Facts from the Encyclopedia
Before gold was discovered in California in 1848, North Carolina was the leading gold-producing state. (p. 512)
In 1957, Raleigh's Dorton Arena was named one of the ten buildings of the twentieth century most likely to influence future architects by the American Institute of Architects. (p. 351)
The engine on the first airplane flown by the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, had only 12 horsepower—close to the amount of horsepower of two modern lawnmowers. (p. 23)
The battle for the U.S. Senate in 1984 between James B. Hunt Jr. and Jesse Helms garnered attention from publications from around the world because of the no-holds-barred campaign strategies employed by both camps. (p. 558)
Residents of certain areas of the Outer Banks are called "Hoi Toiders" because of their unique dialect. The name comes from the way the residents say the words "high tide," which is similar to the way residents of southwest England pronounce the words. (p. 580)
The name and recipe for Krispy Kreme doughnuts were created by New Orleans chef Jon LeBeau and purchased by founder Vernon Rudolph’s uncle. (p. 652)
The Penland School of Crafts was one of the first schools in the country to teach the art of glass blowing. (p. 877)
Tryon Palace in New Bern was considered "the finest government house in the colonies." (p. 1137)
By 2004, Wachovia Corporation, headquartered in Charlotte, was the fourth-largest bank in the nation. (p. 1171)
North Carolina's first official airmail was flown from the state on January 2, 1911. (p. 21)
The American Dance Festival, held at Duke University each summer, draws dancers from around the world. (p. 32)
Between 1984 and 1987, North Carolina celebrated the quadricentennial anniversary of Sir Walter Raleigh's attempt to colonize the state’s Outer Banks 400 years prior. (p. 46)
Don Knotts earned five Emmy Awards for his role as Deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, which took place in Mayberry (a fictional North Carolina town). (p. 51)
The term “Army worms” referred to extortionists who followed the invading Federal army in the South during the Civil War. (p. 66)
Barbering was the first profession open to blacks after the Civil War, and their skills in grooming sometimes led to their freedom. (p. 91)
Wilkes County, North Carolina, was once the self-proclaimed "Moonshine Capital of the World." (p. 760)
In Wilmington in April 1761, Charles Cogdell, an observer at a meeting of the Colonial Assembly of North Carolina, allegedly threw a cat at speaker James Hassell after Hassell discussed raising troops in response to the French and Indian War. (p. 195)
Thomas Wolfe's autobiographical novel Look Homeward, Angel was banned from the Asheville public library for more than seven years because of its frank and, at times, brutal depictions of life growing up in the town. (p. 427)
North Carolina is home to the second largest number of filmmaking studio facilities and sound stages in the country, trailing only California. (p. 431)
Inventor of the Gatling gun, Richard Jordan Gatling, was born in Hertford County in September 1818. Gatling's rapid-fire weapon forever changed the face of warfare by allowing a small team of operators to inflict large casualties on an opposing force.
(p. 494)
Hollering was an essential means of communicating for people in rural areas of North Carolina before the invention of the telephone. The art of hollering is celebrated every year at the Hollerin' Contest in Spivey's Corner. (p. 581)
The residents of Mecklenburg County allegedly produced a Declaration of Independence a full year before the signing of the national Declaration of Independence. Historians dispute the authenticity of this claim, however. (p. 725)
The act of mooning (baring one's backside) was a hotly contested legal issue in the 1990s when a Charlotte man repeatedly appealed a charge of indecent exposure after mooning a woman. The case made its way all the way to the North Carolina State Supreme Court where the court determined that mooning was considered indecent exposure—overturning the ruling of a lower court. (p. 759)
The term "Old North State" dates back to 1710 when the colony was divided into South Carolina and the earlier-settled North Carolina. (p. 847)
Creator Caleb Bradham originally called the drink he developed in New Bern in 1893 "Brad's Drink," but he changed the name to the now more familiar brand—Pepsi-Cola.
(p. 880)