23/2005

The first recorded human "wave"—in which people stand up and sit down in sequence—took place on Oct. 31, 1981, at the University of Washington’s Husky Stadium in Seattle during a football game with California’s Stanford University.

first appeared: 10/9/2005

While searching for a missing military transport plane near Mount Rainier in 1947, pilot Kenneth Arnold saw nine bright, disc-shaped objects flying at a speed that he estimated at 1,200 mph. When he told his story to the media, a reporter filed a story about the objects, which he called "flying saucers," reportedly the first use of the phrase. While the military dismissed the sightings, Arnold’s story spread quickly and became a topic of interest to many around the world.

first appeared: 9/25/2005

Beginning in 1906, dynamite produced in DuPont (pop. 2,452) helped build the Panama Canal, Grand Coulee Dam, the Alaska Highway and countless other construction projects.

first appeared: 9/18/2005

Twede’s Cafe in North Bend (pop. 4,746) is known to viewers of the TV series Twin Peaks as The Double R Diner, famous for its cherry pie and coffee.

first appeared: 9/18/2005

Hiding under the Aurora Avenue Bridge at North 36th Street in Seattle, the Fremont Troll sports long hair and a hubcap for an eye and crushes a Volkswagen beetle car in his hand. Four local artists—Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter and Ross Whitehead—created the head-and-shoulders statue in 1990 for the Fremont Arts Council. The statue stands 18 feet tall and is made from rebar steel, wire and ferroconcrete.

first appeared: 9/11/2005

Union Station in Tacoma contains works by glass artist Dale Chihuly, including a 2,000-piece cobalt blue chandelier and the Monarch Window looking out toward Mount Rainier.

first appeared: 9/11/2005

When a sudden blizzard swept across Mount Rainier, southeast of Tacoma, on Oct. 26, 1924, Cecil B. DeMille’s production company, filming the silent movie The Golden Bed, was forced to retreat to nearby Paradise Inn and abandon $20,000 worth of lighting and filming equipment on Nisqually Glacier near the summit of the 14,410-foot mountain.

first appeared: 8/28/2005

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