25 March: Maryland Day

25 March is Maryland Day. Here are ten things you might not know about the US State of Maryland.

1. Maryland was named after Henrietta Maria of France, the wife of King Charles I. It also has some nicknames: The Old Line State, from a line of soldiers who held the British back while George Washington's army got away, Free State, because Marylanders opposed prohibition and have a long tradition of political freedom and religious tolerance. It's also sometimes called “Little America” because there are examples of all kinds of terrain there.
2. The largest city is Baltimore, and the capital is Annapolis. Annapolis was known as the Athens of America during the seventeenth century and at one time was the capital of the United States. Now it is known as the sailing capital of the world. Other towns and cities include Gaithersburg, known as the science capital of the world and Havre de Grace, known as the Decoy Capital of the World. There are also towns called Boring, Accident and Chevy Chase.
3. Another town, Saint Michaels, is famous for fooling British attackers by switching off all the lights in the town and hoisting lanterns onto the masts of ships and into trees so that the British would fire their cannons too high and miss the town. It worked - only one house was hit.
4. Maryland has the only state flag to be based on English heraldry. The Black and gold quarters are the arms of Lord Baltimore's family, the Calverts, and the Red and White quarters are those of his mother's family, the Crosslands. The colony of Maryland was founded by Sir George Calvert, also known as Lord Baltimore, in 1632.
5. Some other state symbols. Maryland is one of only three states to have a state crustacean, the Maryland blue crab. It's State Bird is the Baltimore oriole; State Reptile, Diamondback Terrapin; State Fish, Rockfish (Striped Bass); State Insect, Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly; State Flower, Black-eyed susan; State Tree, White Oak. The State Boat is a Skipjack, a sailing boat still used today to dredge for Oysters on the floor of Chesapeake Bay. The state drink is Milk, the state Dog is Chesapeake Bay retriever. Maryland was the first state to designate a state sport - jousting. The state dessert is Smith Island Cake, which features between eight and 15 thin layers covered in thick frosting. More recently it designated a state team sport as well: Lacrosse. Finally, there's the state song, “Maryland, My Maryland”, which is sung to the tune of the Christmas carol “O, Tannenbaum”. Although it was only adopted as the state song in 1939 it was written during the Civil War and within its nine verses refers to Abraham Lincoln as a tyrant and the Union as “Northern scum.”
6. Maryland is one of two states which gave up some of its land to help build the nation’s capital of Washington DC in 1790.
7. America's first Umbrellas were produced in Baltimore, beginning in 1828. The six pack of Beer and the Ouija board were also invented in Maryland. Elijah Bond, one of its inventors, has a Ouija board engraved on his tombstone.
8. Other famous people from Maryland include: Babe Ruth, Francis Scott Key (who wrote the US National Anthem), Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (America's first saint), authors F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tom Clancy and Edgar Allan Poe (The Baltimore Ravens are named after Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, The Raven), Frank Zappa, Billie Holiday, Jada Pinkett Smith and David Hasselhoff. Kunta Kinte, the slave ancestor of Roots author Alex Haley obviously wasn't born there, but it's where he arrived in 1767 and there is a statue of Haley at the docks to commemorate this.
9. Famous islands off the coast of Maryland are Smith Island, where the cake comes from, and which scientists believe is now sinking, and Assateague, which is the home to famous feral ponies. According to legend, they escaped from a shipwrecked Spanish Gallion, but in reality they are more likely to be descendants of domestic animals transported to the island in the 1600s.
10. Eating while swimming is illegal in Maryland. So is marrying your grandmother, taking a Lion to the cinema, selling chicks or ducklings to children within a week of Easter, and letting thistles grow in your garden.

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