Interesting Facts About Oklahoma

Oklahoma is the 46th state in the United States. Informally nicknamed as “The Sooner State,” Oklahoma boasts a healthy and diverse economy and industry that range from agriculture and oil to telecommunications to biotechnology. It also boasts a wide range of natural wonders that consist of mountain ranges, prairie, mesas and forests. Oklahoma also serves as a government-sactioned territory for Native Americans (commonly but erroneously referred to as “Indians”) as it has been home to 67 Native American tribes. No wonder the state is also dubbed as “The Land of the Red Man.”

You can find other more than just “OK” facts about Oklahoma by clicking through this gallery!

A Christian university founded in 1910, the Oklahoma Baptist has been consistent in several lists of the best and highest-ranking American colleges and universities. It offers undergraduate courses such as science, liberal arts, business, music and accountancy, and two graduate courses. The campus also boasts several beautiful historical buildings, monuments and sculptures as well as well-planned parks.

Oklahoma City is Oklahoma’s state capital and largest city. It is home to 620,602 (estimated) Oklahomans, or “Okies” for short.

The city has one of the largest livestock markets in the world. It also has several industries that deal with natural oil, gas and petroleum products which contribute largely to the city’s growing economy. As a testament of the city’s prosperity due to oil, there’s the Devon Energy Center (or the Devon Tower), the city’s tallest building (at 844 feet) in which the headquarters of the Devon Energy Corporation are based.

You can also find the city’s downtown and central business district, as well as parks, a zoo, and several business, entertainment, cultural establishments. You can also take a water taxi ride on the downtown’s Bricktown neighborhood and this is one of the things you shouldn’t miss when you travel to Oklahoma City.

This dark red and strongly-sweet-smelling rose is a hybrid tea rose developed by the Oklahoma State University during the 1960s. But it is only in 2004 when the flower was officially adopted as the official state rose of Oklahoma.

Oklahoma’s State Capitol was built in 1919 and is located in the state capital Oklahoma City. While it looks like any other state capitol, the Oklahoma State Capitol has something interesting hidden beneath it, literally — it has an oil well under the its building, making the Oklahoma State Capitol the only capitol in the world to have such. There’s an active oil rig which can be seen from the capitol grounds.

The Philbrook Museum was built in 1939 and is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is one of the most beautiful and top-ranking museums in the United States, and one of its most prominent features is the front side of the villa where you can see a very ornate and lovely Italian-style garden.

The eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) is a shrub or a small tree native to eastern regions of North America. It has a showy, light to dark magenta pink flowers, which have also been consumed mostly by Native Americans. It was designated as Oklahoma’s state tree in 1937.

The scissor-tailed flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus) was adopted as Oklahoma’s official state bird in 1951.

Oklahoma has a lot of official state foods, from barbecue pork to pecan pies to watermelons. One of the state’s official fruits is ever-popular strawberry, which received such designation in 1988.

Oklahoma first imposed a ban on tattoos and tattooing in 1963, but that ban was finally lifted on November 1, 2006.

Oklahoma’s official website has included a “Tattoo and Body Piercing Program” page which people can refer to whenever they have questions regarding safety and proper procedures in case they want to have a tattoo. The page also includes steps for application for a tattoo artist license.

The Tulsa World is the daily newspaper in the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The periodical, established in 1905, is the second-most widely circulated paper in the state after The Oklahoman.

The North American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) is an aquatic frog. Like other types of bullfrogs, the North American bullfrog is used as food as well as for biology dissection and sometimes kept as pets. It was adopted as Oklahoma’s official state amphibian in 1997.

Grave Creek is a stream just near the town of Hitchita, in McIntosh County, Oklahoma. People often use the creek to access to Lake Eufaula, a reservoir in the state. This shady creek is known for its somewhat ethereal beauty created by the strange columns of white mists that swirl around the area especially during the morning. The origin of the name is somewhat dubious, although some point out that it came from the Graves (with an “s”) Creek Indian Cemetery which is located nearby. Boating, kayaking and fishing are popular activities in and around the creek.

The town of Beaver, Oklahoma claims to be the Cow Chip Capital of the World. If you haven’t known about a cow chip, it is a dried piece of buffalo or cow dung, usually disc-shaped. Beaver residents hold the World Championship Cow Chip Throwing Contest annually where participants compete for performing the farthest dung throw. They throw the cow chips in a way like they throw frisbees.

Beaver’s population stands at about 1,515. But cows outnumber humans there, 16 to 1… no wonder Beaver is a dung-rich country!

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