Facts About Oklahoma

Facts About Oklahoma
  1. The name of the state is derived from the Choctaw words “Okla” and “humma”, meaning “red people”.

 

  1. In Oklahoma in the 1920s, ranchers, lawyers, and public officials conspired together to murder 60+ Osage Indians in order to secure the rights to their oil-rich land. Only two men were ever convicted. Both were paroled and one pardoned by the governor of Oklahoma. – Source

 

  1. In 1943, an Oklahoman courthouse was mistakenly bombed by the U.S. Air Force during a training mission. For many years, the city was thought to be the only U.S city bombed by its own military.

 

  1. The Red River is 1,290 miles (2,080 km) long; for about half this distance, it serves as the Texas-Oklahoma boundary. The River’s color comes from the clay and minerals in the water.

 

  1. In Cherokee, Oklahoma, July 11th, 1909: at 3:00 in the morning, a heat burst reportedly caused the temperature to rise briefly to 57.8 °C (136.0 °F), desiccating crops in the area.

 

  1. Tornadoes are common in the state. Between 1950 and 2017, Oklahoma has been hit by 3824 tornadoes. Thus, on average, the state was hit by at least 56 tornadoes each year.

 

  1. The “state meal” of Oklahoma is fried okra, squash, cornbread, barbecue pork, biscuits, sausage and gravy, grits, corn, strawberries, chicken fried steak, pecan pie, and black-eyed peas.

 

  1. The world’s first parking meter, known as Park-O-Meter No. 1, was installed in the business district of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on 16 July 1935.

 

  1. The Red Earth Festival in Oklahoma City celebrates Native American Cultures. The event is held each year at the Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City.

 

  1. The Bank of Oklahoma building in Tulsa, OK is a half-size replica of the World Trade Center buildings. It was designed by the same architect and completed 3 years after WTC.

 

  1. The descendants of black slaves owned by the Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma are still battling with the tribal leadership in a fight to be recognized as full and legitimate members of the tribe after about 25,000 were disenfranchised in the early 1980s.

 

  1. The longest lightning bolt ever recorded occurred over Oklahoma in 2007. It spanned 321 km/199.5 miles and lasted 5.7 seconds.
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