Denver is the westernmost of the Plains cities, right at the edge of the Rocky Mountains.

It is nicknamed the Mile High City because its official elevation is exactly one mile (5280 feet or 1609.344 meters) above sea level. Other nicknames include Queen City of the Plains, Queen City of the West, Broncoville, Wall Street of the West, and Cow Town.

There are 200 named peaks visible from Denver, including 32 that soar to 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) and above.

Golf balls fly further in high altitudes mainly due to the change in air density, which decreases as elevation increases. Thinner air exerts less drag force on the ball. You can calculate the distance gain you will experience (compared to sea level) by multiplying the elevation (in feet) by .00116. For example, if you're playing in Denver, at 1 mile elevation (5,280 ft.) the increase is about 6% (5,280 x .00116 = 6.1248). If you normally drive the ball 250 yards at sea level, you will likely drive it 265 yards in Denver.

General William Larimer named the original townsite Denver City to curry favor with Kansas Territorial Governor James W. Denver in what was then western Kansas Territory. Larimer hoped the town's name would help it be selected as the county seat of Arapaho County but, unbeknownst to him, Governor Denver had already resigned from office.

The first permanent structure in Denver wasn't a hospital, bank, or prison--it was a saloon. And of course the city's first ordinance, enacted October 8, 1860, was "an Ordinance prohibiting Gambling & the selling of Liquor or Merchandise on the Streets or from Wagons or Tents" to make sure customers used the saloon. By 1910, Denver had 410 saloons that offered nickel beers and free lunches.

The city of Denver boasts six professional sports teams: the Colorado Rockies (Major League Baseball), Denver Broncos (National Football League), Colorado Avalanche (National Hockey League), Colorado Rapids (Major League Soccer), Colorado Mammoth (National Lacrosse League), and Denver Nuggets (National Basketball Association).

In 1970, Denver was selected to host the 1976 Winter Olympics to coincide with Colorado's centennial celebration, but in November 1972, Colorado voters struck down ballot initiatives allocating public funds to pay for the games, so they were moved to Innsbruck, Austria. The notoriety of becoming the only city ever to decline to host an Olympiad after being selected has made subsequent bids difficult.

In 1892, Denver Attorney Henry Perky discovered the health benefits of whole wheat and, together with William Henry Ford, developed a machine that could press whole wheat into tiny shred-like strips. Perky went on to open a restaurant featuring Shredded Wheat in every item on the menu from mashed potatoes to cakes to ice cream and even coffee!

Denver was rated as the healthiest city in the country for pets by Purina, ranking high in categories like veterinarian to pet ratio and low number of fleas.