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.
- The total area of Kansas is 82,282 square miles.
- Both the first Pizza Hut and the first White Castle opened their doors in Wichita, Kansas.
- From the mid-19th century, Kansas has had an economy based on the cultivation of wheat and on cattle ranching.
- As of 2013, Kansas’s population was 2,893,957 making it the 34th most populous state in the country.
- Nicknames of Kansas include Sunflower State, the Midway State, and the Wheat State.
- Nationally, Kansas ranks second when it comes to active tornadoes per year following only Texas.
- Argonia, Kansas elected the first female mayor in the United States in1887.
- Kansas is home to the windiest city in the United States, Dodge City, where winds average at 14 mph.
- 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.
- Kansas’s state animal is the buffalo and its state bird is the western meadowlark.
- Famous Kansas natives include Amelia Earhart, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Annette Bening, Gale Sayers, and Erin Brockovich.
- The first permanent white settlements in Kansas were put into place in order to protect Oregon Trail travelers.
- Kansas’s major industries include agriculture, car manufacturing, and the aircraft industry.
- Kansas is famous as the opening set for The Wizard of Oz, and an exact replica of Dorothy’s home can be visited today.
- 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.
- Kansas garnered the nickname “Bleeding Kansas” after the state’s slavery vote was met with great violence between both sides of the issue.
- Kansas farms lead the nation in wheat production.
- Kansas was the first state to ratify the 15th Amendment which gave African American men the right to vote.
- Kansas, while mostly flat, has the highest point of 4,039 ft above sea level. It is known as Mount Sunflower.
- The graham cracker was named after Kansas minister Reverend Sylvester Graham who preferred whole wheat flour crackers.