Monday, March 05, 2007

some Mississippi facts

Hmm, I may have posted this once before: sorry if I did.

Be happy that you live in the great state of Mississippi.

Mississippi leads in obese adults.

The Mississippi Gulf Coast, from Biloxi to Henderson Point, is the largest and longest man-made beach in the world.

Mississippi was the last state to illegalize moonshine.

The Ringier-America company in Corinth, MS prints National Geographic.

The world's only cactus plantation is located in Edwards, with more than 3,000 varieties of cacti.

Mississippi has more tree farms than any other state.

Mississippi has more churches per capita than any other state.

Norris Bookbinding Company in Greenwood is the largest Bible rebinding plant in the nation.

H. A. Cole in Jackson, MS, developed the cleaning product Pine-Sol.

Pine-Sol is manufactured only in Pearl, MS.

Dr. Tichenor created Dr. Tichenor's Antiseptic in Liberty, MS (not in South Louisiana as commonly believed).

Four cities in the world have been sanctioned by the International Theatre/Dance Committee to host the International Ballet Competition: Moscow, Russia; Varna, Bulgaria; Helsinki, Finland; and Jackson, Mississippi.

David Harrison of Columbus owns the patent on the "Soft Toilet Seat." Over one million are sold every year.

The first football player on a Wheaties box was Walter Payton of Columbia.

The Teddy Bear's name originated after a bear hunt in Mississippi with President Theodore Roosevelt. President Roosevelt refused to shoot an exhausted and possibly lame bear. News of this spread across the country, and a New York merchant capitalized on this publicity by creating a stuffed bear called "Teddy's Bear."

H. T. Merrill of Iuka flew the first round-trip transoceanic flight in 1928. The flight to England was made in a plane loaded with ping-pong balls.

The birthplace of Elvis in Tupelo includes: a museum, a chapel, and the two-room house in which Elvis was born.

The world's oldest Holiday Inn is in Clarksdale.

Blazon-Flexible Flyer, Inc., in West Point, manufactures the best snow sled in the country, the Flexible Flyer.

Greenwood is the home of Cotton Row, which is the second largest cotton exchange in the nation and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Emil and Kelly Mitchell, the King and Queen of Gypsies, are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Meridian. Since 1915, people from all over the world have left gifts of fruit and juice at their gravesites.

The 4-H Club began in Holmes County in 1907.

The Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg is the largest research, testing, and development facility of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

On April 25, 1866, women in Columbus decorated the graves of Confederate and Union soldiers in Friendship Cemetery. This gesture became known as Decoration Day, the beginning of what we observe as Memorial Day.

Shoes were first sold as pairs in 1884 at Phil Gilbert's Shoe Parlor in Vicksburg.

Inventor James D. Byrd of Clinton holds seven patents and developed the plastic used as a heat shield by NASA.

Mississippi University for Women in Columbus was the first state college for women in the country, established in 1884.

Every commercial airliner has at least one hydraulic component manufactured by Vickers in Jackson.

The McCoy Federal Building in Jackson is the first federal building in the United States named for a black man. Dr. A. H. McCoy was a dentist and business leader.

Hat Maker John B. Stetson learned and practiced hat making in Dunn's Falls, MS.

The oldest field game in America is Stickball, played by the Choctaw Indians of Mississippi. Demonstrations can be seen every July at the Choctaw Indian Fair in Philadelphia, MS.

Alcorn State University, in Lorman, is the oldest black land grant college in the world.

The International Checkers Hall of Fame is in Petal.

Natchez was settled by the French in 1716 and is the oldest permanent settlement on the Mississippi River. Natchez once had 500 millionaires, more than any other city except New York City. Natchez now has more than 500 buildings that are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Captain Issac Ross of Lorman freed his slaves in 1834 and arranged for their passage to the west coast of Africa. They founded the country of Liberia.

Oliver Pollock was the largest individual financial contributor to the American Revolution. He invented the dollar sign ($). He is buried near Pinckneyville.

Resin Bowie, the inventor of the Bowie Knife, is buried in Port Gibson, MS.

Liberty was the first town in the country to erect a Confederate monument, in 1871.

The Pass Christian Yacht Club is the second oldest yacht club in North America, founded in 1849.

The Mississippi Legislature passed one of the first laws in 1839 to protect the property rights of married women.

The Natchez Trace Parkway, named an "All American Road" by the federal government, extends from Natchez to just south of Nashville, Tennessee. The Trace began as an Indian trail more than 8,000 years ago.

The Mississippi Delta is the birthplace of the Blues, which preceded the birth of jazz, the only other original American art form.

The Vicksburg National Cemetery is the second-largest national cemetery in the country. Arlington National Cemetery is the largest.

D'Lo was featured in Life Magazine for sending proportionally more men to serve in World War II than any other town of its size; 38 percent of the men who lived in D'Lo served.

In 1894, Coca-Cola was first bottled by Joseph A. Biedenharn in Vicksburg.

Mississippi was the first state to outlaw imprisonment of debtors.

Belzoni is the Catfish Capital of the World. Approximately 70 percent of the nation's farm-raised catfish comes from Mississippi.

Fred Montalvo owns the company that makes “Icee” drinks from Edwards.

Peavey Electronics, in Meridian, is the world's largest manufacturer of musical amplification equipment.

Proportionally more Mississippians were killed during the Civil War than from any other Confederate state.

Serving during Reconstruction, Hiram Revels was the first Black U.S. Senator.

The first Parents-Teachers Association was founded in Crystal Springs, MS.

Babe Ruth's last home run was hit off a Mississippian, Guy Bush of Tupelo.

List of famous Mississippians

Soulja Boy, Batesville
Dick Stephens, Pontotoc
Dana Andrews, Covington County
Earl W. Bascom, Columbia
Lacey Chabert, Purvis
John Dye, Amory
Morgan Freeman, Greenwood
Gary Grubbs, Amory
Beth Henley, Jackson
Jim Henson, Greenville
Anthony Herrera, Wiggins
Eddie Hodges, Hattiesburg
James Earl Jones, Arkabutla
Simbi Khali, Jackson
Daniel Curtis Lee, Jackson
Kris Lee, Louisville
Shane McRae, Starkville
Gerald McRaney, Collins
Parker Posey, Laurel
Eric Roberts, Biloxi
Sela Ward, Meridian
Oprah Winfrey, Kosciusko

Artists

Earl W. Bascom, sculptor, Columbia
George Ohr, "Mad Potter of Biloxi"
Walter Inglis Anderson, painter, Ocean Springs

Athletes

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (Chris Jackson), Gulfport
Lance Alworth, Brookhaven
Dizzy Dean, Wiggins
Earl W. Bascom, Columbia
Dennis Ray "Oil Can" Boyd, Meridian
Ralph Boston, Laurel
Jeff Bowman
Terrell Buckley, Pascagoula
Reggie Collier, D`Iberville
Joseph (Joe) Pierre Courtney, Jackson
Erick Dampier, Jackson
Jim Dunaway, Columbia
Marcus Dupree, Philadelphia
Eric Moulds, Lucedale
Brett Favre, Kiln
Charles Gavin, Laurel
Litterial Green, Pascagoula
Louis Edward Green, Vicksburg
Lancaster Gordon, Jackson
Bobby Hamilton, Columbia
Phillip Hampton
Othella Harrington, Jackson
Lindsey Hunter, Utica
Belton Johnson
Steven Lombardi
Deuce McAllister, Morton
Steve McNair, Mount Olive
Archie Manning, Drew
Shane Matthews, Pascagoula
Steve Newsome, Columbia
Jerious Norwood , Jackson
Joe Owens, Columbia
Roy Oswalt, Weir
Jeremy Patrick
Eddie Payton, Columbia
Walter Payton, Columbia
Justin Reed, Jackson
Jerry Rice, Starkville
James Robinson, Jackson
Eugene Short, Hattiesburg
Purvis Short, Hattiesburg
Jackie Slater, Jackson
Calvin Smith, Bolton
Jimmy Lee Smith, Jackson
Lake Speed, Jackson
Dmitri Young, Vicksburg
Antonio Mcdyess, Quitman
Claude Passeau, Lucedale
Al Jefferson, Monticello
Clarence Weatherspoon, Crawford
Sammy Winder, Madison
Ruthie Bolton, Lucedale

Authors/Writers

Earl W. Bascom, Columbia
Lerone Bennett, Jr., Clarksdale
Larry Brown, Oxford
Hodding Carter
Craig Claiborne, Sunflower
Gerald Ellis
William Faulkner, New Albany
Shelby Foote, Greenville
Richard Ford, Jackson
Barry Hannah, Clinton
Thomas Harris
Beth Henley, Hattiesburg
J. R. Johnson
Muna Lee, Raymond
Justin Mapp, Brandon
D. J. McCornik
Willie Morris, Jackson
Lewis Nordan, Forest
Walker Percy
William Alexander Percy, Greenville
William Raspberry, Okolona
Eudora Welty, Jackson
Tennessee Williams, Columbus
Richard Nathaniel Wright, Roxie
Stark Young, Como
Carolyn Haines, Lucedale

Civil Rights Leaders

Vernon Dahmer, Hattiesburg
Charles Evers, Decatur
Medgar Evers, Decatur
Fannie Lou Hamer, Ruleville
T. R. M. Howard, Mound Bayou
James Meredith, Kosciusko
Dianna Freelon-Foster, Grenada

Entrepreneurs/Business Leaders

Jim Barksdale (former CEO Netscape Communications Corporation)
Harry A. Cole, Jackson (inventor of Pine-Sol)
Hartley Peavey (founder Peavey Electronics)
Robert Pittman (founder MTV, former CEO and COO AOL)
Fred Smith, Marks, MS, founder and CEO of FedEx

Inventors

Joseph Newman, Lucedale
Earl W. Bascom
Elizabeth Lee Hazen

Military Figures

Charles Read
Nathan Bedford Forrest

Musicians/Composers

Glen Ballard, Natchez
Afro Man, Hattiesburg
David Banner, Jackson
Lance Bass, Laurel
Big Bill Broonzy, Scott
Jimmy Buffett, Pascagoula
R. L. Burnside, Harmontown
David L Cook, Pascagoula
Sam Cooke, Clarksdale
James Cotton, Tunica
Arthur Crudup, Forest
Bo Diddley, McComb
Willie Dixon, Vicksburg
Faith Hill, Jackson
John Lee Hooker, Clarksdale
Big Walter Horton, Horn Lake
Son House, Riverton
Guy Hovis, Tupelo
Mississippi John Hurt, Teoc
Carl Jackson, Louisville
Elmore James, Richland
Skip James, Bentonia
Robert Johnson, Hazelhurst
Tommy Johnson, Terry
Junior Kimbrough, Hudsonville
B. B. King, Itta Bena
Kris Lee, Louisville
Yung Money, Rolling Fork
Little Milton, Inverness
Brandy Norwood, McComb
Alexander O'Neal, Natchez
Charley Patton, Edwards
Elvis Presley, Tupelo
Charley Pride, Sledge
Leontyne Price, Laurel
Jimmy Reed, Duleith
Del Rendon, Starkville
LeAnn Rimes, Jackson
Jimmie Rodgers, Meridian
David Ruffin, Whynot
Jimmy Ruffin, Collinsville
Britney Spears, McComb
William Grant Still, Woodville
Ike Turner, Clarksdale
Newt Rayburn, Oxford
Lisa Stewart, Louisville
Conway Twitty, Friars Point
Muddy Waters, Rolling Fork
Bukka White, Houston
Big Joe Williams, Crawford
Sonny Boy Williamson II, Glendora
Cassandra Wilson, Jackson
Howlin' Wolf, West Point
Tammy Wynette, Tupelo
Lester Young, Woodville
Three Doors Down, Escatawpa
Mickey Gilley, Natchez

Politicians

Haley Barbour, Yazoo City
Ross R. Barnett, Standing Pine
Marion Barry, Itta Bena
Theodore Bilbo, Poplarville
Thad Cochran, Pontotoc
Jefferson Davis
James Eastland, Sunflower
Pat Harrison, Crystal Springs
Trent Lott, Grenada
Sonny Montgomery, Meridian
Charles W. Pickering, Jones County
Chip Pickering, Laurel
John E. Rankin, Itawamba County
Hiram Revels
John Stennis, DeKalb
Bennie Thompson, Bolton
James Vardaman, Yalobusha County
Jamie L. Whitten, Cascilla
William Winter, Grenada
Blanche Bruce
Gene Taylor, Bay St. Louis
James Z. George, Carrollton
Dianna Freelon-Foster, Grenada

Other luminaries

Red Barber, sportscaster, Columbus
Richard Scruggs, attorney, Pascagoula

http://www.mississippiscv.org/mississippi_facts.htm
http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-mississippians

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