Wacky Wednesday: NC Facts....Did You Know?

North Carolina FIRSTS

The Wright brothers completed the first successful flight of a mechanically propelled airplane over the sands of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903.

The University of North Carolina was the first public university in the United States to open its doors.

The first known miniature golf course was in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run in Fayetteville on March 7, 1914.

The first English child born in America, Virginia Dare, was born in Roanoke, North Carolina, in 1587.

Many people believe that North Carolina was the first state to declare independence from England with the Mecklenburg Declaration of 1775.

Cabarrus County, North Carolina, was the site of America's first gold rush.

What was probably the first drawbridge built in the United States was built over the Cape Fear River.

The first state art museum in the country is located in Raleigh.

The first Pepsi was created and served in New Bern, North Carolina in 1898

The first outdoor drama in America, The Lost Colony, is staged every year in Manteo, North Carolina.

Biggest/Smallest/Shortest/Tallest

Mount Mitchell is the tallest mountain in the eastern United States.

Jockey's Ridge is the tallest natural sand dune system in the Eastern United States. Depending on the weather, its height can range from 80 to 100 feet!

Whitewater Falls in Transylvania County, one of over 200 waterfalls in North Carolina, is the highest waterfall on the East Coast.

The Biltmore Estate in Asheville is the largest private house in the world, with 250 rooms.

Grandfather Mountain is home to the nation's highest swinging bridge-one mile high.

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in the United States.

Albemarle Sound is the largest freshwater sound in the world.

Fontana Dam is the tallest dam in the Eastern United States, at 480 feet high.

The world's smallest daily newspaper is the Tryon Daily Bulletin.