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35 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Mississippi
Learning how to spell Mississippi is a discovery in itself, but wait until you hear these factoids about the Magnolia State.
1. The world’s largest shrimp is on display at the Old Spanish Fort Museum in Pascagoula.
2. Barq’s Root Beer was invented in Biloxi in 1898 by Edward Adolf Barq, Sr.
3. Mrs. Mamie Thomas was the first female rural mail carrier in the United States, using a buggy to deliver mail to the area southeast of Vicksburg in 1914.
4. Still have your first teddy bear? Thank Theodore Roosevelt. On a hunting expedition in 1902 in Sharkey County, President Roosevelt refused to shoot a captured bear, an act which resulted in the creation of the teddy bear.
5. In 1929, H.T. Merrill from Iuka performed the world’s first round trip trans-oceanic flight.
6. Jackson is one of only four cities of the world sanctioned by The International Theater-Dance Committee to host the International Ballet Competition. The other three include Moscow, Russia, Varna, Bulgaria and Helsinki, Finland.
7. A group of slaves who lived in Mississippi and were freed by their master in 1834 returned to Africa, and created the present-day state of Liberia.
8. Famed hat maker John B. Stetson learned and practiced his craft at Dunn’s Falls near Meridian after the Civil War, and forever changed the hat-wearing game.
9. The concept of selling shoes in boxes by the pair originated in Vicksburg at Phil Gilbert’s Shoe Parlor on Washington Street.
10. Columbia’s Walter Payton was the first football player to win the coveted spot on front of a Wheaties box.
11. Coca-Cola was created in Atlanta, but at first was only available as a fountain drink. It wasn’t bottled until 1894.
12. S.B. Sam Vick of Oakland, MS was the only man to ever pinch hit for Babe Ruth. He played for the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.
13. And the very last man The Great Bambino ever hit a homer off of was a Mississippian too – Guy Bush from Tupelo, MS.
14. Believe it or not, National Geographic Magazine is printed in Corinth.
15. The first lung transplant surgery in the world was performed by Dr. James D. Hardy at the Mississippi Medical Center in 1964.
16. The world’s only cactus plantation is located in Edwards.
17. The first nuclear submarine built in the South was created right here in Mississippi.
18. A year after the Civil War ended, women in Columbus decorated the Confederate and Unions soldiers’ graves with flowers in Friendship Cemetery. As a direct result, Americans came to observe Memorial Day to honor the lives and deaths of fallen soldiers.
19. In 1871, Liberty became the first town in the nation to build a Confederate monument.
20. If Mississippi smells lemony fresh, that’s because Pine Sol was invented in 1929 by Jackson native Harry A. Cole, Sr.
21. Mississippi was the first state to develop a planned system of junior colleges.
22. Greenville is the birthplace of Jim Henson, the creator and voice for Kermit The Frog who was “born” in Leland where Henson played as a kid.
23. Mississippi is known for a lot of towns with honorary “capital” titles. For example, Greenwood is known as the Cotton Capital of the World.
24. In 1964, the first human lung transplant was successfully accomplished at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
25. West Point company Blazon-Flexible Flyer Inc. makes one of the most well-known sleds in the country, and provides millions of kids with endless hours flying headfirst into snowdrifts.
26. Over 1,000,000 Soft Toilet Seats are sold every year, thanks to a patent owned by Columbus native, David Harrison.
27. The largest Bible-binding plant in the country is Norris Bookbinding Company in Greenwood.
28. One of the very oldest games in America is stickball. The Choctaw Indians of Mississippi played the game as far back as 1729, and demonstrations can be seen every July at the Choctaw Indian Fair in Philadelphia.
29. The Mississippi River is the largest in the United States. It got its name when a Spanish missionary came upon the river while traveling through present-day Mississippi. Probably wouldn’t have the same ring to it if the missionary had found the river in present-day Wisconsin.
30. Thirty-eight percent of the men who lived in D’Lo, MS served in World War II, which Life Magazine claimed was more than any other town of its size.
31. Dr. Emmette F. Izard of Hazelhurst developed the first fibers of rayon, which became known as the first real synthetic materials.
32. Natchez, MS was settled by the French in 1716 and is the oldest permanent settlement on the entire 2,340-mile Mississippi River.
33. The Mississippi Sandhill Crane is the rarest crane in North America, with an eight-foot wingspan. It’s indigenous to Jackson County.
34. Burnita Shelton Mathews of Hazelhurst, MS served as the first female federal judge in the country.
35. The oldest book in America is an ancient Biblical manuscript, at the University of Mississippi.
Written by Kris Norton of Movoto.com, The Lighter Side of Real Estate
| Sat, Aug 31 |  | vs Furman | W, 76-0 |
| Sat, Sep 7 |  | vs Middle Tennessee | W, 52-3 |
| Sat, Sep 14 |  | @ Wake Forest | W, 40-6 |
| Sat, Sep 21 |  | vs Georgia Southern | W, 52-13 |
| Sat, Sep 28 |  | vs Kentucky | L, 20-17 |
| Sat, Oct 5 |  | @ South Carolina | W, 27-3 |
| Sat, Oct 12 |  | vs LSU | L, 29-26 (2 OT) |
| Sat, Oct 26 |  | vs Oklahoma | W, 26-14 |
| Sat, Nov 2 |  | @ Arkansas | W, 63-35 |
| Sat, Nov 16 |  | vs Georgia | W, 28-10 |
| Sat, Nov 23 |  | @ Florida | L, 24-17 |
| Sat, Nov 30 |  | vs Mississippi State | W, 26-14 |
| Thu, Jan 2 |  | vs Duke (Gator Bowl) | 6:30 PM • ESPN |
UMC grad
June 23, 2014 at 9:42 pm
While Barq’s root beer is delicious and I’m sure the worlds largest shrimp is an awesome site, this list is not complete without mention of Arthur Guyton, who was born in Oxford. He was a pioneer in the field of renal and cardiovascular research, invented the first joystick controlled wheelchair, and wrote a world renowned Textbook of Medical Physiology that is maintained by Dr. John Hall at UMC (Chair of Physiology and 2014 SEC Professor of the year).
There are plenty of more great things about Mississippi! Keep em coming!
Time Warper
June 24, 2014 at 1:17 am
It was first bottled in Vicksburg, MS.
J David Lewis
June 24, 2014 at 8:33 am
Okay that makes more sense. Thanks for the clarification.
Rebelkev
June 24, 2014 at 8:44 am
They seem to think it is: https://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/data/2001/11/01/mail/popup.html
Jessica Sones Barletter
June 24, 2014 at 8:56 am
F. Mason Sones, Jr. (Oct 28, 1918 – Aug 28, 1985) was an American physician whose pioneering work in cardiac catheterization was instrumental in the development of both coronary artery bypass surgery and interventional cardiology. Sones was born in Noxapater, Mississippi.
and many more…
Carol Steve Jussely
June 24, 2014 at 9:37 am
Rock ‘N Roll is rooted in MS! In Hattiesburg. “Rock and roll is rooted in the blues of Mississippi. The Mississippi Jook Band (brothers Roosevelt and Uaroy Graves and pianist Cooney Vaughan) earned a niche in the annals of rock after they recorded in Hattiesburg in 1936, nearly two decades before rock and roll exploded in the 1950s. The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll noted that their blues recordings “featured fully formed rock and roll guitar riffs and a stomping rock and roll beat.”
https://www.msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/hattiesburg
cutieq
June 24, 2014 at 10:00 am
The man who started MTV, Prichard, I think, is from Jackson.
hotness
June 24, 2014 at 10:35 am
eye-puka idk my ex lives there haha
Bo Arender
June 24, 2014 at 10:42 am
Where is Luka, MS exactly?
Neil Quinton
June 24, 2014 at 11:05 am
We did the first Heart and Lung Transplant at UMC.
monab
June 24, 2014 at 3:05 pm
If you are going to post that Coca-Cola was bottled in 1894 you need to give the details. It was bottled at Biedenharn Candy Company in Vicksburg. It was the largest candy company in Mississippi and bottled by Joe Biedenharn. Joe was the oldest of 5 brothers. When they process was given the go ahead from Atlanta bottling began. The brother started the Coca-Cola Bottling companies in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.
monab
June 24, 2014 at 3:06 pm
They didn’t do 11. justice by not telling the story. Biedenharn Candy Company Vicksburg by Biedenharn family!!
RR
June 24, 2014 at 4:07 pm
If you want to know more Mississippi trivia, check out this book. https://www.amazon.com/Little-Known-Obscure-Records-Historical-Mississippi/dp/1936946106
Robert Bounds
June 25, 2014 at 11:08 pm
I think there is a statistic about MS Having produced more famous writers per capita?
Derrick
June 26, 2014 at 9:28 am
Actually, he was originally from Aberdeen.
willow scott
June 26, 2014 at 10:45 am
Mississippi also didn’t get around to ratifying the 13 amendment which abolished slavery until 2013. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/18/mississippi-13th-amendment_n_2712289.html
Andrea Spencer
June 26, 2014 at 1:59 pm
very good to know.. goes back ever further. I just knew he was in Shannon when I was a kiddo and my daddy always made sure I knew the story. LOl
Derrick
June 27, 2014 at 7:40 am
lol. Yeah he lived the remainder of his life in Shannon.
Derrick
July 3, 2014 at 12:20 pm
It appears you ripped off this article from here
https://www.movoto.com/blog/opinions/mississippi-facts/
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May 22, 2015 at 8:48 pm
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kermit the frog
October 17, 2019 at 6:00 pm
who else is reading this in 2019?
kermit the frog
October 17, 2019 at 6:03 pm
Y’all aren’t with the gang. Boo ole miss and hail state. Goodbye scumbags