Nevada is home to several crazy and/or fascinating facts which are just begging to be shared here:
*More than 84 percent of the land in Nevada is owned by the federal government.
*Doesn’t Nevada conjure up images of desert, desert, and more desert? But Nevada means “snow-capped” in Spanish. Five mountain peaks in Nevada are higher than 12,000 feet and the entire state has an average elevation of 5,000 feet.
* Reno with its population of over 220,000 is actually located farther west than Los Angeles. Who knew?
*The state motto is “Battle Born” because Nevada was admitted to the Union in 1864 during the Civil War.
*Nevada is known for its silver, but it also produces a high quantity of gold and about 25 other precious metals and minerals. Only the countries of South Africa, Australia, and China rank above the state of Nevada in gold production. There are approximately 140 active mining and drilling operations in Nevada today.
*In 1859 a rancher named W.P. Morrison visited the placer gold mines of the area and, out of curiosity, carted away some of the black rock which the miners were tossing away as worthless. Not so. An assay showed it contained $4,791 in silver per ton (plus an additional $1,595 in gold per ton).
*In the early 1870s, the amount of silver coming out of Nevada bordered on the ridiculous, so much so that France and Germany withdrew silver from circulation. The United States was on the verge of doing the same. Senator Casserly of California testified to Congress, “…We have more silver than we want. Nevada appears to be getting ready to deluge the world in silver.”
5 comments:
The Reno/San Diego fact is an old bar bet. It goes along the lines of:
Name the Southern most state.
Name the Western most state.
Name the Northern most state.
Name the state that is the farthest east on a globe.
Hint: they're not all so obvious.
Gary, clearly I haven't spent enough time in bars because I've never heard that! They must all be tricky -- I'd love it if you'd share the answers. :)
I'll share, I was just hoping to see your answers first.
The southern most state is neither Florida, or Texas which are the most common answers, but Hawaii which sits around 19˚ North Latitude.
The next three all belong to Alaska. Northernmost and Westernmost should be fairly obvious, and beat out Maine, California and Hawaii as the three most popular choices. How is Alaska the Easternmost? Well, Alaska has a number of islands which are the remains of an ancient volcanic arc. The island of Attu is located at 173°11' east longitude. Yup, EAST longitude, making it the state that is farthest east on the globe.
As for spending time in bars, I have spent exactly zero time in a bar unless you count a Chili's, Applebees, or other such establishment, but I love a good bet. ;)
Gary, you're better than Wikipedia. And good grief, I would have failed. There's a spot in Maine billed as the Easternmost point in the U.S. -- they lie!
Remind me never to bet the mortgage against you. :)
Jilly - in Maine the place I wanted to go (West Quoddy (HA! West)) was billed as the Easternmost point in the 48 Contiguous States... Gary wins for the entire US (but are we including territories in this discussion? ;) )
Post a Comment