October 24th: Pennsylvania Day

Today is Pennsylvania Day. Presumably a celebration in honour of the US state officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the northern United States. Here are 10 interesting facts about the state.

1. Pennsylvania is the 33rd largest, the 6th most populous, and the 9th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The state's five largest cities are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie and Reading. The capital is Harrisburg.
2. Pennsylvania was one of the original 13 founding states of the USA. It was the second state to ratify the United States Constitution, and Philadelphia is the location of Independence Hall, where the United States Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were drafted. Hence one of the state's nicknames is "The State of Independence". Others include the Keystone State, the Quaker State. The Coal State, The Oil State, The Chocolate State, and The Steel State. It was once part of a colony known as New Sweden.
3. The Chocolate State comes from the fact that Hershey, PA is home to the Hershey Chocolate Factory, where Hershey Kisses were created in 1907. Another foodstuff associated with Pennsylvania is Mushrooms. Kennett Square, PA is the mushroom capital of the world. It produces one million pounds of mushrooms per year and has an annual mushroom festival.
4. The state has the largest Amish population in the world, since many of them immigrated there in the early 18th century. They, and the language they speak, are sometimes misleadingly called "Pennsylvania Dutch", even though they came from Germany and the language is a dialect of German. This was probably because the German world for German is "Deutsch", and people misheard it.
5. Punxsutawney PA is the home to the original Groundhog Day Groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil. known for coming out of his hole and looking for his shadow in early February to predict the weather. The Groundhog Day movie, however, was filmed in Illinois.
6. Pennsylvania was the first state to have a petrol station, a golf course, a Department store, a brewery and a zoo. The oldest surviving wooden Roller Coaster is also here.
7. Famous people from Pennsylvania include: Actors Kevin Bacon, Charles Bronson, W.C. Fields (famous for commenting, "On the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia"), Jonathan Frakes, Jeff Goldblum, Gene Kelly, Grace Kelly, Bill Cosby,Will Smith, James Stewart and Sharon Stone; writers Louisa M Alcott, Pearl S. Buck, Ezra Pound and Dean Koontz; singers Christina Aguilera, Frankie Avalon, Chubby Checker, Lisa Lopes, Billy Paul, Christina Perri, Pink and Taylor Swift; artists Man Ray and Andy Warhol. The only US President to come from here was James Buchanan.
8. State symbols are as follows: Animal - White-tailed deer; beverage - Milk; Firearm -Pennsylvania long rifle; Fish - Brook Trout; Flower - Mountain laurel; Insect - Pennsylvania firefly; Tree - Eastern hemlock; bird - Ruffed Grouse; dog - Great Dane (the story goes that when the state government voted on this one, they were in a light-hearted mood and cast their votes by growling and barking. The speaker announced the result by saying, “The arfs have it.”). The state motto is "Virtue, Liberty, and Independence".
9. There is a place in Pennsylvania which has been on Fire since 1962. It started as a garbage fire but spread to a coal mine where it has been smoldering away ever since. It's probably not a coincidence that the location of the fire, Centralia, is also the least populated place in the state with only ten residents.
10. Wacky laws: it's illegal here to sweep dust under a rug or sing in the bath. If you turn up to your wedding having had a few drinks beforehand, the minister is obliged to call the wedding off if the bride or groom is drunk, and don't even think about firing a gun or cannon at a wedding. Driving along country roads could be a real pain too if you follow the law to the letter. At night, motorists have to stop every mile, by law, and send up a rocket signal, then wait ten minutes so the road can be cleared of livestock; and if a motorist encounters a team of Horses he has to pull off the road and camouflage his car. If the horses still appear nervous, he is required to dismantle his car piece by piece and hide it in the bushes!