Share something odd/interesting about your state/province/country

[CdnCarrie]

Winnie the Pooh was named after our capital city Winnipeg.
World Whisky of the Year - Crown Royal - is manufactured in Manitoba.

 

[::danielle::]

Houston's Theater District is ranked second in the country (behind New York City) in the number of theatre seats in a concentrated downtown.

Also, Houston is one of only five cities in the United States with permanent professional resident companies in all of the major performing arts disciplines: opera (Houston Grand Opera), ballet (Houston Ballet), music (Houston Symphony Orchestra), and theatre (Alley Theatre).


Not what you'd expect but it's true!

 

[JoeA]

We are more "weed friendly" than are cigarette or even e-cig friendly.

Come on out to Colorado and smoke some dope!

And we probably also have the highest growth rate of homeless males in their 20's than any other state (pun intended!).

 

[tvguy]

Ironic, eh?

Sort of like when I was in Germany when I was in college in 1979 and chatted with a local who was a car buff. I told him how lucky he was that his country had Mercedes and BMW's. He pointed out that every taxi cab, police car and fleet car there was a Mercedes or BMW, and that I was lucky to have world class cars in the U.S. like the Crown Victoria, , Impala and Malibu. Basically what every taxi cab, police car and fleet car was in the U.S.

 

[MIGrandma]

My state is made up of two peninsulas, connected to each other by a 5-mile long bridge. And we have Great Lakes.

 

[bcla]

Sort of like when I was in Germany when I was in college in 1979 and chatted with a local who was a car buff. I told him how lucky he was that his country had Mercedes and BMW's. He pointed out that every taxi cab, police car and fleet car there was a Mercedes or BMW, and that I was lucky to have world class cars in the U.S. like the Crown Victoria, , Impala and Malibu. Basically what every taxi cab, police car and fleet car was in the U.S.

I've known plenty of Europeans. I suppose the one thing they noted about European-spec BMW and Mercedes-Benz is that one can get stripped-down models there that just don't exist in the US. Years ago they were marketed as mid-luxury cars in the US, but in Europe they have a full range. There's certainly no A-Class available in the US. BMW North America did experiment with a few basic models, but the 318ti didn't do so well.

So I guess this car buff wasn't interested in pimpmobiles.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I've known plenty of Europeans. I suppose the one thing they noted about European-spec BMW and Mercedes-Benz is that one can get stripped-down models there that just don't exist in the US. Years ago they were marketed as mid-luxury cars in the US, but in Europe they have a full range. There's certainly no A-Class available in the US. BMW North America did experiment with a few basic models, but the 318ti didn't do so well.

So I guess this car buff wasn't interested in pimpmobiles.

It works the other way too---we have lots of features (mostly safety things) on our German BMW that are not included on the US models due to odd US laws (some might be out of date, others might to be to protect US automakers from competition). I know on the BMW forum DH frequents it drives the Canadian buyers batty--because their market is smaller so they get the same cars as the US even though the features would be legal in Canada.

 

[Shutterbug]

Ohio is home to the Football Hall of Fame even though it is also home of the Cleveland Browns (/sarcasm)

The Akron Airdock where large zepplins and blimps were built in the early 1900's

 

[njpyro]

The Statue of Liberty, NY Giants and NY Jets are all in New Jersey.
Within a 2 hour drive, I can reach beaches on the Atlantic Ocean, Ski Resorts, NYC or Philly.

 

[mjkacmom]

The Statue of Liberty, NY Giants and NY Jets are all in New Jersey.
Within a 2 hour drive, I can reach beaches on the Atlantic Ocean, Ski Resorts, NYC or Philly.

Don't forget the NY Red Bulls. And it's the diner capital of the world, and the leading producer of blueberries and cranberries, and has more race horses than Kentucky.

 

[tvguy]

It works the other way too---we have lots of features (mostly safety things) on our German BMW that are not included on the US models due to odd US laws (some might be out of date, others might to be to protect US automakers from competition). I know on the BMW forum DH frequents it drives the Canadian buyers batty--because their market is smaller so they get the same cars as the US even though the features would be legal in Canada.

Love to know what those are. I've seen a lot of articles about foreign automakers complaining about U.S. law requiring too many safety features, never seen any mention of of a safety feature that was not allowed in the U.S. I do know that European headlights are too bright for U.S. safety standards, and if you have ever had a car with European spec headlights coming at you at night, you'd be glad they are illegal here.

 

[CynBeth]

Not my state, but a fun fact I learned yesterday, courtesy of Trivia Crack: The state sport of Maryland is jousting. According to Maryland.gov, jousting became the official state sport in 1962, and Maryland was the first US state to designate an official state sport. Bonus fact: Maryland's state team sport is lacrosse.

That's my state. Thanks!

 

[tvguy]

I've known plenty of Europeans. I suppose the one thing they noted about European-spec BMW and Mercedes-Benz is that one can get stripped-down models there that just don't exist in the US. Years ago they were marketed as mid-luxury cars in the US, but in Europe they have a full range. There's certainly no A-Class available in the US. BMW North America did experiment with a few basic models, but the 318ti didn't do so well.

So I guess this car buff wasn't interested in pimpmobiles.

Yeah, I remember reading an article about the newly hired head of Mercedes deciding to put cup holders in their cars for the U.S. market. He just didn't understand why American's don't stop, go into a restaurant, and have a cup of coffee, then resume their trip. The concept of "drinking on the go" for foreign to him. But marketing research showed they were losing thousands of sales in the U.S. because of the lack of cupholders in what was being marketed as a premium luxury car. I think the Mercedes 190 sold fairly well in the U.S., and that certainly was an entry level car. And when my wife and I looked BMW 320i's in 1983, they were $2,000 more than a Ford Escort, not the $15,000 more that they are now.

 

[GaryDis]

The Statue of Liberty

Technically, it's part of New York City, specifically an exclave of the borough of Manhattan. The water around it and riparian rights belong to New Jersey.

 

[GaryDis]

The two longest US Routes, US 20 and US 6, both have their eastern termini in Massachusetts, US 20 in Boston and US 6 in Provincetown. US 6 used to be longest, but changes in California put US 20 ahead.

 

[Minnesota!]

Northwest angle.... Google it.

 

[bcla]

It works the other way too---we have lots of features (mostly safety things) on our German BMW that are not included on the US models due to odd US laws (some might be out of date, others might to be to protect US automakers from competition). I know on the BMW forum DH frequents it drives the Canadian buyers batty--because their market is smaller so they get the same cars as the US even though the features would be legal in Canada.

I understand E-spec headlamps. However, it's not necessarily an either-or. There's a legitimate question of whether or not a certain national/regional standard is better or just different.

In any case, I'm thinking a lot of things would have been far different 37 years ago. The American auto industry was in decline, but it really got bad in the 80s.

 

[arminnie]

Way too many to mention for Louisiana. Parishes vs. counties. Napoleonic code vs. English Common law.

South LA - 24/7 liquor laws. Go cups. Drive thru bars.

 

[bcla]

Yeah, I remember reading an article about the newly hired head of Mercedes deciding to put cup holders in their cars for the U.S. market. He just didn't understand why American's don't stop, go into a restaurant, and have a cup of coffee, then resume their trip. The concept of "drinking on the go" for foreign to him. But marketing research showed they were losing thousands of sales in the U.S. because of the lack of cupholders in what was being marketed as a premium luxury car. I think the Mercedes 190 sold fairly well in the U.S., and that certainly was an entry level car. And when my wife and I looked BMW 320i's in 1983, they were $2,000 more than a Ford Escort, not the $15,000 more that they are now.

I do remember when the 190 came out. The price was actually pretty high - maybe about $29,000 back in 1983 when that was real money. My dream car in the 80s was a 190E 2.3-16 with a Cosworth designed 4 valve/cylinder engine and go-kart like handling. It also had an unusual "dog-leg" shifter.

BMW did have a higher end, but maybe mid-80s was when they seemed to abandon their entry-level models in the US.

 

[elphaba91]

Melbourne, Australia

The city was founded by Batman (John Batman that is) and was nearly called Batmania after him.

We have a public holiday for a horse race and another one because there's a football match the next day.

The first 5 minutes of half time of the said football match are the busiest for our sewage system all year (The entertainment is all before the game and doesn't compare to the Superbowl's...we're still not over the Meat Loaf incident of 2011).