Kansas - Fun Facts, State Symbols, Photos, Visitor Info

"From this day forward, the millions of our schoolchildren will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty."

President

Dwight D. Eisenhower

"If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom."

President

Entered the Union:
January 29, 1861 (34)

Capital: Topeka

Origin of Name: from a Sioux word meaning "people of the south wind"
State Nickname: Sunflower State • Jayhawk State
State Flower: Sunflower	State Bird: Western Meadowlark
State Tree: Cottonwood	State Animal: Buffalo
State Reptile: Ornate Box Turtle	State Song: “Home on the Range"
State Motto: Ad astra per aspera (To the stars through difficulties)
State Parks: 24
Famous For: Dodge City, wheat production, private aircraft manufacturing
Famous Kansans: Walter Chrysler (auto manufacturer), Charles Curtis (Vice President), Amelia Earhart (aviator), Dwight D. Eisenhower (general and President), Walter Johnson (baseball), Stan Kenton (jazz), James Lehrer (broadcast journalist), John Cameron Swayze (news commentator), Jess Willard (boxer), Robert Dole (senator)
Animals and Birds: Click on photos of the animals and birdson this page to find out more about them and to hear the sounds they make.

State Fair: Hutchinson






Listen to Cattle Sounds




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Kansas National Sites

Kansas State Parks

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Fishing in Kansas

Hunting in Kansas

Listen to Meadowlark's Song

Kansas Photo Gallery

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Spain explored Kansas in 1541. French explorers from Canada arrived In 1673.

In 1803, the United States purchased Kansas from France in the Louisiana Purchase.

The US government decided to let the people of Kansas vote for or against slavery. There were many fights between these people, but eventually those against slavery won. Because of the great violence during this time, Kansas became known as “Bleeding Kansas.”

At one time it was against the law to serve ice cream on cherry pie in Kansas.

Pizza Hut restaurants opened its first store in Wichita, Kansas.

The graham cracker was named after the Reverend Sylvester Graham. He was a minister who strongly believed in eating whole-wheat flour products.

Every type of prairie habitat can be found in Kansas

Helium was discovered in 1905 at the University of Kansas

William Purvis and Charles Wilson of Goodland, Kansas invented the helicopter in 1909

Dodge City is the windiest city in the United States, with an average wind speed of 14 miles per hour.

Sumner County is known as The Wheat Capital of the World. Kansas leads the nation in wheat production.

Kansas is the nation's second largest producer of beef cattle, behind only Texas.

Abilene is the ending point of the Chisholm Trail where the cattle driven from Texas were loaded onto rail cars.

Almon Stowger of El Dorado invented the dial telephone in 1889.

Wyatt Earp, James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok and William B. "Bat" Masterson were three of the legendary lawmen who kept the peace in rowdy frontier towns like Abilene, Dodge City, Ellsworth, Hays, and Wichita.

Amelia Earhart, the first woman granted a pilot's license by the National Aeronautics Associate and the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, was from Atchison.

Handel's Messiah has been presented in Lindsborg each Easter since 1889.

Kansas' Ethnic Roots: German 25.9%, Irish 11.5%, English 10.8%, American 8.8%, French 3.1%, Swedish 2.4%.

Religion in Kansas: 81.3% Christian (61.3% Protestant, 20% Catholic), 17.5% No Religion, 0.8% LDS, 0.4% Other Religions

Kansas was the first state to ratify the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which gave African-American men the right to vote.

Wichita is one of the nation's top plane manufacturing cities.

The Geodetic Center of North America is about 40 miles south of Lebanon at Meade's Ranch. It is the beginning point of reference for land surveying in North America meaning when a surveyor checks a property line, he is checking the position of property in relation to Meade's Ranch in northwest Kansas.

April Fool's Day

April 1
April Fool's Day
is celebrated in various countries on April 1. The day is marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes or sending someone on a fool's errand, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible.
Read more in our forum.

Arbor Day

April 26, 2013
Arbor Day is a national holiday enacted in 1872 to encourage people to plant trees and appreciate all the things trees give us.

National Day of Prayer

May 2, 2013
National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting all Americans to pray for our nation. It as created in 1952 by Congress and Pres. Harry S. Truman.
Read more in our forum.

Mothers Day

May 12, 2013
is Mother's Day! It is celebrated on the 2nd Sunday in May to honor mothers and motherhood. In 1914, Pres. Woodrow Wilson made this an official holiday in the USA.
Read more in our forum.

Armed Forces Day

May 18, 2013
Armed Forces Day
is a day to pay tribute to the men and women who serve in the five military branches of the United States' armed forces.
Read more in our forum.

Pentecost

May 19, 2013
Pentecost
is the day the Christian church was born. On the Jewish feast of Pentecost, 40 days after Jesus rose from the dead, he sent the Holy Spirit to fill his disciples with the empowerment of God's presence.
Read more in our forum.

Memorial Day