17 Outstanding Facts about Ohio

Ohio is a popular Midwest state that’s home to several mountains, lakes and sprawling landscapes.  It’s also an incredible hub for art, culture and music.  But is there more to Ohio than its stunning landscapes and its modern cities?  Let’s take a look at a few interesting facts about Ohio that might just fascinate you.

1. Ohio translates roughly to ‘great river’ from Iroquois.
2. The Ohio River is, of course, one of the main reasons for people visiting the state. It’s around 981 miles long and can get as deep as 134 feet.
3. Ohio has a unique flag – it’s unique in the US as the only one to not be a rectangular shape.

Flag of Ohio

4. Presidents who hail from Ohio, generally, seem to only serve one term. There have been eight Presidents hailing from the state, and only Ulysses S Grant served two maximum terms.
5. Ohio is the home state of famous inventor Thomas Edison.
6. The state’s nickname is the Buckeye State, which derives from the Buckeye tree, which you’d generally see across the plains nearby.

7. Ohio is famous for a number of firsts. For example, it’s home to the first US traffic light, and it’s thought the first ambulance service was set up here, in downtown Cincinnati, in 1865.
8. It’s also home to the first hot dog in the US, meaning that Ohio natives have been enjoying the convenient treat for over a century.
9. Cleveland, Ohio is home to a variety of different art and culture hotspots. One of them, of course, is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  However, it’s also a hub for sporting history and action, as you will also find the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Downtown Cincinatti, Cincinatti, United States

10. The Cincinnati Reds are the oldest US baseball team on record.
11. The state is also the birthplace of the modern cash register or till, thanks to local inventor James Jacob Ritty. It was originally called a ‘mechanical money drawer’, and its origins date back to 1879.
12. Perhaps the most famous native of Ohio is Neil Armstrong, who – of course – landed on the Moon with Buzz Aldrin in 1969.
13. In fact, Ohio has more than a few clear links to space exploration, as John Glenn, the first person to orbit our planet, was born here, as was Kathryn D Sullivan, who blazed a trail as the first woman walking in space.
14. Newark is famous for its incredible basket-shaped building! This building belongs to Longaberger, and at seven stories tall, it’s likely to be the largest ‘basket’ in the world.  It’s even got handles!

Dayton, Ohio

15. Cleveland made a major leap forward in civil rights in 1967, as Carl Stokes was named the first black mayor of a US city.
16. Is Superman secretly from Ohio? Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster certainly were when they created him in 1933.
17. One of the most critically-revered movies of all time – The Shawshank Redemption – was filmed at the Ohio State Reformatory in 1994, and you can still tour filming locations to this day.

Do you know any interesting or fun facts about Ohio that we’ve missed? Share them here in the comments section below!

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This page was last modified on December 16, 2020. Suggest an edit