National Maryland Day – Fun Facts About Maryland

Family vacations in Maryland can include time in Washington DC or Chesapeake Bay. The Appalachian Mountains will have you more inland and away from the beaches. And a visit to Baltimore will have you enjoying big city living. This entire state is diverse and exciting. Which leads me to wonder what else we may be missing. So, let me share a few fun facts I have learned about Maryland. I think it is the perfect way to spend National Maryland Day.

National Maryland Day – Fun Facts About Maryland

1. Maryland was named after Queen Henrietta Maria of England.
2. The Chesapeake Bay splits Maryland in two.
3. Maryland is one of a few states to have a state crustacean. It is the blue crab.
4. Maryland also has a state exercise. Walking was designated as the state exercise on October 1, 2008.
5. The very first successful passenger balloon flight was in Baltimore on June 24, 1784.
6. Harriet Tubman was born in Maryland.
7. There is only a 12% chance that Maryland has a white Christmas every year.
8. The Great Baltimore Fire was in 1904. It lasted for 30 hours. Entire neighborhoods were wiped out during the blaze.
9. There is a town called Boring in Maryland. The town was actually named after it’s first postmaster, David Boring. If you are ever in the area during a family vacation, take a selfie on the steps in front of the Boring Post Office.
10. Francis Scott Key was a Maryland lawyer. He is also the person who wrote the Star-Spangled Banner in 1814.
11. The Ouija board was created by a spiritual medium named Helen Peters and businessman Elijah Bond. There is a plaque in Baltimore at a 7-Eleven where the boardinghouse where she used the board was once located.
12. The very first umbrella factory in the world was located in Maryland. Francis Beehler founded the Beehler Umbrella Factory in 1828.
13. America’s first dental college opened in Baltimore in 1840.
14. Samuel F.B. Morse sent his very first long-distance telegram from Washington DC to Baltimore.
15. The very first school in the US, King Williams School, was opened in Maryland in 1696.
16. Assateague Island is in Maryland. It is where the wild Chincoteague ponies live.
17. The refrigerator was invented in Maryland. Back in 1803, Thomas Moore needed a way to transport butter from Georgetown to Montgomery County. So, he created the ice box.
18. Babe Ruth was born in Baltimore on February 6, 1895.
19. Old Bay Seasoning was created in Baltimore. If you have ever wondered what was in that yellow, blue, and red box, let me share. It is a mixture of crushed red pepper flakes, celery salt, paprika, and black pepper.
20. The official state dessert is Smith Island Cake and has been since the 1800s.
21. The oldest Catholic secondary school is located in Bethesda. Georgetown Prep was founded back in 1789.
22. The first water company in the US, Baltimore Water Company, was opened in 1792.
23. The last ship from the Civil War, the USS Constellation, is docked in Baltimore.
24. Famous people who lived in Maryland include Edgar Allan Poe, Gertrude Stein, Upton Sinclair, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
25. The very first bookmobile was created in 1905 in Washington County. A horse-drawn wagon was used to take the books around.

These are some of the many fun facts about Maryland. There are so many more and you can learn about them all when you take a family vacation there for National Maryland Day.

So, are you ready to plan a family vacation in Maryland and learn a few more fun facts?

If you said yes, I would like to invite you to schedule a planning session with me by clicking here. When you click on this link, you will be taken directly to my digital calendar to schedule a time that is convenient for you.

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