And again - teehee... - Page 2

ontheEdgeof17 · #16 05-31-2005, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Needless to say, I don't think Ohio is even on the short list for the stupidest state in the USA!

We have achievements, too. And beauty:

SteveMacD · #17 05-31-2005, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ontheEdgeof17

We have achievements, too.

But, certainly not on the same scale. I'm not saying all West Virginians are stupid, I'm just saying that it's the only state I've been to where they had to photocopy a $20 bill to show cashiers what one actually looks like (and I wish I was kidding). See, WV has to teach a cashier, whereas Dayton INVENTED the cashier!

ontheEdgeof17 · #18 05-31-2005, 08:23 PM

West Virginia – with a population of 1.8 million people – is the only state to be designated by presidential proclamation. (June 20, 1863)

West Virginia’s Memorial Tunnel was the first in the nation to be monitored by television. It opened Nov. 8, 1954.

The first electric railroad in the world built as a commercial enterprise was constructed between Huntington and Guyandotte.

James Rumsey launched the first steamboat in the Potomac River at New Mecklenburg (Shepherdstown) on Dec. 3, 1787.

The New River Gorge Bridge is the world’s longest steel arch bridge at 1,700 feet.

The world’s first brick street was laid in Charleston on Oct. 23, 1870, on Summers Street, between Kanawha and Virginia streets.

West Virginia is the nation’s No. 1 exporter of coal.

The Polymer Alliance Zone is the world’s largest concentration of engineering polymer plants.

The Kingsford Manufacturing Co.’s 50-acre complex in Parsons, W.Va., is the largest charcoal plant in the world.

Bruce Hardwood Floors in Beverly, W.Va., has the world’s largest hardwood flooring plant.

West Virginia University offers the world's first bachelor’s degree in forensic identification and biometrics.

During the Cold War, a sprawling 112,000-square-foot bomb shelter was built to house members of Congress in the event of a nuclear attack. It’s located beneath the famous Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

At the end of the Guilded Age in the late 1890s, the town of Bramwell, W.Va., had more millionaires per square mile than any other city in the U.S. Many of their mansions have been restored and can be visited by the public.

A variety of the yellow apple, the Golden Delicious, originated in Clay County. The original Grimes Golden Apple Tree was discovered in 1775 near Wellsburg.

Mother’s Day was first observed at Andrews Church in Grafton on May 10, 1908.

The first spa open to the public was at Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, in 1756 (then Bath, Virginia). Berkeley Springs has more massage therapists than lawyers and is the only place in the U.S. to boast: “George Washington bathed here.”

The first free school for African Americans in the entire south opened in Parkersburg in 1862.

Mrs. Minnie Buckingham Harper, a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates by appointment in 1928, was the first African-American woman to become a member of a legislative body in the United States.

To form a separate state, West Virginia had to pay “a just proportion of the public debt of the Commonwealth of Virginia.” In 1915, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that West Virginia owed $12.4 million and a check was delivered in 1919. Bonds paid off the remainder by 1939.

http://www.wvdo.org/achievements.html

...and Alderson-Broaddus College had the first Physician Assistants Program in the world....Duke University and other well-known universities have modeled their program around AB's.

Famous WVians:

Booker T. Washington: Black educational leader and first president of Tuskegee Institute

Brigadier General Charles Yeager: First person to fly faster than the speed of sound

Carter G. Woodson: Educator, author and the father of Black History Month

Cyrus R. Vance: Secretary of State from 1977 to 1980 during the Carter administration

Pearl S. Buck: Pulitzer and Nobel prize winning author

Kathy Mattea: Grammy Award-winning singer

Herschel “Woody” Williams: Medal of Honor winner; only surviving of 12 West Virginia recipients

Mary Lou Retton: Gold medal winner in gymnastics, 1984 Olympics

Sam Snead: Winner of 81 PGA tournaments, more than any other golfer

-----------------------------

I'm sure there is someone in Ohio that doesn't know what a $20 bills looks like, either.

ontheEdgeof17 · #19 05-31-2005, 08:32 PM

Here are the rankings for Smartest State according to this site:

http://www.morganquitno.com/edrank.htm

dissention · #20 05-31-2005, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ontheEdgeof17

Here are the rankings for Smartest State according to this site:

http://www.morganquitno.com/edrank.htm

I love it.

GardenStateGirlie · #21 05-31-2005, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissention

I love it.

That's priceless. Apparently, our intelligence increased. We were previously #5

dissention · #22 05-31-2005, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GardenStateGirlie

That's priceless. Apparently, our intelligence increased. We were previously #5

We didn't move anywhere. :P

SteveMacD · #23 06-01-2005, 05:21 AM

Just as I suspected:

Ohio
is SMARTER than
Michigan

SuzeQuze · #24 06-01-2005, 06:59 AM

Um, sorry Deanna. I guess your points did not boost your home state much!

Now let's see, MA is smartest and most progressive, is there a correlation? Dammit I love this state! sans real estate prices

dissention · #25 06-01-2005, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

Um, sorry Deanna. I guess your points did not boost your home state much!

Now let's see, MA is smartest and most progressive, is there a correlation? Dammit I love this state! sans real estate prices

Oh gawd, real estate prices.

And real estate taxes, jeezum crow! They just appraised my mother's house again and her taxes are going up $400. Bastards. They don't call us Taxachusetts for nothing. Sale taxes may be low, but they stick it to you in every other way imaginable. I wonder if any other state takes it up the rear as much as we do.

DrummerDeanna · #26 06-01-2005, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

Um, sorry Deanna. I guess your points did not boost your home state much!

Now let's see, MA is smartest and most progressive, is there a correlation? Dammit I love this state! sans real estate prices

Not surprising at all....stupid New Mexico

amber · #27 06-01-2005, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Just as I suspected:

Ohio
is SMARTER than
Michigan

Heck, apparently it's also smarter than California. I'm convinced this can't be true, they obviously only tested our
STATE GOVERNOR.

dissention · #28 06-01-2005, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amber

Heck, apparently it's also smarter than California. I'm convinced this can't be true, they obviously only tested our
STATE GOVERNOR.

And the people who voted for him.

amber · #29 06-01-2005, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissention

And the people who voted for him.

and the kids in the Oakland school system!!! Okay, mystery solved....

skcin · #30 06-01-2005, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissention

Oh gawd, real estate prices.

And real estate taxes, jeezum crow! They just appraised my mother's house again and her taxes are going up $400. Bastards. They don't call us Taxachusetts for nothing. Sale taxes may be low, but they stick it to you in every other way imaginable. I wonder if any other state takes it up the rear as much as we do.

New York (well, Buffalo anyway) does!

Real estate here is not too bad, but the real estate taxes are horrendous. And our sales tax is 8%.