Wisconsin Trivia & Tidbits - Page 16

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

Actor Tom Wopat, who starred as Luke Duke in the television show Dukes of Hazzard from 1979 to 1985, was born in Lodi (pop. 2,849) on Sept. 9, 1950.

first appeared: 6/17/2001

Each March since 1996, the world’s largest weenie roast has taken place on the ice of Lake Namakagon, northeast of Hayward (pop. 2,161), with 700 people standing shoulder-to-shoulder near a flaming trench cooking hot dogs.

first appeared: 6/10/2001

The name of Oconomowoc (pop. 11,675) comes from an American Indian word meaning “home of the beaver.”

first appeared: 6/3/2001

Donald “Deke” K. Slayton, born in Sparta (pop. 8,602) on March 1, 1924, was the only member of the original seven astronauts not to fly in the Mercury spacecraft because he had an irregular heartbeat. Finally cleared to fly in space in 1972, he flew the first international mission, Apollo-Soyuz, July 15-24, 1975.

first appeared: 5/27/2001

Hayward (pop. 2,161) hosts the official World Championship Lumberjack Competition the last full weekend of each July. Among the contests are logrolling, chain sawing, ax chopping, and various climbing events.

first appeared: 5/20/2001

Hortonville (pop. 2,249) was founded in 1848 by Alonzo Erastus Horton, a land speculator who built a cabin and grain mill along Black Otter Creek and sold lots to early settlers.

first appeared: 5/13/2001

Ridges Sanctuary, near Baileys Harbor on Door Peninsula, is the world’s largest habitat of the endangered Hines Emerald Dragonfly.

first appeared: 5/6/2001

The house that Pulitzer-winning author Hamlin Garland bought for his parents in 1893 in West Salem (pop. 4,357) is where he wrote many of his books during lengthy stays. It’s now a national historic site.

first appeared: 4/29/2001

Dozens of homeowners who live along the shores of Lake Geneva receive their mail via the Walworth II, a boat operated by the post office in the town of Lake Geneva (pop. 7,216).

first appeared: 4/22/2001

Badger State drivers drove their vehicles an average of 13,479 miles in 1998, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

first appeared: 4/15/2001

The last frost in Chaseburg (pop. 423) is typically May 3.

first appeared: 4/8/2001

With nine major waterfalls and many lesser ones, Marinette County calls itself Wisconsin’s waterfall capital.

first appeared: 4/1/2001

The transit system in Eau Claire (pop. 60,223) has 13 buses and 97 miles of designated travel routes.

first appeared: 3/25/2001

The Kickapoo River, often called the crookedest river in the world, winds for 100 miles through southwest Wisconsin before it empties into the Wisconsin River near Wauzeka (pop. 614).

first appeared: 3/18/2001

When Belle Case married future governor, congressman, and senator Robert La Follette on Dec. 31, 1881, she had the word “obey” stricken from their vows. She later became the first woman to graduate from law school at the University of Wisconsin.

first appeared: 3/11/2001

The SS Badger, the only ferry across Lake Michigan, can carry up to 620 passengers and 180 vehicles. The 60-mile trip between Manitowoc (pop. 33,491) and Ludington, Mich., takes about four hours.

first appeared: 3/4/2001

The nation’s first kindergarten was started in 1856 in Watertown (pop. 21,006) by Margarethe Meyer Schurz, who brought the idea from her native Germany—where kindergarten means “garden of children.”

first appeared: 2/25/2001

In 1950, Mitchell Red Cloud Jr., a Winnebago Indian from Hatfield, won the Medal of Honor posthumously for keeping the enemy from overrunning his company’s position on the front lines in Korea. A U.S. Navy ship is named in his honor.

first appeared: 2/18/2001

In the 1840s, Hungarian Count Agoston Haraszthy planted a vineyard near Prairie du Sac (pop. 3,104) before leaving for the 1849 Gold Rush in California where he is known as the father of California vineyards. The Wisconsin vineyard he started is now Wollersheim Winery.

first appeared: 2/11/2001

—About six miles north of Coleman (pop. 863) on U.S. Highway 141, a marker states that it is halfway between the equator and the North Pole—both 3,107 miles away.

first appeared: 2/4/2001

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