The Strangest Fact About Your State

In America's short 242-year history, some pretty strange things have happened in our 50 states. Something strange can be found out about pretty much every state in America — whether it has hosted a weird event, erected a strange monument, or simply produced more canned pumpkin than any other place in the world.

Texas may have passed some questionable legislation just to prove a point. A Star Wars character watches over one U.S. city from atop a cathedral. And somewhere in the South, a tree lawfully owns itself. These facts and histories are strange but true, collected through extensive online research scouring periodicals and delving into the annals of history.

We selected these facts not just because they offer quirky information — many of them actually represent some unique aspect of the given state's character. So check out the strangest fact about your state for some laughs and some light head-scratching over information you might never have imagined to be true.

In Alaska, the sun can shine for up to 20 hours during the summer months. For this reason, plants in the state, particularly cabbage, can grow to be abnormally large. According to NPR, the longer exposure to sunlight contributes to the sweetness of Alaskan produce.

If you find a diamond while scouring the field at the Crater of Diamonds, you are allowed to keep the gem. If you are serious about your search, the Arkansas center rents out mining tools that you can use. The colors of the diamonds you'll likely find here include white, brown, and yellow. This is the only diamond mine in the United States.

There has never been a U.S. president or vice president born in Colorado.

Florida's Brevard County has the area code is 321 in recognition of the countdown to each launch from the Kennedy Space Center.

There is a post office in Molokai that lets you send a free coconut through U.S. mail as long as postage is attached. They call it the "Post-A-Nut" service, and it has been around for two decades.

The Chicago River is the only river in the world that flows backwards. In 1900 a reversal technique diverted sewage away from Lake Michigan (where Chicagoans were getting their drinking water) and dumped it into the Mississippi watershed. The engineering feat has been recognized as one of the largest public earth-moving projects ever completed.

Iowa has held a yearly National Hobo Convention since 1900. The winners have their portraits done in celebration.

According to the Kentucky Distillers' Association, there are more barrels of bourbon in Kentucky than there are people. There are 4.7 million barrels of bourbon and 4.3 million people!

Maine is the only state in the U.S. with a one-syllable name.

A Massachusetts judge ruled that a burrito is not a sandwich in 2006. Only foods made with two slices of bread and a filling are allowed to apply that name.

Minnesota has more golfers per capita than any other state. According to Golf.com, "Approximately one resident of every five in the Gopher state hits the links each year."

The first ready-mix food to be sold commercially — Aunt Jemima pancake flour — was invented in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1889.

Kool-Aid has been the official state soft drink of Nebraska since 1998.

A six-person group of do-gooders were sued in the city of Keene for paying random people's tickets for expired parking meters in 2013. The charges were later dropped by the judge.

Three-fourths of New Mexico's roads are surfaced with either dirt or sedimentary rock. We bet the roadrunner (their state bird) kicks up a lot of dust when he gets going!

North Carolina is the largest sweet potato producer in the U.S. Their sweet potatoes make up 60 percent of the U.S.'s sweet potato crop.

The first ever traffic light in America was installed in Cleveland, Ohio, on August 5, 1914.

Portland, Oregon, is home to 68 breweries. That's more breweries than any other city in the United States!

Rhode Island is home to America's oldest carousel, The Flying Horse Carousel. It's located in Watch Hill.

To celebrate the potato crop, the small town of Clark, South Dakota, hosts Potato Day. On this day guests can take part in events such as a Mashed Potato Wrestling Contest and a Potato Dish Cooking Contest.

This state once accidentally honored the Boston Strangler. On April 1, 1971, Texas state Rep. Tom Moore proposed a bill that would honor the Boston Strangler, a man who allegedly murdered 13 women. He did this to prove that his colleagues did not read the bills that they were voting on. He later retracted the bill after it passed, but could you imagine? National Boston Strangler Day!

Planners for the town of Winooski once proposed covering the whole town with a giant dome to solve the winter energy conservation problem. Though the proposal received worldwide media attention, it received little political support and never began construction or planning.

The Washington state official dance is the square dance.

West Virginia was almost named "Kanawha" after one of the state's important rivers. When Virginia's western counties split from that state during the Civil War, a delegate convention in 1862 considered names like Kanawha, Vandalia, Augusta, and Allegheny before settling on West Virginia.

One Wyoming town was built on top of an abandoned airport. The town of Bar Nunn exists where Wardwell Field airport used to be, and the town's more than 2,000 people use the original runways as streets. One of the town's two restaurants is actually located in a repurposed hangar — but since Wardwell Field is no longer active, it's not eligible for our list of the 35 best airport restaurants in America.

More from The Daily Meal:

I Ate Everything I Wanted for a Day, and This Is What Happened

12 Barbecue Sides To Wow Your Guests At Your Summer Cookout

The Most Peculiar Food Trends From the Decade You Were Born

These Are the Best Over-the-Top Backyard Grills

Genius Morning Hacks That Will Transform Your Life