Rhode Island has a lot of oceanfront property. The nation's smallest state is only 37 miles across at its widest, but it has 384 miles of shoreline, including its 35 offshore islands.

By virtue of its corporate laws, Delaware is a de facto onshore corporate haven. As a result, over 50% of all NYSE-listed business and 60% of the Fortune 500 are incorporated in Delaware.

In response to abolitionists' calls across the colonies to end slavery, Vermont became the first colony to ban it outright on July 2, 1777. Not only did Vermont's legislature agree to abolish slavery entirely, it also moved to provide full voting rights for African American males.

Because of the abundance of Brown Pelicans found along the coast of Louisiana, the state is commonly referred to as "The Pelican State." This bird has been a symbol of Louisiana since the arrival of early European settlers who were impressed with the pelican's generous and nurturing attitude toward their young.

One of the original thirteen colonies, New York was named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the future King James II of England.

The road to becoming the official state pie wasn't an easy one. Since the 1980s, North Florida lawmakers had insisted that a pie made of Florida-grown pecans would better reflect the state's history, but on July 1, 2006, the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate both passed legislation selecting Key lime pie as the official pie of the state of Florida.

The World's Largest Catsup Bottle stands proudly next to Route 159, just south of downtown Collinsville, Illinois. This unique 170 ft. tall water tower was built in 1949 for the G. S. Suppiger catsup bottling plant--bottlers of Brooks old original rich & tangy catsup.

The Cuyahoga River has caught on fire at least 13 times. One of the most polluted rivers in the country, it would burst into flames when sparks from passing trains fell into the water. After a highly publicized fire in 1969, Congress was inspired to clean up pollution across the country and established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In 1692, the town of Salem and surrounding areas experienced one of America's most infamous cases of mass hysteria, the Salem witch trials. The phrase "witch hunt", commonly used to refer to an unjustified or falsely conjured-up prosecution, is thought to originate as a reference to this time period in American history.

Jousting tournaments have been held in Maryland since colonial times. Retaining the pageantry and customs of medieval tournaments, men (referred to as knights) and women (referred to as maids) dress in colorful costumes to compete in non-contact "ring tournaments" where competitors on horseback with lance in hand try to spear hanging rings of various sizes while quickly riding by three arches.