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Top 10 fun facts about the United States of America

The United States of America consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, 326 Indian reservations, and nine minor outlying islands. It was founded by the Thirteen British Colonies established along the East Coast. Disputes with Great Britain over taxation and political representation led to the American Revolutionary War between 1775 and 1783, which established the nation’s independence.

The United States is a world superpower renowned for its American dream and land of the slogans. America is considered a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities, profoundly shaped by centuries of immigration. Below are the top ten facts about US;

1. The current American flag was designed by a 17-year-old

Robert G. Heft – Wikipedia

Robert G. “Bob” Heft designed the current United States 50-star flag as a school project in Lancaster, Ohio, when he was 17 years old. The flag was adopted as the new United States flag on July 4, 1960, and the twenty-seventh official flag of the United States.

The school project was to design a flag for the admittance of Hawaii and Alaska as states in the United States. Heft’s design was chosen out of more than 1,500 designs that were given to United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and his teacher changed his grade to an A. In his design, Heft chose to arrange the fifty white stars on a blue background in alternating horizontal rows. Five rows had six stars, and four rows had five stars. Seven alternating horizontal red and six white stripes completed the flag, representing the original thirteen colonies. The flag’s three colors, red, white, and blue, represent respectively courage, purity, and justice.

Heft also developed a fifty-one-star flag in case a new state joins the United States.

2. America is home to the largest fresh water lake

Lake Superior – Unsplash

Lake Superior is the world’s largest freshwater lake and the third-largest by volume. It holds 10% of the world’s surface fresh water. The lake has a surface area of 31,700 square miles (82,103 km2), a maximum length of 350 statute miles (560 km; 300 nmi), a maximum breadth of 160 statute miles (257 km; 139 nmi), an average depth is 80.5 fathoms (483 ft; 147 m) with a maximum depth of 222.17 fathoms (1,333 ft; 406 m) and contains 2,900 cubic miles (12,100 km³) of water.

It gets its name from the British on account of its being superior in magnitude to any of the lakes on that vast continent. The lake is fed by more than 200 rivers and drains into Lake Huron via St. Mary’s River.

3. The American Constitution wasn’t original

Native American Chief – Flickr

The United States Constitution has been a notable model for governance around the world. Its international influence is found in similarities of phrasing and borrowed passages in other constitutions, as well as in the principles of the rule of law, separation of powers and recognition of individual rights.

However, the American Constitution wasn’t as original was many of us believe. The constitution was modelled after the so-called savage and primitive indigenous Native Americans. When the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met in 1787 to debate what form of government the United States should have, they were inspired by the federalist principles of the Iroquois Confederacy and other Indigenous governments. This is because it was the most democratic forms of government that any of the convention members had personally witnessed.

4. America doesn’t have an official language

Diversity – Flickr

Although English is the primary language used for legislation, regulations, executive orders, treaties, federal court rulings, and all other official pronouncements, the United States has never had an official language at the federal level.

Since the 1780s, hundreds of constitutional amendments have been written to make English the official language of the US. None of the amendments have ever passed. However, the US Constitution allows for states to declare official languages. 31 states have declared English as their official language. Alaska, Hawaii and South Dakota also have indigenous languages declared as official languages. Alaska has more than 20 official languages.

5. Sacagawea had just given birth two months prior to the expedition

Sacagawea statue – Flickr

Sacagawea was a Lemhi Shoshone woman who, at age 16, helped the Lewis and Clark Expedition in achieving their chartered mission objectives by exploring the Louisiana Territory in 1805-06 while caring for the son she bore just two months before departing. Her skills as a translator were invaluable, as was her intimate knowledge of some difficult terrain.

Sacagawea became one of the two wives of Charbonneau, who was well over two decades her senior, and delivered her son Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau on February 11, 1805. On April 7, Sacagawea, the baby and Charbonneau headed west with the 31 other Corps members.

The National American Woman Suffrage Association of the early 20th century adopted her as a symbol of women’s worth and independence, erecting several statues and plaques in her memory, and doing much to recount her accomplishment.

6. Harriet Tubman was also a war hero

Harriet Tubman – Wikipedia

Harriet Tubman is a renowned American abolitionist and political activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad.

To add to her achievements during the American Civil War, she served as an armed scout and spy for the Union Army. She was the first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war, she guided the raid at Combahee Ferry, which liberated more than 700 enslaved people.

Today, Harriet Tubman is an icon of courage and freedom.

7. The Liberty Bell is from London

Liberty Bell – Flickr

The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the 1830s, the bell was adopted as a symbol by abolitionist societies, who dubbed it the “Liberty Bell”.

The bell was commissioned in 1752 by the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly from the London firm of Lester and Pack. It was cast with the lettering “Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof”, a Biblical reference from the Book of Leviticus (25:10).

In its early years, the bell was used to summon lawmakers to legislative sessions and to alert citizens about public meetings and proclamations.

8. Alaska was once Russian

Alaska – Unsplash

In the aftermath of the Crimean War, Russian Tsar Alexander II began exploring the possibility of selling Alaska, which would be difficult to defend in any future war from being conquered by Russia’s rivals. U.S. Secretary of State William Seward entered into negotiations with Russian minister Eduard de Stoeckl for the purchase of Alaska. Seward and Stoeckl agreed to a treaty on March 30, 1867.

Alaska was formally transferred to the United States on October 18, 1867, through a treaty ratified by the United States Senate. The purchase added 586,412 square miles (1,518,800 km2) of new territory to the United States for the cost of $7.2 million equivalent to $133 million in 2020 dollars or $0.37 per acre.

9. London Bridge is in Arizona

London Bridge, Lake Havasu City, Arizona – Wikipedia

London Bridge was originally built in the 1831 by engineer John Rennie and was completed by his son, John Rennie. It formerly spanned the River Thames in London, England. The bridge was purchased from the City of London by Robert P. McCulloch in April 1968 as it was declared not sturdy enough to carry the increased load of traffic.

Robert P. McCulloch had the exterior granite blocks from the original bridge cut and transported to the United States for use in the construction of a new bridge in Lake Havasu City that was completed in 1971. The “rededication” of the London Bridge took place on October 10, 1971.

10. The United States of America has the longest cave system in the world

Mammoth Cave National Park – Flickr

Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system known in the world, measuring 420 miles (676 km) in length, according to the National Park Service (NPS). It formed through limestone erosion; a phenomenon scientifically known as karst topography. Karst topography occurs when water from rain and rivers from the ground’s surface seep underground through cracks, fractures and holes and then travel far underground, slowly dissolving and shaping the soft underground bedrock into caves and other geologic features.

During a 14-hour survey in September 1972, CRF cavers discovered a connection between the Mammoth Cave system and the Flint Ridge system. After this, the official name of the system has been changed to the Mammoth–Flint Ridge Cave System.