New Orleans' first Mardi Gras celebration was held in February, 1826.

The first US Marines wore high leather collars to protect their necks from sabres, hence the name "leathernecks."

Wyoming was the first state to allow women to vote.

The first losing candidate in a US presidential election was Thomas Jefferson. He lost to John Adams. George Washington had been unopposed.

More than 20,000 men were killed, wounded, or missing in action in the battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862. This was the bloodiest one-day fight during the Civil War.

Chicago's Lincoln Park was created in 1864. The original 120 acre cemetery had most of its graves removed and was expanded to more than 1000 acres for recreational use.

On April 12, 1938, the state of New York passed a law requiring medical tests for marriage license applicants, the first state to do so.

On December 20, 1860, South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union.

New York's first St. Patrick's day parade was held on March 17, 1762.

Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.

President George Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart in 1782. It's a decoration to recognize merit in enlisted men and non-commissioned officers.

President Lincoln proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving Day in 1863.

The White House, in Washington DC, was originally gray, the color of the sandstone it was built out of. After the War of 1812, during which it had been burned by Canadian troops, the outside walls were painted white to hide the smoke stains.

During the US Civil war, 200,000 blacks served in the Union Army; 38,000 gave their lives; 22 won the Medal of Honor.

Vermont, admitted as the 14th state in 1791, was the 1st addition to the original 13 colonies.

Former President Cleveland defeated incumbent Benjamin Harrison in 1892, becoming the first (and, to date, only) chief executive to win non-consecutive terms to the White House.

Grand Rapids, Michigan was the 1st US city to fluoridate its water in 1945.

Yellowstone is the world's 1st national park. It was dedicated in 1872.

There are more statues of Sacajewa, Lewis & Clark's female Indian guide, in the United States than any other person.

The total number of Americans killed in the Civil War is greater than the combined total of Americans killed in all other wars.

The Union ironclad, Monitor, was the first U.S. ship to have a flush toilet.

In 1865, several veterans of the Confederate Army formed a private social club in Pulaski, Tennessee, called the Ku Klux Klan.

In 1810 US population was 7,239,881. Black population at 1,377,808 was 19%. In 1969 US population reached 200 million. The population in 2000 is exceeding over 270 million and the black population is around 10% as the Asian and Latin minorities are growing at a much faster rate.

The Miss America Contest was created in Atlantic City in 1921 with the purpose of extending the tourist season beyond Labor Day.

The name of the first airplane flown at Kitty Hawk by the Wright Brothers, on December 17, 1903, was Bird of Prey.

The only repealed amendment to the US Constitution deals with the prohibition of alcohol.

Christmas became a national holiday in the US in 1890.

The "Spruce Goose" flew on November 2, 1947, for one mile, at a maximum altitude of 70 feet. Built by Howard Hughes, it is the largest aircraft ever built, the 140-ton eight-engine seaplane, made of birch, has a wingspan of 320 feet. It was built as a prototype troop transport. Rejected by the Pentagon, Hughes put the plane into storage, never to be flown again.