What is Alabama known for? Here are some cool, interesting, and weird facts & trivia about Alabama, its history, and official state symbols. We plan on tackling all 50 states — including Florida and Georgia and Hawaii and Kentucky and Louisiana and Kansas and Maryland — with as many interesting facts as we can find about them — and Alabama is up first! After all, it’s the first state mentioned when you sing Ray Charles’s “Fifty Nifty United States” song that names all the states in alphabetical order. Next stop: Alaska.

What is Alabama known for?

1. Alabama, of course, was at the epicenter of the American Civil Rights Movement. In 1965, Rosa Parks became famous for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger, which sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Also in 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. led thousands of nonviolent demonstrators in a 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery in an effort to register Black voters. These events still reverberate in American culture well into the 21st century.

2. Alabama is known by several nicknames, including the Heart of Dixie, the Cotton State, and the Yellowhammer State. However, it does not have an officially recognized nickname.

3. College football is huuuuuuge in Alabama, with the Auburn University Tigers and University of Alabama Crimson Tide enjoying a storied and heated rivalry. Combined, the two teams average nearly 200,000 fans per game.

4. Alabama is also known for its hot and humid climate, and per the Köppen climate classification, it’s officially designated as a humid subtropical. Winters are very mild, and the state averages only an inch of snow every year.

Fun and weird Alabama facts

5. It once rained eels in Alabama. You read that correctly. In May 1892, the town of Coalburg experienced the weird metrological event when eels fell from the sky and piled the streets. Though the eels were probably sucked up by a storm and carried over the town, the mystery has never been solved for certain.

6. In 1989, the residents of Fort Payne built the World’s Largest Cake to commemorate the city’s centennial. The cake had twelve layers, and was 80 feet long by 32 feet wide. It weighed 128,238 pounds. To mark Fort Payne’s 100th anniversary, a 100 year-old man sliced into it with a sword. The record was eventually broken in Las Vegas.

7. An Alabama woman was the first female to score in an American football game. Luverne “Toad” Wise was a kicker for the Atmore Alabama High School Blue Devils in 1939 and 1940.

8. The Shelby County chapter of Habitat for Humanity has the record for the world’s fastest home building. Located in Montevallo, it only took three hours and 26 minutes to complete.

9. It is technically illegal to play cards or dominoes on a Sunday in Alabama.

10. On November 30, 1954, Ann Hodges of Oak Grove was napping off an illness on her couch when a grapefruit-sized meteorite crashed through the ceiling and hit her thigh. She survived, and is the only person confirmed to have been hit by a meteorite.

11. Magnolia Springs has the only mail route in country that is completely on the water and operates year-round. Mail has been delivered to residents by boat since 1915.

12. One of the states had to be the first to declare Christmas a legal holiday and it was Alabama in 1836.

13. The very first operational windshield wipers were invented in Alabama by Mary Anderson in 1903. She was so ahead of the curve that they predate the release of the Ford Model T.

14. The first 911 call was made in Haleyville, Alabama in 1968.

15. With more than 300,000 words and 775 amendments, Alabama’s state constitution is the longest in the world.

16. Of course, you’re probably well aware of the famous 1974 Lynyrd Skynyrd hit single “Sweet Home Alabama,” which has been beloved for over 45 years and a karaoke standard in bars everywhere. Oddly enough, none of the band members have any strong ties to Alabama.

Historical facts about Alabama

17. Alabama joined the United States as the 22nd state on December 14, 1819. It left the Union in 1861 and rejoined after the Civil War.

18. Spaniards were the first Europeans to find Alabama. An expedition led by Hernando de Soto passed through parts of Alabama in the 16th century in search for gold. The French were the first Europeans to actually settle in Alabama in 1702.

19. Native American tribes that inhabited Alabama land include the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Cherokee.

20. Alabama was the first state to celebrate Veteran’s Day in 1947. Armistice Day was originally celebrated on November 11th to commemorate the end of the first World War but in 1945, a World War II veteran named Raymond Weeks from Birmingham suggested that the day should honor all veterans. His efforts were successful, and the first Veteran’s Day parade took place in Birmingham in 1947.

21. There is evidence that at least two different kinds of giant sloths once roamed Alabama during the Ice Age. They were known to weigh at least two tons and could grow up to nine feet tall.

22. The first capital of Alabama is now a ghost town. After the state was admitted to the union, Cahaba was chosen to be its capital. Unfortunately, the town experienced frequent flooding and was eventually abandoned. By 1880, the town had been removed from the United States census rolls.

23. The world’s first electric streetcar system was in Alabama. The Montgomery Lightning Route was established in 1886.

24. Most of us know that Wilbur and Orville Wright invented the first successful airplane in 1903, having flown in North Carolina. They also opened the very first civil aviation school in Montgomery in 1910, at a site that later became Maxwell Air Force Base.

25. We generally associate Mardi Gras with New Orleans, Louisiana, but the first celebration was actually held in Mobile in 1702.

26. In February 1997, Mercedes-Benz produced its first vehicle outside Germany at its newly-opened factory in Vance, Alabama, outside Tuscaloosa.

Alabama geography, geology, topography, & wildlife

27. The capital of Alabama is Montgomery, and the largest city by population is Birmingham. The largest city by land area is Huntsville. The oldest city is Mobile, which was founded in 1702.

28. At 52,419 square miles, Alabama is the 30th-largest state by area.

29. There are 67 counties in Alabama.

30. There is an incredibly diverse collection of freshwater snails and mussels in Alabama. In fact, there are almost 400 different species of these mollusks, and over 100 of have never been found outside Alabama. Unfortunately, we are losing many of these to extinction, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have almost five dozen species listed as threatened or endangered.

31. Want to make iron? Alabama is the only state that has all the ingredients you need — iron ore, limestone, and coal — within a 10-mile radius.

32. At 2,413 feet, Cheaha Mountain is the highest peak in Alabama. It’s located in Talladega National Forest.

33. The animals found in Alabama aren’t relatively exotic, but there are 62 kinds of native mammals. They include black bears, opossum, armadillos, bobcats, coyotes, 16 species of bats, and almost two dozen kinds of rodents.

34. Roughly 70% of Alabama is covered in forest, and collectively, that land is bigger than Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Delaware, and Rhode Island.

35. Alabama has the most inland waterways of any state. Its rivers and streams make up 1,500 total miles. In fact, it’s possible to reach the Great Lakes all the way from Alabama by water. Just navigate about 1,300 miles of inland waterways from the Port of Mobile to get to Chicago.

Official Alabama state symbols, plants, & animals

36. The state flower — made official in 1959 — is the lovely camellia, and the flower is so adored in Alabama that there’s even a collective of gardeners called the Alabama Camellia Society who enjoy spreading and celebrating its beauty.

37. The Alabama state tree is the longleaf pine, which is called as such because they have the longest leaves — up to 18 inches — of any of the eastern pine species.

38. The state bird is the northern flicker, a woodpecker species colloquially known as a yellowhammer among folks from Alabama.

39. Conecuh Ridge Whiskey is the official drink of Alabama, and it’s the only alcoholic beverage among the official state drinks.

40. The Red Hills salamander is the official state amphibian of Alabama, and the official reptile is the Alabama red-bellied turtle.

41. The state song is simply named “Alabama.” Adopted as the state song in 1931, it was originally written as a poem by Julia Tutwiler, who was an advocate of education and prison reform.

42. The monarch butterfly is the state insect of Alabama. It is also the state insect of Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, Vermont, and West Virginia. That’s 14% of all the states in America!

43. Believe it or not, there is an official quilt of Alabama, and it’s the Pine Burr Quilt. It was made official in 1997 to recognize the Freedom Quilting Bee, an organization that sold quilts to raise money for the Civil Rights Movement.

44. The state motto is Audemus jura nostra defendere, which is Latin for “We dare defend our rights.”

45. In 2004, a group of third graders at Fairhope Elementary School successfully campaigned to have the blackberry officially recognized as the state fruit of Alabama.

46. Pecans are the official nut of Alabama. The state has over 9,000 acres of pecan farms and produces about 5.4 million pounds of pecans a year.

47. The Racking Horse is the official horse of Alabama, and the Racking Horse Breeders’ Association of America (RHBAA) is headquartered in Decatur.

Tourist attractions and places to visit in Alabama

48. Birmingham boasts what’s considered the largest cast-iron statue in the world. The sculptor depicts the Roman god Vulcan (the god of fire and forge), and pays homage to the city’s roots in the iron and steel industry. It was created by Italian-born sculptor Giuseppe Moretti in 1903, and stands 56 feet tall.

(Note: It’s worth pointing out that many such declarations of “World’s Largest” are not always sanctioned by Guinness World Records or any other official governing organization, and can easily be challenged. However, these attractions are still an endless source of curiosity and fascination among residents and tourists. Take these self-declared designations with a grain of salt, and enjoy them for what they are.)

49. The World’s Largest Office Chair is located in Anniston, and it’s made from ten tons of steel. Comfortable!

50. There is a fantastic museum that you can visit in Seale without even leaving your car. The Drive-Thru Museum has a unique collection of antiques and local folk art put together by local artist Butch Anthony to complement his neighboring Museum of Wonder, which contains taxidermy, paintings, and other found objects that Anthony finds interesting.

51. Literature fans are well aware of F. Scott Fitzgerald, his wife Zelda, and their hedonistic, voluptuous, excessive lifestyle, and the last surviving house they lived in is located in Montgomery. The Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald Museum now serves as a dedication to the couple’s life in Alabama, and visitors can even book a a room to stay the night.

52. The Talladega Superspeedway, which was built on the site of a former air force base in 1969, has a NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66 miles. This is the largest in the world.

53. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is located in Huntsville. The Saturn V rocket that helped us land on the moon was designed here.

54. The Boll Weevil Monument was erected in downtown Enterprise in 1919. Even though it was an agricultural pest and entire crops of cotton were lost to it, it inspired Alabama to revamp its economy and convert the area to peanut farming.

55. Foodies will find plenty of restaurants to enjoy in Birmingham. The city is home to quite a few eateries that have won or been nominated for James Beard Awards, most recently Automatic Seafood and Oysters, which is owned and operated by chef Adam Evans.

56. The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum is known for having the largest motorcycle collection in the world. The Birmingham institution has over 1,600 pieces, spanning over 100 years and 200 different manufacturers.

57. Rickwood Field is considered the oldest professional baseball park in the United States. It was built for the Birmingham Barons in 1910.

58. A young Martin Luther King, Jr. began his career as a pastor at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery. In 1974, the church was designated as a National Historic Landmark.

Who are famous people with Alabama connections?

59. Activist Helen Keller, inventor George Washington Carver, and educator Booker T. Washington are all famous Alabamans.

60. Mobile has produced many Hall-of-Fame baseball players who are from Alabama include Hank Aaron, Ozzie Smith, Willie McCovey, and Satchel Paige.

61. Other prominent athletes from Alabama include boxers Joe Louis and Evander Holyfield. Four-time Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens, multi-sport star Bo Jackson, NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley, and professional soccer player Mia Hamm are also all from Alabama.

62. NFL players born in Alabama include Ozzie Newsome (Muscles Shoals), Terrell Owens (Alexander City), Ken Stabler (Foley), and Bart Starr (Montgomery). All are Hall-of-Famers

63. Daniel Pratt (1799-1873) was an industrialist known for making significant contributions to the Alabama economy. He manufactured cotton gins, opened a bank, and built a railroad. He also created a sawmill, a grist mill, a woolen mill, and an iron foundry. He’s such a big deal in Alabama that two cities are named after him: Prattville and Pratt City.

64. Harper Lee, the famous author who published the Pulitzer Prize-winning To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960, grew up watching her father practice law in the Monroeville courthouse. The courthouse is now a museum that commemorates the history of the book and film.

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65. Speaking of Harper Lee, her childhood pal was Truman Capote, the famed author of In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Their combined legacy was significant enough for the Alabama Legislature to designate Monroeville and Monroe County as the Literary Capital of Alabama.

66. Speaking of Harper Lee once again, she is not the only Pulitzer winner from Monroeville. Syndicated columnist Cynthia Tucker won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for her work in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She finally won after being a finalist in 2004 and 2006.

67. More famous Alabama writers include author Zora Neale Hurston (Their Eyes Were Watching God), Fannie Flagg (Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe), and Walker Percy (The Moviegoer).

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68. Actors Channing Tatum (Magic Mike), Glenn Howerton (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), and Emmy winner Reg E. Cathy (The Wire) were also born in Alabama.

69. Famous female actors from Alabama include Courtney Cox (Friends), Nell Carter (Gimme a Break!), Kim Dickens (Friday Night Lights and Deadwood), and Oscar winner Octavia Spencer (The Help).

70. Alabama (the band, not the state) are one of the biggest country and southern rock bands in the business. Forming in Fort Payne in 1969, they have sold over 75 million records worldwide during their storied career. If you’re just looking for the greatest hits, you can’t go wrong with the Essential Alabama.

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71. Other famous musicians from Alabama include country singer Hank Williams, jazz singer Nat “King” Cole, musician Emmylou Harris, soul singer Percy Sledge, pop singer Lionel Richie, and southern rock band Drive-by Truckers.

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