10 Fun Facts About America Even Americans Don't Know
All right here are 10 fun facts about America even Americans don't now say how much do you know about the US if you're from the land of opportunity you're probably thinking probably everything there is to know I do live here after all but were you aware that the Library of Congress could have a record of some of your social media posts or that some of the most famous American landmarks look a whole lot different in the past let's see which of these 10 little-known facts about the United States will manage to surprise you the most,now let's kick this list off with something we all associate with the U.S.
10-Out-of-this-world flag
First off the way the flag is used in America can be a bit unusual for outsiders in most countries around the world the flag is usually reserved to mark a governmental building or some official location in the US however you can see the star-spangled banner waving in the wind at fast-food joints standing tall in people's yards or attached to their houses and printed on all kinds of stuff like clothing pillows and coffee mugs as such many Americans love their flag and have traveled with it to all corners of the earth and beyond in fact there were actually six American flags placed on the moon during the Apollo landings it's unknown whether all those flags are still standing but the ones that remain have most likely been bleached completely white from exposure to radiation from the Sun.
9- Americans on the moon
So speaking of the moon no other country has walked where Apollo 11 mission commander Neil Armstrong took his memorable one small step on July 20th 1969 and while we all recognize him as the first man on the bone 11 other American astronauts through six Apollo moon landings have trod its surface as well if Armstrong was the first not many people know that the last man to stand on the moon was Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan he left the lunar surface on December 14 1972 saying I take Man's last step from the surface back home for some time to come pretty epic.
8-The greatest of the great lakes
Of course most Americans are well aware that Lake Superior is the greatest of the great lakes hence the name I'll bet many of you don't know that the Native American Ojibwe name for the lake is gitche gumee but no matter what it's called did you know that it's also the largest freshwater body in the world in terms of surface area measuring about thirty one thousand seven hundred square miles this lake is about the size of North Carolina and with a volume of 2,900 cubic miles Lake Superior is big enough to cover the entirety of North and South America in a foot of water bring your boots it's that massive the US shares this honor with Canada since Lake Superior along with all the others except for Lake Michigan washes up on both country's borders.
7-The most visited museums in America
Two museums are tied as the most visited in America the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum located in Washington DC houses the world's largest display of aviation and space artifacts including the Wright Flyer and the command module from the Apollo 11 moon and remember Neil Armstrong that was his ride now the other is New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art which has over 2 million works from some of the greatest artists in the world like Monet Rembrandt Renoir van Gogh Picasso and many others both museums saw around 7 million visitors in 2017 tying them for the number 3 spot on the list of the world's most visited museums second place goes to the National Museum of China in Beijing and the number-one spot belongs to no not the world's biggest rocking chair in KC Illinois although that's really cool number one is the Louvre in Paris.
6- America's favorite drink
So what do you think America's favorite drink is go ahead and guess down in the comments tea coffee soda juice if you think soda you wouldn't be entirely wrong since it was the top beverage choice for Americans until recently now the crown has been passed to drumroll please bottled water yep looks like the US is slowly ditching the sugary bubbly stuff for good old h2o uh-huh the stuff you used to drink for free and now you pay for very American did you also think of coffee well you can give yourself some points for that one as it's America's favorite when it comes to flavored drinks in 2016 Americans consume 88.8 gallons of coffee per capita so now you know why your favorite coffee shop is always so crowded.
5-The Library of Congress archives
The Library of Congress in Washington DC is the largest library in the world holding over 167 million items like rare books manuscripts photographs recordings and plenty of other important and historical materials it all works as the official research library for the United States Congress and is home to the US Copyright Office it's basically a sea of knowledge in tweets apparently according to the library they've been archiving tweets since 2006 to preserve a record of knowledge and creativity for Congress and the American people so if you've ever posted anything embarrassing it might just be in their archives luckily though in December 2017 the library announced that they'd stop collecting tweets from everyone and would be way more selective from 2018 onwards.
4- Hollywood land
The Hollywood sign is a symbol of dreams come true for thousands of hopefuls that moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of a career in the land of entertainment the 352 footlong sign is made up of 45 foot tall letters and cost around $21,000 to build back in 1923 that would be about $300,000 by today's rate but when it was installed back that this iconic sign actually read Hollywood land instead of Hollywood it was originally meant to be a real estate ad for an upscale district that was only supposed to stand for about a year and a half but with the rise of the cinema industry ownership passed to the city of Los Angeles in the 1940s and the final four letters were removed to reflect the sign we know today.
3-Halloween craze
Do you celebrate Halloween well the numbers show that millions of Americans love this spooky holiday enough to make all kinds of expensive purchases according to the National Retail Federation more than 175 million Americans are estimated to participate in the holiday in 2018 and they'll spend around nine billion dollars most of the expenses will go towards candy followed by decorations costumes and greeting cards although Halloween has ancient Celtic origins from what is now present-day Ireland it's been a popular holiday in the US since the early 20th century [Music] looks like it'll continue being one really fun spooky and expensive night and parents will again swipe candy from their kids once they go to bed go ahead use sticky finger parents raise your hands whoa there's a lot of you.
2-The Empire State Building lightning strikes
The tallest building in America is the One World Trade Center at 1776 square feet but for a long time from 1931 to 1972 it was the 1250 foot tall Empire State Building that held this title and when it comes to the Empire State Building lightning does strike twice in the same place at such a height it's bound to attract lightning which is why there's a lightning rod installed on the antenna at the top of the building according to its website the building is zapped an average of 23 times per year another tall structure in New York the Statue of Liberty is also hit by lightning occasionally but thankfully Lady Liberty is grounded by a granite pedestal and massive concrete hmm speaking of which
1-The Statue of Liberty
The whole world associates America with the Statue of Liberty it's a national monument that's been featured in all kinds of movies and acts as our symbol of freedom now you might be familiar with the fact that the statue was a gift from France to the United States to commemorate 100 years of independence from the British crown a lesser known fact is that Lady Liberty looked quite different when she first arrived in New York from Paris when the copper statue was completed and brought to America in 1886 it was more like the color of a penny but through the years the copper has oxidized changing the color statue from a shiny golden brown to the greenish blue patina we know today by the way you can climb the 162 steps from the pedestal to the crown for a unique view through the tiny windows up there but there's only a very cozy six feet of space there and you'll need to buy tickets well in advance and there you have it bright ciders.
Do you know anything else about the items on this list or maybe some other little-known facts about the US have you ever visited any of the landmarks mentioned today let us know in the comments below if at least one of these facts were new to you.
