Facts About Kansas

Topeka is the capital city of Kansas. Kansas became a state on January 29th, 1861. Kansas State official flag was adopted in 1927. The flag has a blue field, the word KANSAS, the Sunflower (the state flower), and the state seal of Kansas.

1. The total area of Kansas is 82,282 square miles.
2. Both the first Pizza Hut and the first White Castle opened their doors in Wichita, Kansas.
3. From the mid-19th century, Kansas has had an economy based on the cultivation of wheat and on cattle ranching.
4. As of 2013, Kansas’s population was 2,893,957 making it the 34th most populous state in the country.
5. Nicknames of Kansas include Sunflower State, the Midway State, and the Wheat State.
6. Nationally, Kansas ranks second when it comes to active tornadoes per year following only Texas.
7. Argonia, Kansas elected the first female mayor in the United States in1887.
8. Kansas is home to the windiest city in the United States, Dodge City, where winds average at 14 mph.
9. Topeka is the home of the first Payless Shoe Store. Founded in 1956, Payless broke ground selling quality shoes at a value price, in which shoe shoppers could select shoes and try them on without the salesperson’s help.
10. Kansas’s state animal is the buffalo and its state bird is the western meadowlark.
11. Famous Kansas natives include Amelia Earhart, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Annette Bening, Gale Sayers, and Erin Brockovich.
12. The first permanent white settlements in Kansas were put into place in order to protect Oregon Trail travelers.
13. Kansas’s major industries include agriculture, car manufacturing, and the aircraft industry.
14. Kansas is famous as the opening set for The Wizard of Oz, and an exact replica of Dorothy’s home can be visited today.
15. The first Icee drink was first made at a Coffeyville Dairy Queen by the owner, Omar Knedik in the 1960s. Customers loved the fruit flavored frozen drink so much that Kendrick had a specific machine developed to serve the new sensation drink, named Icee.
16. Kansas garnered the nickname “Bleeding Kansas” after the state’s slavery vote was met with great violence between both sides of the issue.
17. Kansas farms lead the nation in wheat production.
18. Kansas was the first state to ratify the 15th Amendment which gave African American men the right to vote.
19. Kansas, while mostly flat, has the highest point of 4,039 ft above sea level. It is known as Mount Sunflower.
20. The graham cracker was named after Kansas minister Reverend Sylvester Graham who preferred whole wheat flour crackers.