New York - Fast Facts & Trivia

  1. The first American chess tournament was held in New York in 1843.
     
  2. The 641 mile transportation network known as the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway is the longest toll road in the United States.
     
  3. A brewer named Matthew Vassar founded Vassar College in Poughkeepsie in 1861.
     
  4. In 1979 Vassar students were the first from a private college to be granted permission to study in the People's Republic of China.
     
  5. The Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan is the only school in the world offering a Bachelor of Science Degree with a Major in Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing.
     
  6. Union College in Schenectady is regarded as the Mother of Fraternities because Delta Phi is the oldest continually operating fraternity and Kappa Alpha and Sigma Phi Societies were started on the campus.
     
  7. The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair was actually held in Bethel.
     
  8. Dairying is New York's most important farming activity with over 18,000 cattle and or calves farms.
     
  9. In 1807 The Clermont made its maiden voyage from New York City to Albany making the vessel the first successful steamboat.
     
  10. Sam Schapiro began the Kosher wine industry on New York's Lower East side with their famous extra heavy original concord wine in 1899.
     
  11. New York City has 722 miles of subway track.
     
  12. Power Mill Park situated outside Rochester has a house on Park Road shaped like a group of mushrooms.
     
  13. Chittenago is the home of L. Frank Baum, author of the "Wizard of Oz". It features a yellow brick inlaid sidewalks leading to Aunti Em's and other Oz-themed businesses. Chittenago is the location of an annual Munchkins parade.
     
  14. Oneida has the world's smallest church with the dimensions of 3.5' X 6'.
     
  15. The first daily Yiddish newspaper appeared in 1885 in New York City.
     
  16. The first international sports hero, boxer Bill Richmond of Staten Island, was born August 5, 1763.
     
  17. The "New York Post" established in 1803 by Alexander Hamilton is the oldest running newspaper in the United States.
     
  18. John Babcock invented both the indoor rowing machine and the sliding seat during the winter of 1869/1870.
     
  19. The first railroad in America ran a distance of 11 miles between Albany and Schenectady.
     
  20. The first capital of the United States was New York City. In 1789 George Washington took his oath as president on the balcony at Federal Hall.
     
  21. Hartsdale has a pet cemetery established in 1896 and containing 12,000 plots.
     
  22. In November for Boy Scouts and in March for Girl Scouts the annual Urban Camp-Outs are hosted at the Empire State Building.
     
  23. The Catskills are the home of the legend of Rip Van Winkle, brown trout and flycasting.
     
  24. The first presentation of 3D films before a paying audience took place at Manhattan's Astor Theater on June 10, 1915.
     
  25. Sam Wilson, a meatpacker from Troy who's caricature Uncle Sam came to personify the United States is buried at Troy's Oakwood Cemetery. During the War of 1812, he stamped "U.S. Beef" on his products which soldiers interpreted the U.S. abbreviation as meaning Uncle Sam.
     
  26. The Genesee River is one of the few rivers in the world that flows south to north.
     
  27. Rochester is known as both the Flour City and the Flower City. The community is home to the first abolitionist group, bloomers, marshmallows, Jell-O, French's Mustard, baby shoes, gold teeth and the mail chute.
     
  28. Gennaro Lombardi opened the first United States pizzeria in 1895 in New York City.
     
  29. On July 28, 1945 an Army Air Corps B-25 crashed into the Empire State Building at the 79th floor level.
     
  30. New York's largest lake in Oneida measures 79.8 square miles.
     
  31. New York's highest waterfall is the 215 foot Taughannock.
     
  32. The Erie Canal, built across New York State in the 1820s, opened the Midwest to development and helped New York City become a worldwide trading center.
     
  33. The first Boy's Club was established in New York City in 1876.
     
  34. European settlers who brought seeds to New York introduced apples in the 1600s.
     
  35. The Big Apple is a term coined by musicians meaning to play the big time.
     
  36. The first Eagle Scout was Arthur R. Eldred from Troop 1 in Oceanside. He was bestowed the honor in May 1912.
     
  37. Ten Mile River Boy Scout Camp in Narrowsburg is the largest council owned camp in the country.
     
  38. Joseph C. Gayetty of New York City invented toilet paper in 1857.
     
  39. Wade Boggs and Cal Ripken Jr. played against each other in Rochester vs. Pawtucket Red Sox in the longest game in baseball history. The game went a total of 33 innings.
     
  40. The oldest cattle ranch in the US was started in 1747 at Montauk on Long Island.
     
  41. Adirondack Park is larger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Olympic Parks combined.
     
  42. New York was the first state to require license plates on cars.
     
  43. Niagara Reservation became the first state park in the United States.
     
  44. Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site in Newburgh was the first publicly owned historic site.
     
  45. New York State is home to 58 species of wild orchids.
     
  46. New York has over 70,000 miles of rivers and streams.
     
  47. The first public brewery in America was established by Peter Minuit at the Market (Marckvelt) field in lower Manhattan.
     
  48. Mount Kisco's landmark, a statue of Chief Kisco, was once an elaborate fountain for watering horses. The statue stands at the intersection of Routes 117 and 133. D.F. Gorham, a strong supporter of prohibition, presented it to Mount Kisco in 1907. The inscription on the base to the statue reads "God's Only Beverage for Man and Beast."
     
  49. The name Canandaigua (pronounced Can-an-DAY-gwa) is derived from a Native American word meaning the chosen spot.
     
  50. Horseheads is the first and only village in the United States dedicated to the service of the American military horse.
     
    Thanks to: New York State Division of Tourism, John D. Dowd, Maggie Sebastian, BJKintigh
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