Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain smoked forty cigars a day for the last years of his life.
Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain was born on a day in 1835 when Haley’s Comet came into view. When He died in 1910, Haley’s Comet came into view again.
Did You Know?
* The oldest cattle ranch in the U.S. was started in 1747 at Montauk, L.I.?
* The Adirondack Park is larger than the Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Olympic National Parks combined?
* New York was the first state to require license plates on automobiles?
* Kingston was the first capital of New York State?
* The first Saranac Lake Winter Carnival, still popular today, was held in 1897?
* Sonnenberg Gardens in Canandaigua has nine formal gardens and one of the largest displays of roses in the state?
* It took 31 years, from 1867-1898, to build the State Capitol Building?
* New York State has 1,300 museums and galleries, 64 performing arts centers, and 230 theaters?
* There are more than 400 golf courses and 55 downhill ski areas in New York State?
* The New York State Canal System is 524 miles long and has 57 locks?
* The Seaway Trail covers 454 miles along scenic vistas of Niagara Falls and the Thousand Islands, along with grape-growing vineyards and apple orchards?
* The Hudson River was named an American Heritage River by the U.S. government in 1998?
* In 1885 New York State acquired property around Niagara Falls and established the first state park in the U.S.?
* In 1892 Ellis Island opened in New York Harbor as the primary immigration depot in the U.S.?
* The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor on October 28, 1886?
Did You Know?
If you think in pounds and miles instead of kilograms and kilometers, you’re in the minority. Only the United States, Liberia, and Burma still primarily use English units-the rest of the world is metric. And now the Moon will be metric too.
Did You Know?
The oldest major soft drink in America is Dr. Pepper, which originated in Waco, Texas in 1885.
Did You Know?
The average cost of rehabilitating a seal after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska was $80,000. At a special ceremony, two of the most expensively saved animals were released back into the wild amid cheers and applause from onlookers.
A minute later, in full view, they were both eaten by a killer whale.
Did You Know?
The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches.
That’s an exceedingly odd number.
Did You Know?
Jello:
In 1845, Peter Cooper, inventor and founder of Cooper Union, obtained the first patent for a gelatin dessert. In 1897, Pearl Wait, a cough medicine maker from Leroy, New York obtained the patent and added fruit flavoring to the gelatin, calling it Jell-O. The business was sold two years later for $450 to Orator F. Woodward. Today, 158 products are made under the Jell-O brand name and 300 million boxes are sold annually.