Sometimes we forget about how many things our own country has to offer; how, even though it is a relatively young nation, it has it's own identit(y/ies). While exploring online, I came across a list of "strange facts" about the US of A. Here are some of my favorites...

1. Yes, Kansas IS flatter than a pancake. Anyone crossing I-70 swears by it, but a 2003 study using a cross-section of a flapjack actually determined Kansas flatter. It failed to mention that Delaware and Florida are actually flatter than Kansas.

11. It’s said the Maine Coon Cat are descendants of Marie Antoinette’s pets. She apparently wanted them to live in America, and lost her head for it.

13. No one knows what state was inaugurated first, North or South Dakota. In one swoop in 1889, both were blindly signed in back to back. In books though North gets the nod as the 39th state, South the 40th, due to the alphabet.

16. Most disparate temperatures in the US: Fort Yukon, Alaska, where it reaches 100 degrees in summer and 80 below in winter.

17. Rhode Island’s real name is Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, which is just absurd. And should be mandated to be, in full, on their license plate.

19. The ice cream cone is, some say, a St Louis accident. When cups ran out during the 1904 World’s Fair, an ice-cream vendor lifted some Belgian waffles when the Belgian waffle vendor was flirting with the Swiss chocolate exec, and tailor-rigged ‘cones’ in real time.

For the entire list: http://inside-digital.blog.lonelyplanet.com/2009/11/03/21-strangest-things-you-should-know-about-the-usa/?affil=yahoo001...

SOOOO....since we're on the topic of the USA, what are some fun facts that you've learned about the Land of the Free in your travels?