Fun facts about the State of Washington

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

FUN FACTS ABOUT THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

The Seattle Seahawks' home state is also home to a culture of creativity and innovation that has changed the American lifestyle.

Here are 40 fun facts about the state of Washington:

1. It is America's coffee capital, with more coffee bean roasters per capita than any other state.

2. "The Wave", a popular fan cheer for the past 25 years, was started by Husky fans at the University of Washington.

3. Adam Morrison, a Washington State native and Gonzaga University basketball star, leads the NCAA Division I in scoring this season.

4. The state is the nation's largest exporter, representing $34 billion and 5 percent of all U.S. exports: forest products, aerospace products, apples, tulips, hops, mint, wheat and several other quality food products.

5. Leading innovators -- Microsoft's Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Starbucks' Howard Schultz, wireless pioneers the McCaw family, and the Boeing family -- live in Washington State.

6. Washington State is America's gateway to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C.

7. Washington leads the country in technology industry employment.

8. Grand Coulee Dam, the largest concrete structure in North America, is in Washington State.

9. Washington's residents are educated; it's the state with most residents holding high school diplomas. Seattle leads the country in residents with more college degrees per capita.

10. Father's Day was founded here in 1910.

11. The state is home to the world's largest private car collection featuring over 3,000 vehicles.

12. Washington is home to the largest land mollusk in North America, a foraging banana slug that grows up to 9 inches long.

13. In Washington, a Seahawk is an athlete, not a bird. The closest thing to a Seahawk is an osprey hawk.

14. Washington's entrepreneurial climate has made it the leading state for both start-up and gazelles, or fast growing young companies.

15. Washington, the 42nd state in the union, is the only state named for a president.

16. Seattle gets less rainfall annually than Atlanta, Boston, New York, Houston, Miami, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Miami, with 37 inches. (Shhh, don't pass this around!)

17. Seattle has the highest concentration of aerospace jobs in the world, led by Boeing's 50,000 workers.

18. Our homegrown musicians include Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, Kenny G, The Wailers, Pat Boone, Bing Crosby, Quincy Jones, among others.

19. Petrified wood is the state's gem, and there's a petrified forest here that's considered the most unusual fossil forest in the world.

20. Washington State defines innovation. Some of the leading employers include Microsoft, Amazon.Com, Nordstrom, Boeing, Costco and Starbuck's.

21. Washington has hosted the World's Fair twice: 1962 in Seattle and 1974 in Spokane.

22. Washington produces 70 percent of the nation's hops used to brew beer. Coincidentally, to overcome beer breath, the majority of the nation's mint is also grown in the state.

23. The longest accessible beach in the U.S. is in Washington, the 28-mile-long stretch aptly named Long Beach.

24. Washington is a leader in health sciences research; it ranks tops in scientists and engineers as a percentage of workforce.

25. "Tales from the Far Side" cartoonist Gary Larson is a Washington native.

26. Washington has the largest ferry system in the nation -- 26 million passengers travel by ferry each year.

27. The state's nickname is the Evergreen State for its abundant Evergreen forests.

28. It is America's raspberry capital, harvesting more than 57 million pounds of raspberries each year.

29. Washington is the country's second largest producer of wine, with its more than 350 wineries gaining international attention.

30. More people in Seattle commute to work on bicycles than any other city nationwide.

31. Washington's Hells Canyon is the deepest River Gorge in North America, deeper than the Grand Canyon at over 5,500 feet deep.

32. One in every six Washingtonians owns a boat in this state where recreational and the commercial boating industry leads the country.

33. Kennewick Man, a 9,000-year-old skeleton, the oldest ever discovered in the Americas, was found in Washington in 1996.

34. The first revolving restaurant in the continental U.S. was built in Seattle's Space Needle for the 1962 World's Fair.

35. The cleanest air in the nation is found in a Washington community, Bellingham, according to the EPA and American Lung Association.

36. Washington's cows produce more milk per cow than any other state, totaling 1.3 billion pounds of milk each year.

37. Seattle's world-famous glass artist Dale Chihuly has put Washington on the international map, second only to Venice in number and skill of glassblowing artists.

38. Mark Rypien, 1992 Super Bowl MVP, is a Washington native and resides in Washington State.

39. Washington is the nation's top apple producing state, with 10-12 billion apples handpicked annually.

40. Seattle sells more sunglasses per capita than any other major city in the nation.

[Gail]

I remember going down to Seattle with a friend and he wanted to stop in for a coffee.

He went into Starbucks, where I thought he would find the best coffee ever.

He complained that the coffee was bitter.

So much for that!

[Dr. Shane]

Quote:

Washington, the 42nd state in the union, is the only state named for a president.

When they applied for statehood they wanted to be named "Columbia". Congress thought that would cause too much confusion between the District of Columbia and the state of Columbia. So they went with the name "Washington". So now people get confused between the Washington D.C. and the State of Washington.

[Halfstep-Denise]

Thanks, Rudywoofs!!

The Pacific Northwest is God's Country!

My parents and sister still live in Washington State.

Halfstep Denise :llama

[Amelia]

Quote:

21. Washington has hosted the World's Fair twice: 1962 in Seattle and 1974 in Spokane.

I attended the fair in '62

Quote:

34. The first revolving restaurant in the continental U.S. was built in Seattle's Space Needle for the 1962 World's Fair.

The first and only time Ive been in the Space Needle was at the fair.

[Bravus]

I'm not a fan of Starbucks coffee at all - for my taste they burn (over-roast) their beans. I am a big fan of Agalloch, a band from Washington State, and also have a good friend at the university there.

[Dr. Shane]

Yea, as a child growing up in Seattle, I was a headbanging, Queensryche fan. However I have kinda grown out of that phase of my development.

[Kountzer]

For me it it was Jimi Hendrix. Love me some Hendrix. Quincy Jones is cool. Same for Kurt Kobain & Nirvana, Alice in chains, 'here comes the rooster' and all that. 1st and foremost: Hendrix.