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Mississippi Trivia
1. The event which led to the creation of the TEDDY BEAR
occurred near Onward, in 1901, when President Theodore
Roosevelt, acting upon the suggestion of some friends,
visited the state on a hunt for wild game. A bear was
located by a member of the hunting party and was held for
the President's pleasure. The bear was exhausted and
possibly lame, some claim it was a mere cub. In any case,
Roosevelt refused to shoot the helpless bear because he
found it unsporting. News of the President's refusal to
shoot the bear spread far and wide. Soon after, Morris
Michtom, a New York merchant, made toy history when he
created a stuffed toy bear and labeled it "TEDDY'S BEAR."
Mr. Michtom placed the bear in his candy store to draw
attention. His success was so great that it led to the
formation of the Ideal Toy Corporation in 1903. The TEDDY
BEAR remains today a favorite toy for children everywhere.
2. The University of Mississippi Blues Archive in Oxford
contains the world's largest collection of Blues music.
3. The world's first round trip transoceanic flight was
performed in 1928 by H.T. Merrill, from Iuka. The flight
to England was made in a plane loaded with ping pong
balls.
4. Vardaman, is the Sweet Potato Capital of the world.
Each year, in November, the Sweet Potato Festival is held
in Vardaman.
5. William Faulkner, one of the literary giants of the
twentieth century, was born in New Albany. His
accomplishments include winning the Nobel prize for
Literature, two Pulitzer Prizes and the National Book
Award. He is considered to be the greatest writer of
fiction during the first half of the 20th century. His
novels include THE REIVERS, THE SOUND AND THE FURY, LIGHT
IN AUGUST, and ABSALOM, ABSALOM! His home, Rowan Oak, is
in Oxford, and is open to the public. At Rowan Oak, the
visitor can view Faulkner's room where an outline for A
FABLE, has been scribbled on the wall by the author's own
hand.
6. Tupelo, is the birthplace of the "King of Rock and
Roll," Elvis Presley. Here can be visited the Elvis
Presley Museum, Chapel and the two-room, "shot-gun" style
house where he was born.
7. The world's oldest Holiday Inn is located in
Clarksdale.
8. Lawrence "Rabbit" Kennedy, of Amory, was the most
decorated soldier in the U.S. Army.
9. Oxford is home of John Grisham, author of THE FIRM,
PELICAN BRIEF, THE CLIENT, and A TIME TO KILL.
10. General Frank Gregory, of Shelby, is one of the
principal developers of the helicopter.
11. Guy Bush, of Tupelo, was one of the most valuable
players with the Chicago Cubs. He was on the 1929 World
Series team and Babe Ruth hit his last home run off a ball
pitched by Bush.
12. During the 1930's one of Mississippi' s most famous
pilots, a barnstormer by the name of Roscoe Turner, of
Corinth, was proclaimed to be one if the best speed pilots
in the U.S. But he was perhaps best known for flying with
his animal mascot named Gilmore, an African lion cub. A
world renowned aviator, Turner is featured in the National
Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institute and is
the only three time winner of the Thompson Trophy Race. In
Corinth, during August. visitors can enjoy the Annual
Roscoe Turner Hot Air Balloon Races, which offer a weekend
of fun, festivities, food and entertainment.
13. Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, of Civil
War fame, was reared in Benton County and was pronounced
by military historians and critics alike to be the
foremost calvary officer ever produced in America.
14. S.B. "Sam" Vick of Oakland, played for the New York
Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. He was the only man ever
to pinch hit for baseball great Babe Ruth.
15. Blazon-Flexible Flyer, Inc., in West Point, is
proclaimed to make the very best snow sled in the U.S.,
which has become an American tradition. It is of course
called THE FLEXIBLE FLYER.
CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI
16. The world's first human lung transplant was performed
at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in
Jackson, in 1963. The world's first heart transplant was
performed at the Center the following year.
17. Mississippi College, in Clinton, was the first
co-educational college in the United States to grant a
degree to a woman.
18. Jimmie Rodgers, from Meridian, was often hailed as
"The Father of Country Music" and was the first name
placed in the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville,
Tennessee. The Jimmie Rodgers Museum, in Meridian, is
dedicated to "The Singing Brakeman," and features his
original guitar, other memorabilia of his life and career
and collectibles from the steam engine era.
19. Mississippi produces more than 80% of the world's
supply of farm-raised catfish. Each year, in April, the
World Catfish Festival is held in Belzoni, which is known
as the Catfish Capital of the World.
20. In 1982, through a Joint Resolution of the United
States Congress, Jackson became the official home of the
USA International Ballet Competition, which is now held
every fourth year in Jackson, during the second weekend in
June. This dance competition is touted as the Olympics of
Dance, where competitors vie for gold, silver and bronze
medals, cash awards and scholarships. Jackson is the only
city in the United States to host this international event
while in Europe host cities include Moscow, Russia;
Helsinki, Finland: Paris, France and Varna, Bulgaria.
21. The second largest cotton exchange in the United
States is Cotton Row, located in Greenwood.
22. Greenwood is the Cotton Capital of the World.
23. Greenville is the Towboat Capital of the World.
24. In Rose Hill Cemetery, in Meridian, can be found the
graves of Emil and Kelly Mitchell, the King and Queen of
all the Gypsies in the United States. People travel from
near and far to leave small gifts of fruit and juice at
the grave sites in a cemetery that has been, since 1915,
the burial site for the Gypsy Royal Family.
25. The 4-H Club was founded in Holmes County, in 1907.
26. Mississippi native Ethel Wright Mohamed is world
renowned for her unique style of art stitchery and is
touted as the "Grandma Moses of Stitchery." Her works are
on permanent display with the Smithsonian Institute.
However, many fine examples of her art may be seen at the
Ethel Wright Mohamed Museum, "Mama's Dream World," located
at 307 Central Street, in Belzoni.
27. The governor's Mansion, circa 1842, in Jackson, is the
second oldest executive residence in the United States
that has been continuously occupied as a gubernatorial
residence. The Mansion was designated a National Historic
Landmark by the U.S. Department of Interior in 1975.
28. The Petrified Forest, located in Flora, is found to be
about 36 million years old and is a National Registered
Landmark.
29. The Waterways Experiment Station is the largest
research, testing and development facility of the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers. It is located in Vicksburg.
30. Greenville is the birthplace of puppetmaster Jim
Henson, creator of Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Big Bird,
Cookie Monster..., the list goes on and on. In Leland,
where he spent his boyhood along Deer Creek, can be found
an exhibit dedicated to this unique individual who has
made the world laugh and smile at the antics of his
Muppets and the Sesame Street Characters.
31. In Greenwood Cemetery, in Jackson, you will find the
grave sites of seven Mississippi governors, four State
Supreme Court Justices, four Episcopal bishops, one
Methodist bishop and James Lynch, an African-American who
served as Mississippi's Secretary of State during the
post-Civil War years. Also, you will find numerous graves
of Civil War soldiers.
32. Friendship Cemetery, in Columbus, has been called
"Where Flowers Healed A Nation." It was April 25, 1866 and
the Civil War had been over for a year when the ladies of
Columbus decided to decorate the Confederate and Union
soldier's graves with beautiful bouquets and garlands of
flowers. As a direct result of this kind gesture,
Americans celebrate what has come to be called Memorial
Day each year, an annual observance of recognition of our
war dead.
33. The Biedenharn Candy Company Museum, in Vicksburg,
commemorates the site where Coca-Cola was first bottled in
1894.
34. The Dentzel Carousel, circa 1892-99, in Meridian, is
the world's only two-row stationary Dentzel menagerie in
existence. Original paintings of museum quality adorn the
top crown of the carousel and all animals are meticulously
hand-carved of basswood and poplar. The carousel has been
designated a National Historic Landmark.
35. Shoes were first sold in boxes in pairs (right foot
and left foot) in Vicksburg, at Phil Gilbert's Shoe Parlor
on Washington Street in 1884.
36. Kosciusko is the birthplace of Ophrah Winfrey,
nationally syndicated talk show hostess and actress.
37. Greenville is home to Shelby Foote, novelist,
historian and Pulitzer prize winner.
38. Margaret Walker Alexander, of Jackson, is a poet,
novelist, essayist, and author of an international best
seller.
39. Beth Henley is a playwright and Pulitzer Prize winner
from Jackson.
40. Eudora Welty is a world renowned novelist, short story
writer, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize as well as the
American Book Award. Ms. Welty is from Jackson, where she
makes her home today.
41. Tennessee Williams (Thomas Lanier), born in Columbus,
was a novelists, short story writer, poet, playwright, and
winner of two Pulitzer Prizes and four New York Drama
Circle Critics Awards. He was known to spend his summers
in Clarksdale.
42. James Dotson Byrd, of Clinton, is an inventor and
polymer scientist with more than 40 technical publications
to his credit. Mr. Byrd holds seven U.S. patents and
developed the plastic used as a heat shield in the NASA
Space Program.
43. Harry A. Cole, Sr., of Jackson, invented Pine-Sol.
44. Author Guyton, of Jackson, is a physician and the
author of the most widely used text of physiology in the
world.
45. Mississippi University for Women was the first state
college for women in the nation and was established in
Columbus, by an act of the Mississippi Legislature, March
12,1884.
46. The largest Bible binding plant in the nation is the
Norris Bookbinding Company in Greenwood, Mississippi.
47. The first female rural mail carrier in the U.S. was
Mrs. Mamie Thomas, who delivered mail by buggy in 1914 to
the area southeast of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
48. The largest cottonwood plantation in the world is the
Fitler Plantation, in Issaquena County.
49. Every commercial airliner in the free world has at
least one hydraulic component on it that is designed and
manufactured at Vickers, Incorporated, which is the leader
in hydraulics and is located in Jackson.
50. The Federal Building in Jackson, is the first federal
building in the U.S. to be named for an African-American.
Dr. A.H. McCoy was a prominent dentist and business
leader.
51. Mississippi University for Women graduate, Ms. Neill
James, of Meridian, has authored several travel books,
including THE PETTICOAT VAGABOND, and is credited with
introducing the silk industry to Ajijic, Mexico. in 1983
she was inducted into The International Who's Who of
Intellectuals in Cambridge, England.
52. After the Civil War, famed hatmaker John B. Stetson
learned and practiced his trade at Dunn's Falls near
Meridian, Mississippi.
53. The Union gunboat, the U.S.S. Cairo (pronounced
Kay-ro) struck a Confederate torpedo in the Yazoo River on
December 12, 1862, just north of Vicksburg. The 175 foot
iron clad vessel became the first ship in history to be
sunk by an electrically detonated torpedo. All 160 men on
board escaped injury because it took the Cairo about 12
minutes to sink and also because it took the Cairo about
12 minutes to sink and also because it was close to the
river bank. The Cairo has in recent years been resurrected
from its watery grave and is now on display at the Cairo
Museum in the Vicksburg National Military Park.
54. According to many soldiers and military historians the
most decisive battle of the entire Civil War was fought in
Mississippi and was called the Battle of Champion' s Hill.
Each Spring this crucial battle is reenacted near the
small town of Edwards on the actual battle site.
55. The oldest field game in America is Stickball, played
by the Choctaw Indians of Mississippi. Stickball is a
rough game played on a large field with goalposts
(precursors of the modern-day football goals) erected at
each end of the field. Demonstrations of this sport can be
seen each year at the Annual Choctaw Indian Fair, a
week-long event held in July on the Choctaw Indian
Reservation in Philadelphia, Mississippi.
56. 1870 was the year of the famous riverboat race between
the Robert E. Lee I and the Natches VI. The race was won
by the Robert E. Lee I and the traditional trophy awarded
was a huge set of "Golden Elk Antlers," which are now on
display at the Old Courthouse Museum in Vicksburg.
57. The Marathon "Gorilla" is the world's largest and
heaviest mobil off-shore jack up (self-elevating) oil rig.
This colossal rig was built in Vicksburg, by Marathon
LeTourneau Company and stands over 600 feet tall with a
weight of approximately 38 million pounds. This monstrous
drilling platform moves across land at a snail's pace of
100 feet per day.
58. On May 11, 1887, a most unexpected object fell from
the sky during a severe hail storm near Bovina. The
unusual object proved to be a 6-inch by 8-inch gopher
turtle completely encased in ice.
59. In 1872 a 180 foot paddle wheeler, The Iron Mountain,
left Vicksburg, bound for New Orleans with 55 passengers
and crew on board, laden with a cargo of molasses and
towing barges of cotton. Two hours after The Iron Mountain
left Vicksburg, another steamer, The Iroquois Chief,
almost collided with a string of runaway cotton barges.
The Iron Mountain had simply vanished, leaving no debris
or survivors. A search was mounted but no sign of The Iron
Mountain was ever found.
60. The last man to fight Rocky Marciano, World
Heavyweight Champion from 1952-1956, was Archie Moore from
Benoit, Mississippi. Though Archie Moore lost to Rocky, he
did hold the Light-heavyweight title from 1952-1960.
61. Henry Armstrong, of Columbus, held the World Champion
Featherweight title in 1937, the World Lightweight title
in 1938 and the World Welterweight title during the years
1938-1940.
62. Riley B. King, the blues singer and guitarist who was
born in Mississippi near Itta Bena on September 16, 1925,
no longer uses his real name but goes by B.B. King. This
is the shortened form of Blues Boys from Beale Street, a
nickname given to him during his days after World War II
while he was working as a disc jockey at radio station
WDIA, in Memphis, Tennessee. Charles Sawyer, author of
B.B. King - The Authorized Biography, says B.B. names his
guitar "Luicille" after an incident which took place in
Twist, Arkansas, in 1949. It seems that a fight broke out
between rivals over a lady named Lucille. In the melee a
kerosene heater was turned over, setting the dance hall on
fire. B.B. fled with the rest of the crowd, but realizing
he had left his guitar behind he impulsively rushed back
inside, snatched up the guitar on the run and escaped the
fast spreading flames a second time.
63. Fred Grant, the teenage son of General U.S. Grant,
accompanied his father on the Vicksburg campaign during
the Civil War. While in Jackson, to watch the raising of
the U.S. flag over the dome of the state capitol building,
the young man removed a smoking pipe from the governor's
office as a souvenir.
64. In the Civil War section of the Old Capitol Museum in
Jackson, you'll find an authentic General William T.
Sherman necktie. Such an example of a Sherman necktie is
quite rare. What is a Sherman necktie? A railroad rail
heated over a fire and bent around a tree. This was the
method Sherman used to render the rail system in the South
useless and was very successful in his attempts. This
particular necktie was found buried in a muddy bank of the
Pearl River, just a few hundred yards from the museum that
now houses the rail, the same museum that borders some of
the very tracks Sherman destroyed on his destructive sweep
throughout the South.
SOUTH MISSISSIPPI
65. Leontyne Price, from Laurel, was the first
African-American to achieve international stardom in the
field of opera. Ms. Price was with the New York
Metropolitan Opera and gave her last performance on
January 3, 1985, in the title role of AIDA.
66. In 1882, the world's first heavyweight championship
fight took place in Mississippi City, and was won by John
L. Sullivan. In 1889, Sullivan and Jake Kilrain fought a
heavyweight championship fight in the small town of
Richton, that lasted 75 rounds. Again, Sullivan was the
winner. This was the last sanctioned bare-knuckle fight in
America.
67. The University of Southern Mississippi, in
Hattiesburg, houses the de Grummond Exhibit, which is the
World's largest collection of original manuscripts and
illustrations of children's literature.
68. Alcorn State University, in Jefferson County, is the
world's oldest land grant college for African-Americans.
69. The International Checkers Hall of Fame is located in
Petal, Mississippi.
70. Windsor, near Port Gibson, was the largest antebellum
mansion ever built in Mississippi. Built in 1860, it
survived the Civil War, but was destroyed by a fire in
1890. Twenty-three mammoth columns are all that remain
today. The Ruins of Windsor has been filmed extensively
and was featured in the major motion picture "Raintree
County," starring Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Cliff.
71. Longwood, circa 1858-61, in Natchez, is the largest
remaining octagonal house in the United States. It is a
superb example of the mid-19th century Oriental style and
was originally designed by it's owner, Dr. Haller Rush
Nutt, with solar panels (strategically place mirrors) to
reflect the sun's rays for the purpose of heating water.
However, when the Civil War began, the workmen who were
from the north, abandoned saws and hammers and returned
home. Dr. Nutt, also a northerner, lost his wealth and
plantations across the river in Louisiana and died a
broken man. Longwood remains unfinished today, but that is
part of its charm. A visit will take you through the rooms
and corridors of this most unusual house where you will
find the workmen's tools left where they were dropped,
abandoned in their haste to quit the South.
72. Natchez, was first settled by the French in 1716, two
years before New Orleans, Louisiana, and is the oldest
settlement on the Mississippi River. Natchez once boasted
over 500 millionaires, more than any other city in the
United States, except New York. Natchez also has the
largest concentration of antebellum, or pre-Civil War,
structures in the country. Each year these homes are
opened for touring during Spring and Fall Pilgrimages and
many remain open to the public year-round.
73. Historic Jefferson College, circa 1802, was the first
preparatory school established in the Mississippi
Territory. Located in Washington, it was also the site
where tradition holds that Aaron Burr was arraigned for
treason in 1807 beneath what came to known as the "Burr
Oaks."
74. The "Devil's Punch Bowl," located near Natchez is one
of nature's freak occurrences. It is a gigantic,
semi-circular pit, somewhat cone-shaped. Connected with
this uncanny spot are countless traditions of river
pirates, runaway slaves, buried treasures, and other
involvements with adventure and romance.
75. The Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, located in
Natchez, has been designated a National Historic Landmark
by the National Park Service. Between 1682 and 1729, the
Grand Village was the center of activities for the Natchez
Indians. In 1730, the Natchez Indians attacked Fort
Rosalie, in Natchez, killing the French settlers. In
retaliation, the French attacked the Natchez Indians.
Those that were not killed, escaped and were absorbed by
other tribes of the region. According to A History of
Mississippi, by Robert Lowery, the Natchez indian nation
was one of Mississippi's early tribes, that could be
traced to Mexico where they aided Cortez in the conquest
of the country and the overthrow of Montezuma. Mr. Lowery
contends that the Natchez were of a light mahogany
complexion, with jet black hair and eyes; their expression
was intelligent, open and noble..., they were tall in
statue, very few being under six feet. Unfortunately, the
Natchez Indians have joined the ranks of the extinct so
that we cannot know, first hand, what they were like.
76. Natchez-Under-The-Hill was called Natchez Landing at
the turn of the nineteenth century, when it began to
acquire an infamous reputation as "the most notorious spot
on the Mississippi River." Above the hill the wealthy of
Natchez looked down upon the rougher elements of river
life that flowed in a steady stream as constant as the
river itself. Here could be found the gaming halls and
dens of vice where the lawless villainy gathered, as well
as bustling wharves, cluttered warehouses, shops and
boisterous saloons. today, much of the area has been
washed away by the river and all that remains is the ever
busy Silver Street where scenes were filmed for such
movies as "NORTH AND SOUTH," and most recently, Disney's
"HUCK FINN." Gaming has also returned to this historic
district in the form of the luxurious Lady Luck Casino,
where Law Vegas style gambling can be enjoyed 24 hours a
day.
77. Springfield Plantation, circa 1786-91, off the Natchez
Trace Parkway, near Fayette, was the site of the marriage
between Andrew Jackson and Rachel Robards, in 1791.
Springfield was one of the first houses in America built
with a full colonnade across the entire facade and is the
first such mansion to be built in the Mississippi Valley.
Springfield remains almost entirely original and is on the
National Register of Historic Places.
78. Camp Shelby, located south of Hattiesburg, was the
largest Army Training Camp in the United States during
World War II.
79. The Old Spanish Fort, located in Pascagoula, was built
between 1715 and 1726 and is the oldest edifice west of
the Atlantic coast. Originally, this historic structure
was the carpentry shop of Joseph Simon de La Pointe.
80. The Singing River, in Pascagoula, offers a tragic
legend of Indian lore. It is told that the Pascagoula
Indians were a tribe of contented, idyllic and innocent
people, whereas the Biloxi Indians considered themselves
the "first people," and grew jealous of the Pascagoula.
Legand says that Anola, a princess of the Biloxi tribe,
was in love with Altama, a young chieftain of the
Pascagoulas. She was betrothed to a chieftain of her own
tribe but fled with Altama to his people. Faced with
enslavement by the Biloxi tribe, the Pascagoula braves,
with their women and children leading the way, joined the
river until the last voice was hushed by the dark
engulfing waters. The Singing River is famous worldwide
for the singing sound it makes, very much like a swarm of
bees in flight. The sound is best heard during late summer
and autumn in the still of late evening. The music seems
to grow nearer and louder until it sounds as though it
comes from directly under foot. Various hypothetical
scientific explanations have been offered for the
phenomenon, but none have been proven.
81. In Natchez City Cemetery can be found the grave of
Jose Vidal, governor of Natchez Spanish District in 1798
and Spanish Consul; Issac Guion, commander of the U.S.
Forces that took control of the Natchez Territory; General
John A. Quitman, hero of the Mexican War and Governor of
Mississippi; Captain T.P. Leather, Captain of the
steamboat NATCHEZ in the famous river race with the
steamboat Robert E. Lee; William Johnson, a free
African-American barber whose published antebellum diary
is a unique account of the free African-American in the
pre-Civil War South; General W.T. Martin, Mississippi's
highest ranking Confederate officer.
82. William Grant Still, of Woodville, composed the
Afro-American Symphony which was the first symphonic work
by someone of his race to be performed in the U.S.
83. During the War of 1812, American gunboats engaged the
British fleet in the Gulf of Mexico near Bay St. Louis.
This proved to be the last battle to date between the U.S.
Navy and a foreign foe in American waters.
84. Burnita Shelton Mathews, of Hazlehurst, was the first
woman federal judge in the U.S. and served the district of
Washington, D.C.
85. Dr. Emmette F. Izard, of Hazelhurst, developed the
first fibers of rayon, the first real synthetic.
86. Dizzy Dean, from Bond, was a member of the Baseball
Hall of Fame, former pitcher for St. Louis Cardinals and
sports television commentator. The Dizzy Dean Museum is
located in Jackson, Mississippi.
87. The Mississippi Gulf Coast has long been one of the
South's most popular seashore resort areas. The world's
longest man-made beach averages 200 feet in width and
stretches for 26 miles along the Mississippi Coast where
it edges gracious homes, modern hotels, numerous fine
restaurants, and most recently, Las Vegas style gaming
casinos.
88. On February 18, 1861, Jefferson Davis, a former
Senator form Warren County, was inaugurated as President
of the Confederate States of America. rosemont, "Where my
memories began," said Jefferson Davis of his boyhood home,
is located in Woodville, Mississippi. His last home was
Beauvoir, located in Biloxi, Mississippi. Both homes are
open to the public for touring and Beauvoir houses a fine
collection of Civil War/Jefferson Davis memorabilia.
Legend holds that Beauvoir was built in 1852-54 with
cypress logs by a Madison County planter names James Brown
who, reportedly pulled the logs from a Louisiana swamp and
used camels to carry them to Lake Pontchartrain for
transportation to Biloxi.
89. The first can of condensed milk was produced by Gail
Borden in the small town of Liberty, where his home still
stands.
90. The first nuclear submarine built in the South was
produced in Mississippi.
91. The first permanent European settlement in the lower
Mississippi Valley was established in Ocean Springs in
1699 by Frenchman Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville. Each
year, the Landing of d'Iberville festival is held there to
commemorate this historic event.
92. In 1834, Captain Isaac Ross, whose plantation was in
Lorman, freed his slaves and arranged for them to be sent
to Africa, where they founded the country of Liberia.
Recently, representatives of Liberia visited Lorman and
placed a stone at the Captain's grave site in honor of his
kindness.
93. U.S. Highway 90, between Bay St. Louis and New
Orleans, Louisiana, in known as the Praline Capitol of the
World. What is a praline? For a confectionery treat, try
it yourself. Here is the recipe:
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of mild
1/2 teaspoon soda
pinch of salt
2 Tablespoons Karo syrup
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
2 1/2 cups pecans
Combine sugar, milk, soda, salt and Karo syrup.
Boil briskly for 5 minutes , stirring frequently.
Add butter and pecans. Stir constantly for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and cool for 1 minute. Beat until
creamy and drop by teaspoon on wax paper.
94. Dr. Charles Bryant, former president of Chamberlain
Hunt Academy in Port Gibson, as an amateur archaeologist
in the late 1960's, discovered the lost Biblical town of
Trogylium on the eastern shore of the island of Samos in
the Aegean Sea near the southern coastline of Turkey. This
town which appeared for so long to be lost was deleted
from the newer Bible translations but can still be found
in the King James Version of the Bible where it was
visited by the Apostle Paul in Acts 20:15.
95. Oliver Pollock, the largest individual financial
contributor to the American War of Independence, is buried
near Pinckneyville, but is best known as the man who
invented the ($) sign.
96. Jackson County, is famed worldwide for its development
of none of the ten most successful varieties of
"paper-shell" pecans: Stuart, Success, Schley, Alley,
Delmas, Papst, Russell, Hall and Lewis.
97. Resin Bowie, the famous inventor of the "Bowie Knife"
is buried in the Catholic cemetery in Port Gibson. The
knife, fashioned by a Philadelphia, Pennsylavania, cutter
form a blacksmith's rasp after Resin Bowie's model, was
made famous by younger brother Jim Bowie, in a duel on a
sandbar near Natchez.
98. Joe Newman, a professional inventor from Lucedale,
holds patents on plastic-covered barbell sets, an orange
picker and several other unusual devices. Mr. Newman also
invented an "energy machine" which, according to several
well known physicists and engineers: "actually produces
more energy than it consumes."
99. The first Southerner to use Negro dialect in poetry
was Mississippi, Irwin Russell, born in Port Gibson, in
1853. His long poem "Christmas Night In The Quarter,"
earned for him the stamp of genius.
100. During the period between 1824-47 Joseph Holt
Ingraham, of Natchez, wrote and published 80 novels -
approximately 10 percent of all novels published in the
U.S. during that period. Included in this literary feat
was the first successful Biblical novel ever published,
PRINCE OF THE HOUSE OF DAVID.
101. Will Price of McComb, was the script consultant for
the movie GONE WITH THE WIND, and later married Maureen
O'Hara.
102. In 1871 Liberty became the first town in the U.S. to
erect a Confederate monument.
103. Throughout the Civil War General U.S. Grant rode a
horse called Cincinnati. However, in his memoirs he
admitted that while near Vicksburg he stole a small horse
from Brierfield Plantation, which was then owned by
Confederate President Jefferson Davis. What did he name
this horse? Jeff Davis, of course.
104. Mississippi's original soft drink, Barq's Root Beer,
was invented by Edward Barq, Sr. of Biloxi. The building
in which this drink was made and bottled still stands and
is located at 224 Keller Avenue, one block off U.S.
Highway 90 in Biloxi. The secret formula is mixed by
Edward "Sonny" Barq IV, who is the quality control
specialist, and sold to Barq's franchises in every state
in the nation.
105. The world's largest hardboard manufacturing plant is
Masonite Corporation, located in Laurel, Mississippi.
106. The Pass Christian Yacht Club formed in 1849 in Pass
Christian, holds the distinction of being the second
oldest yacht club in North America. The oldest is the New
York Yacht Club in New York City, organized in 1844.
107. The world's only cactus plantation is located near
Edwards, and grows more than 3,000 varieties of cacti.
108. The rarest of North American cranes lives in
Mississippi in the grassy savannas of Jackson County. The
Mississippi Sandhill Crane stands about 44 inches tall and
has an eight-foot wing-span.
109. Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield was known as the "Black
Swan," and was America's first African-American singer of
classical music. She was born in Natchez in 1809.
110. In 1978, during the presidency of Jimmy Carter,
Confederate President Jefferson Davis was restored his
U.S. citizenship.
MISCELLANEOUS
111. In 1839, the Mississippi Legislature passed one of
the first laws in the English speaking world protecting
the property rights of married women.
112. The Natchez Trace Parkway begins it's 450 mile scenic
route in Natchez and extends across Mississippi into
Alabama and ends near Nashville, Tennessee. The Trace,
which began as a buffalo and Indian trail, is more that
8,000 years old.
113. Mississippi has more tree farms than any other state,
according to the American Forest Institute.
114. Mississippian, W.A. Scott, founded the first
African-American owned newspaper, THE ATLANTA DAILY WORLD.
115. National parks in Mississippi include: Vicksburg
National Military Park; Natchez Trace Parkway; Gulf
Islands National Seashore and Natchez National Historic
Park.
116. The Mississippi Delta is the birthplace of Blues
music, the only music truly original to America. The Blues
was born of the hardships suffered by Blacks as they
toiled beneath the hot sun in the cotton fields of rich
Delta farmland.
117. In 1870, Mississippi was readmitted to the Union. It
was during this time, the Reconstruction Period, that
Hiram Revels was elected as the first African-American to
the U.S. Senate.
118. The Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) was founded in
Mississippi in 1909.
119. Mississippi is the birthplace of the Order of the
Eastern Star.
120. Mississippi was the first state in the nation to have
a planned system of junior colleges.
121. Since the 1930's Mississippi has been known as the
Magnolia State and the Hospitality State. Few people know
that it was also called the Bayou State, from a speech by
Sergeant Smith Prentiss in 1841 where he told of the
earliest Mississippians, the mound builders, who had
connected all of the Delta area by way of an intricate
pattern of waterways or "bayous."
122. The Choctaw Indians are the largest tribe to live in
Mississippi and at one time possessed more than 50
villages. Their warriors were said to number 25,000. What
does the name Choctaw mean? "Charming Voices," because of
their proficiency in singing.
123. What does the word Mississippi mean? Mississippi is
Choctaw for "Father of Water," and refers of course to the
Mississippi River, from whence the State takes its name.
124. The Mississippi River is the only U.S. river whose
approaches were mined with explosives during World War II.
This was done by Germany in 1942.
125. During the Civil War some 78,000 Mississippians
entered the Confederate military. By the end of the war,
59,000 of the 78,000 were either dead or wounded.
FAMOUS MISSISSIPPIANS IN THE FIELD OF ENTERTAINMENT
Dana Andrew - Collins, Actor
Moe Bandy - Meridian, Singer/Songwriter
Jimmy Buffett - Pascagoula, Singer/Songwriter/Novelist
Sam Chatom - Bolton, Blues Singer
Jerry Clower - Yazoo City, Comedian
Paul Davis - Meridian, Songwriter
Bo Diddley (Elias McDaniels) - Singer/Songwriter
Pete Fountain - Bay St. Louis, Musician
Morgan Freeman - Greenwood, Actor
Cynthia Geary - Jackson, Actor
Bobbie Gentry - Chickasaw County, Singer
Mickey Gilley - Natchez, Singer
Jim Henson - Greenwood, Creator of Muppets
Eddie Hodges - Hattiesburg, Actor
Guy Hovis - Tupelo, Singer
Robert Johnson - Hazelhurst, Blues Singer
James Earl Jones - Tate County, Actor
B.B. King - Indianola, Blue Singer/Songwriter
Dianne Ladd - Meridian, Actor
Tracy Lawrence - Singer/Songwriter
Tom Lester - Laurel, Actor
Gerald McRaney - Collins, Actor
Mary Ann Mobley - Brandon, Former Miss America, Actor
Dorothy Moore - Jackson, Singer
Elvis Presley - Tupelo, Singer/Songwriter/Actor
Charley Pride - Sledge, Singer
Beah Richards - Vicksburg, Actor
Jimmie Ridgers - Meridian, Singer/Songwriter
Cheryl Prewitt Salem - Ackerman, Former Miss America
Linda Lee Mead Shea - Natchez, Former Miss America
Stella Stevens - Hot Coffee , Actor
Marty Stuart - Philadelphia, Singer/Songwriter
Fingers Taylor - Jackson, Harmonica Player
James "Son" Thomas - Eden, Blues Singer
Ike Turner - Clarksdale, Singer/Songwriter
Conway Twitty -Friar's Point, Singer/Songwriter
Ray Walston - Laurel, Actor
Sela Ward - Meridian, Actor
Muddy Waters - Rolling Ford, Blues Singer/songwriter
Sonny Boy Williamson - Glendora, Blues Singer
Howlin' Wolf (Chester Pugh) - Tremont, Singer \
Tammy Wynette - Tremont, Singer
TRIVIA COMPILED BY LAWANDA TURNAGE OF THE MISSISSIPPI
TOURISM DIVISION 1993