The state is one of the nation's leading dairy producers and is known as "America's Dairyland". It is particularly famous for its cheese, which led opposing sports fans to call Wisconsinites "cheeseheads". The term was quickly embraced by Wisconsin residents, who created "cheesehead hats" made of yellow foam in the shape of cheese wedges and wore them as a point of pride.

In the early 1800s, the prospect of easy mineral wealth drew immigrants from throughout the U.S. and Europe to the lead deposits located at Mineral Point, Dodgeville, and nearby areas. Some miners set up shelters in the holes they dug and earned the nickname "badgers", leading to Wisconsin's identity as the "Badger State".

According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, Wisconsin means "river running through a red place"--the "red place" being the red sandstone bluffs of the Wisconsin Dells.

The Soviet satellite Sputnik IV fell out of orbit in 1962 and while most of it burned up on re-entry, a 20-pound piece of debris crashed to the ground in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The original piece of Sputnik was returned to the Soviets but the Rahr-West Art Museum has a replica of it on display, and Manitowoc celebrates Sputnikfest each September.

In 1895, to protect its dairy farmers, the state banned the manufacture and sale of yellow margarine. And while the ban was lifted in 1967, some restrictions on margarine remain today. It's still illegal for a restaurant to serve margarine as a butter substitute unless the customer specifically requests it, with a maximum penalty of $500 and three months in jail for a first offense--and up to a year for each offense after that.

The coldest temperature on record is minus 55 degrees Fahrenheit. (Without wind chill!) This happened on February 2, 1996, and again two days later, in the Sawyer County village of Couderay.

The cornerstone for the Wisconsin capitol was laid in Madison in 1837, and the legislature first met there in 1838. The city is named for Founding Father and U.S. President James Madison.

Resting on the shores of Lake Michigan, the city of Sheboygan is the freshwater surf capital of the world, boasting some of the best waves on the Great Lakes.

The sugar maple (Acer saccharum) is best known for being the primary source of maple syrup and for its brightly colored fall foliage.

In 1969 the G. Heileman Brewery built six 54-foot-tall storage tanks at its plant in La Crosse, Wisconsin, then painted them to resemble cans of Heileman's Old Style Lager beer. Thirty years later, the brewery was sold, and the "World's Largest Six Pack" was labeled with a new brand of beer: La Crosse Lager.