30 CURIOSITIES OF THE UNITED STATES

1. A 16-year-old student designed the current flag

One of the funniest curiosities of the United States is the process of choosing the current flag of the country. Robert G.
Heft, a 16-year-old student, created the design by cutting parts of an old flag of his grandparents as work for the
history class. The professor put a remarkable low, but Heft believed he deserved more. Reaching the agreement that,
if the design was accepted by Congress, the professor would put an excellent. Not only did it end up like that, but Heft
has visited the White House up to 14 times thanks to that history work.

2. The Armed Forces only accept “Made in USA” flags

Since 2014, the law requires the Department of Defense to buy flags made in the United States. One more example of
patriotism, since they believe that the army must fight alongside flags created in their country. In addition, they avoid
paying taxes abroad.

3. Christmas was illegal

One of the most incredible curiosities of the United States is that celebrating Christmas was illegal until 1907. The
reason? It was considered an ancient pagan holiday that did not fit the religiousness of the country. It's funny that
there are now a lot of villages called "Christmas" or there are even three "Santa Claus".

4. United States of Earth? One of the most surreal curiosities of the United States
In 1893 an amendment was proposed to change the name from United States of America to United States of the
Earth. The congressmen who drove the change believed that the country not only had power over its territory, but over
the entire world.

5. It has had 9 different capitals

The original capital of the United States was Philadelphia, but from there it was not transferred to Washingon D.C.
directly. Not much less! From 1774 to 1800, Congress met in numerous locations. Therefore, it can be considered that
up to 8 more cities were the political capital of the country at the time: Baltimore, Lancaster, York, Princeton,
Annapolis, Trenton, New York and, finally, Washington D.C.

20 curiosities of Washington D.C.

6. It is the most obese country in the world
This is surely one of the least surprising curiosities of the United States. It is known for being the country of fast food
and it shows. Two thirds of Americans are overweight and half of these are obese. Both McDonald’s have taken a toll,
although Subway recently surpassed the hamburger chain, becoming the largest restaurant chain in the world.

curiosities of the United States

McDonald’s, a culprit of one of the most negative US curiosities
7. 40 hectares of pizza are consumed per day
Not only do hamburgers contribute to being overweight, pizza is a favorite food of Americans. So many pizzas are
consumed daily that the surface of 40 soccer fields could be filled. There are more than 60,000 pizzerias across the
country, which collapse especially the night of the Superbowl final. The oldest is Lombardi’s, which opened in 1905. It
is in New York and remains one of the best in the city.

The best places to eat cheap in New York

8. Every citizen owes $ 54,000
The cradle of capitalism cannot boast of having a healthy economy. In fact, each person would have to pay $ 54,000
to end the debts. Unfortunately, 48% of the population is considered to have low incomes, but at the same time there
are almost 170,000 students with loans of more than $ 200,000 to pay for their studies. The last day without national
debt in the United States was January 8, 1836. Crazy, right?

9. It has the least populated capital in the world

Only 0.21% of the country's population lives in the capital, the lowest percentage in the entire world behind Pakistan
and Nigeria. One of the most surprising curiosities of the United States ... Would you like to be last in something, with
how competitive they are? ?

Discover the population of capitals around the world

10. It would take 4 planets to withstand US consumption
With the pace of consumption and waste generated by the United States, four Earth planets would be needed to
endure it without suffering. To give you an idea, an American consumes the same as 32 Kenyans, for example.
Although eye, not only happens in the United States, but in most developed countries.

11. They have a problem with the environment

One of the most worrying curiosities of the United States is that they recycle almost nothing. Only 34% of waste is
recycled. It is estimated that reaching 75% would be equivalent to eliminating 50 million cars. But it does not seem to
be an issue that will improve, since Trump brought the country out of the Paris Accords, which limit the emission of
polluting gases. The United States, Syria and Nicaragua are the only countries that are not part of the agreement.
12. Maternity leave is not paid
Unfortunately, the United States is one of three countries that have no economic attributes to mothers who are low
after giving birth. The other two are Suriname and Papua New Guinea. It is a very controversial issue that has the
complaints of many women.

13. "In God we trust"

The current motto of the United States was chosen in 1956, but it already had a long history. It originated in 1861,
during the Civil War, when religious sentiment grew in the population Since then, this inscription appears on all
currencies and dollar bills.

curiosities of the United States

The dollar bill, has the inscription "In God We Trust"
14. Canada could be the 51st state
If Canada requests admission to the United States, it would automatically be admitted as the 51st state of the country.
This is indicated by one of the 13 Articles of the Confederation, ratified in 1781.

15. The United States government can disable all GPS in the world
The GPS system was purchased by the United States Department of Defense. It is paid with the taxes of the
Americans, but at any time it can be deactivated by some interest of the country. At the moment, since 1995 the
participation of the United States in various wars has never been extinguished.

16. Has no official language

Although English is the most widely spoken language in the United States, there is no law that establishes it as the
official language of the country. Apart from English, hundreds of languages and dialects are spoken, with Spanish
being the most common.

17. Interracial marriages were prohibited for many years

For most of the history of the United States, couples of different ethnicities do not have sex or get married. It was not
until 1967 that the pitiful Racil Integrity Law was abolished. That law distinguishes human beings according to their
skin color and prevented mixed relationships. In addition, it forces the sterilization of "crazy, idiots, morons or
epileptics." And to think that "alone" 50 years ago ...

18. The Freedom Campaign has a misspelling

The famous campaign rang for the first time on July 8, 1776, during the first public reading of the Declaration of
Independence in Philadelphia. After sounding officially for the last time in 1846, the famous crack was made that is
now so characteristic. If you visit it in Philadelphia, look at the registration it has. He puts "Pensylvania" with only one
N. So there are no autocorrectors yet?

25 things to see and do in Philadelphia

19. If you visit the United States, avoid Detroit
Detroit is the most dangerous city in the country, with 1,988 murders per 100,000 people. In contrast, Honolulu is the
largest safest city in the country with only 230 crimes per 100,000 inhabitants. Of course, there are many Hawaiians
who still claim to be very different from the rest of continental America. Does the truth that shows difference, lead a
much more relaxed life?

Discover 23 curiosities of Hawaii

20. The highest mountain in the world is in the United States
We have been cheated for a lifetime. If measured from the base of the ocean, the inactive Mauna Kea volcano in
Hawaii surpasses Everest. On the surface only 4200 meters stand out from the Mauna Kea, but the total height
exceeds 10,000 meters! While Everest, the highest mountain in the world, measures 8848 meters.

curiosities of the United States

Mauna Kea volcano, protagonist of one of the curiosities of the United States
21. The idea of going to the moon was not funny to the population
In the 1960s, half of the Americans did not agree too much with the space mission that Armstrong and Aldrin had on
the moon's surface. The main reason was the great expense that involved. In fact, it is estimated that currently almost
a third of Americans still do not believe they will reach the moon.

22. The United States and the USSR planned to step on the moon by the hand
Before the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, the two countries were negotiating to make a joint mission to
the moon. But when Johnson took power, the Soviets did not trust him and the plan was never carried out.

Interestingly, although it seems that the two leading countries of the Cold War are far only 3800 meters apart in the
Bering Strait.
23. How much did Alaska cost?
Another business that the United States and Russia have had is the purchase of Alaska. The US government paid $
7.2 million for the territory in 1867. To have another reference, when he bought the Danish part of the Virgin Islands,
he paid the equivalent of 25 million gold bullion.

24. A deadly law against alcohol

The US government banned alcoholic beverages from 1919 to 1933. The 18th amendment was introduced in the
constitution to establish the famous dry law. But not only that ... Everyone who tries to cheat to get liquors in one way
or another ended up dead. The government poisoned alcoholic beverages, causing more than 10,000 deaths.

25. With or without alcohol, the country's first bar is in New York
The oldest bar in the United States was built in 1668 in the town of Tappan, north of New York. It's called '76 House
and you can still visit it. Moreover, it is interesting to see it because it still looks old.

26. Wyoming pioneered the female vote

And after the 18th amendment came the 19th, much more important, which gave women the right to vote. One of the
curiosities of the United States that must be celebrated the most is the state of Wyoming took a few years to allow the
female vote. In 1869 the citizens of the state and the voters. Therefore, it was also the first state to have a governor in
1924: Nellie Tayloe Ross.

27. The first American woman to win an Olympic gold won a porcelain bowl
At the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, no medals were given, but gifts were given to the winners. But the most
surprising thing is not that, but Margaret Abbott died without knowing she was an Olympic women's golf champion. He
was visiting Paris with his mother and decided to join a golf tournament without knowing that it was part of the Olympic
Games program.

28. The Californian bear is a myth

The state flag of California is one of the most famous in the entire country. The brown bear is the protagonist because
it is the official animal of the state. But, paradoxically, I haven't seen any of these animals in California since 1922. The
vast majority were hunted or moved to zoos.

curiosities of the United States

It has been almost 100 years since this bear, star of one of the curiosities of the United States
29. The Pentagon is the largest office building in the world
With more than 27 kilometers of corridors distributed over five floors, the Pentagon holds the world record. Although
much of that space is totally wasted. There are twice as many bathrooms as necessary because it began to build
when the laws that segregated black citizens were still in force. Luckily, it was abolished before the inauguration and
the Pentagon was the first Virginia state building to have the same spaces for everyone. To give you the idea, the
construction cost more than 2 billion dollars at the current exchange rate.

30. The town of the five flags

And to end this list of curiosities of the United States, we will contact the first town in the country. It is northeast of
Florida and is called Pensacola. The first Spanish settlement was founded there in 1698. Although it is curious that it is
known as the “city of the five flags” because it was under the control of Spain, France, Britain, the United States and
the 11 Confederate States of America that separated from the country from 1861 to 1865.Flappers

Flappers were a generation of young Western women in the 1920s who wore skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz,
and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior. Flappers were seen as brash for wearing
excessive makeup, drinking, smoking cigarettes, driving automobiles, treating sex in a casual manner, and otherwise
flouting social and sexual norms.[1] Flappers are icons of the Roaring Twenties, the social, political turbulence and
increased transatlantic cultural exchange that followed the end of World War I, as well as the export of American jazz
culture to Europe

A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often
performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from
the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of special significance and legend.[1] A subtype, called
a wrangler, specifically tends the horses used to work cattle. In addition to ranch work, some cowboys work for or
participate in rodeos. Cowgirls, first defined as such in the late 19th century, had a less-well documented historical
role, but in the modern world work at identical tasks and have obtained considerable respect for their achievements.[2]
Cattle handlers in many other parts of the world, particularly South America and Australia, perform work similar to the
cowboy.

Cowboys

The cowboy has deep historic roots tracing back to Spain and the earliest European settlers of the Americas. Over the
centuries, differences in terrain and climate, and the influence of cattle-handling traditions from multiple cultures,
created several distinct styles of equipment, clothing and animal handling. As the ever-practical cowboy adapted to the
modern world, his equipment and techniques also adapted, though many classic traditions are preserved.
The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World; French: La Liberté éclairant le monde) is a colossal neoclassical
sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York, in the United States. The copper statue, a gift from the
people of France to the people of the United States, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and
its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886.

The Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty is a figure of Libertas, a robed Roman liberty goddess. She holds a torch above her head with
her right hand, and in her left hand carries a tabula ansata inscribed in Roman numerals with "JULY IV MDCCLXXVI"
(July 4, 1776), the date of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. A broken shackle and chain lie at her feet as she
walks forward, commemorating the recent national abolition of slavery.[7] The statue became an icon of freedom and
of the United States, and a national park tourism destination. It is a welcoming sight to immigrants arriving from
abroad.

Bartholdi was inspired by a French law professor and politician, Édouard René de Laboulaye, who is said to have
commented in 1865 that any monument raised to U.S. independence would properly be a joint project of the French
and U.S. peoples. Because of the post-war instability in France, work on the statue did not commence until the early
1870s. In 1875, Laboulaye proposed that the French finance the statue and the U.S. provide the site and build the
pedestal. Bartholdi completed the head and the torch-bearing arm before the statue was fully designed, and these
pieces were exhibited for publicity at international expositions.

The torch-bearing arm was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, and in Madison Square
Park in Manhattan from 1876 to 1882. Fundraising proved difficult, especially for the Americans, and by 1885 work on
the pedestal was threatened by lack of funds. Publisher Joseph Pulitzer, of the New York World, started a drive for
donations to finish the project and attracted more than 120,000 contributors, most of whom gave less than a dollar.
The statue was built in France, shipped overseas in crates, and assembled on the completed pedestal on what was
then called Bedloe's Island. The statue's completion was marked by New York's first ticker-tape parade and a
dedication ceremony presided over by President Grover Cleveland.

The statue was administered by the United States Lighthouse Board until 1901 and then by the Department of War;
since 1933 it has been maintained by the National Park Service as part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.
Public access to the balcony around the torch has been barred since 1916.

Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam (initials U.S.) is a common national personification of the U.S. federal government or the country in general
that, according to legend, came into use during the War of 1812 and was supposedly named for Samuel Wilson. The
actual origin is by a legend.[3] Since the early 19th century, Uncle Sam has been a popular symbol of the US
government in American culture and a manifestation of patriotic emotion.[4] While the figure of Uncle Sam represents
specifically the government, Columbia represents the United States as a nation.

The first reference to Uncle Sam in formal literature (as distinct from newspapers) was in the 1816 allegorical book
The Adventures of Uncle Sam, in Search After His Lost Honor by Frederick Augustus Fidfaddy, Esq.[5] Other possible
references date to the American Revolutionary War: an Uncle Sam is mentioned as early as 1775, in the original lyrics
of "Yankee Doodle",[6] though it is not clear whether this reference is to Uncle Sam as a metaphor for the United
States, or to an actual person named Sam. The lyrics as a whole celebrate the military efforts of the young nation in
besieging the British at Boston. The 13th stanza is:

Old Uncle Sam come there to change

Some pancakes and some onions,
For 'lasses cakes, to carry home
To give his wife and young ones.