Bracken Cave near San Antonio, Texas, is home to the world’s largest concentration of mammals – Mexican free-tailed bats to be more specific. It is estimated that the colony consists of more than 20 million bats.
http://www.batcon.org/home/index.asp?idPage=56&subPageID=75
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracken_Cave
The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia was constructed with twice as many bathrooms needed for the number of employees because at that time, segregated Virginia required separate facilities for “white” and “colored” persons.
http://www.virginiaplaces.org/regions/16dc.html
The Pentagon contains 17.5 miles of corridors, 100,000 miles of phone cable, 131 stairways, 16,251 light fixtures and oh yeah… 284 bathrooms.
http://pentagon.afis.osd.mil/facts-area.cfm
http://pentagon.afis.osd.mil/facts-features.cfm
[Stated “fact”: Kerimski Church in Finland is the world’s largest wooden church.] Close… it is in fact, the Kerimaki Church in Kerimaki, Finland that is capable of holding 5000 people. It’s not heated so it is used mainly in the summer. Makes sense to me…
http://www.muuka.com/finnishpumpkin/churches/k/church_k.html
Scheduled for completion in early 2007, the Grand Canyon Skywalk - a walkway with glass sides and bottom - will extend out 70 feet into the canyon about 4,000 feet above the canyon floor.
http://www.grandcanyonskywalk.com/home.html
http://www.snopes.com/photos/architecture/skywalk.asp
The most common town names in the United States are Fairview (288) and Midway (250).
http://www.nlc.org/about_cities/cities_101/185.cfm
The two longest community names – without a hyphen – in the U.S. are Mooselookmeguntic, Maine and Kleinfeltersville, Pennsylvania.
http://www.nlc.org/about_cities/cities_101/185.cfm
Toad Suck, Apt, Ink, Fifty-Six and Forty-Four are all names of communities in Arkansas.
http://www.arkansas.com/things-to-do/history-heritage/colorful_names.asp
The smallest state park in Kansas is Mushroom Rock State Park. It covers about 5 acres and contains… yep, mushroom shaped rocks. Check the link for pics and directions…
http://www.kansastravel.org/mushroomrock.htm
The physically smallest post office in the United States is most likely the one in Ochopee, Florida in the heart of the everglades. It was formerly an irrigation pipe shed. See pics in the link below…
http://www.postmarks.org/pop/2400/2432.htm
The Red Sea in the Bible is likely a long-perpetuated mistranslation of the Reed Sea – or “Sea of Reeds”.
http://www.bibletexts.com/terms/redsea.htm
Bronx, NY is the only borough of New York City on the mainland. It got its name from the Bronx River that runs through the borough. The Bronx River was in turn, named after Jonas Bronck, a Swedish settler who established himself in the area in 1639.
“The street lamps in Hershey, PA are shaped like HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Chocolates.”
http://www.hersheys.com/kisses/about/funfacts.asp?id=3
Cape Flattery on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula is the northwestern most point in the contiguous United States.
http://www.relocate-america.com/states/wa/
Sandy Hook Light in the Sandy Hook Unit Gateway National Recreation Area in New Jersey is the oldest operating lighthouse in the U.S. It began operation in 1764.
Canada derives its name from the Huron word “kanata” which means village.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/canada
If you’re looking for a rock hotel (that’s a hotel carved into rock) or bed and breakfasts, you might want to check the selection in Cappadocia, Turkey.
http://www.archibase.net/archinews/12263.html
http://cappadocia.hotelle.com/
For a more chilling experience (in season, of course), there’s the Ice Hotel and the Absolut Ice Bar in the old village of Jukkasjarvi in Swedish Lapland.
http://www.scantours.com/ice_hotel.htm
Just in case you’ve wondered, yes… on July 28, 1945 a B-25 bomber did crash into the Empire State Building between the 79th and 80th floors.
Note: Rather than post a horrifically long link here, I’ll recommend the one below, then go to FAQ’s, then do a search for the subject.
http://www.esbnyc.com/index2.cfm?noflash=1
[Stated “fact”: Tennessee is bordered by more states than any other. The eight states are Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.] Nope. Better add Missouri to the short list. Its eight bordering states are Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
http://www.relocate-america.com/states/MO/
Maine of course, only borders one other state – New Hampshire.
http://www.relocate-america.com/states/me/
Uzbekistan and Liechtenstein are the only two countries considered to be “doubly landlocked”. In other words they are separated from an ocean or ocean-accessible sea by at least two other countries.
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/docs/faqs.html#Geography
The United States is the third largest country in the world behind Russia and Canada. China comes in a close fourth.
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2147rank.html
Just for perspective, the area of the 25 countries which currently make up the European Union occupy an area less than one-half that of the U.S.
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ee.html
The highest capital city in the world is La Paz, Bolivia at an altitude of 11,913 feet above sea level. I think it’s only fair though that we give Lhasa, Tibet at least an acknowledgement for its location at 12,086 feet.
http://www.infoplease.com/askeds/highest-city-world.html
At an elevation of 10,430 feet, Leadville, Colorado is the highest incorporated city in the U.S.
http://www.50states.com/facts/colorado.htm
“The Dwight Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel between Clear Creek & Summit counties is the highest auto tunnel in the world. Bored at an elevation of 11,000 feet under the Continental Divide it is 8,960 feet long and the average daily traffic exceeds 26,000 vehicles.”
http://www.50states.com/facts/colorado.htm
OK, just one more Colorado fact – “The highest suspension bridge in the world is over the Royal Gorge near Canon City. The Royal Gorge Bridge spans the Arkansas River at a height of 1,053 feet.”
http://www.50states.com/facts/colorado.htm
http://www.royalgorgebridge.com/FactSheet.aspx
The world’s “tallest cable-stayed” bridge is the Viaduc de Millau in South France that stretches upward for 1,132 feet. This sucker is impressive!
http://www.siteselection.com/ssinsider/snapshot/sf050103.htm
The Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico is the oldest continuously occupied settlement in the United States. It was founded as early as 1100 AD.
http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=357&ResourceType=District http://www.newmexico.org/place/loc/cities/page/DB-place/place/159.html
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