19 Amazing Facts About Alabama

Alabama is a US state located in the south eastern region of the country. Its capital is Montgomery.

The state has 4.9 million residents. Its total area is 52,419 square miles.

1. The state boasts of 1,500 miles of inland waterways which is more than any other US state.

2. Alabama was the venue of the very first Mardi Gras celebration.

3. The telegram that started the American Civil War was dispatched from Montgomery, Alabama.

4. Albertville, Alabama is famous as the world's fire hydrant capital.

5. The city of Birmingham is home to the world's biggest motorcycle museum.

6. Alabama has several nicknames including the 'Yellowhammer State', the 'Cotton State' and the 'Heart of Dixie'.

7. Alabama native Mary Anderson invented the world's first windshield wiper way back in 1903.

8. Dothan, Alabama has the sobriquet 'World's Peanut Capital'.

9. Alabama has the longest state constitution among US states. It contains over 376,000 words.

10. Did you know that Alabama was the first American state to declare the occasion of Christmas as a legal holiday?

11. The state has the distinction of having the world's biggest cast iron statue - The 56-foot high Vulcan statue in Birmingham city.

12. The world's largest office chair built using 10 tons of steel is in Aniston city.

13. Ann Hodges, a resident of Alabama is the sole person in the world to have been struck by a meteorite. This happened way back in 1954.

14. In 1886, the world's first electric streetcar system was installed in the city of Montgomery.

15. Alabama is the sole US state to possess the capability to manufacture iron as well as steel employing indigenous natural resources.

16. The state boasts of the sole bookstore in the world that only sells signed books. The name of the book store is Alabama Booksmith.

17. The first rocket to send humans to the moon was designed here. It was the Saturn V.

18. The state is home to 43% of the total snail population in the whole country.

19. The only all-water mail route in the country is present in the city of Magnolia Springs.