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The University of Mississippi Medical Center accomplished the world's first human lung transplant in 1963 and Dr. James D. Hardy performed the world's first heart transplant surgery on January 23, 1964. |
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Borden's condensed milk was first canned in Liberty. |
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While on a hunting expedition in Sharkley County in 1902, President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt refused to shoot a captured bear. This act resulted in the creation of the world-famous teddy bear. |
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The world's largest shrimp is on display at the Old Spanish Fort Museum in Pascagoula. |
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The first bottle of Dr. Tichener's Antiseptic was produced in Liberty. |
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The world's largest cactus plantation is in Edwards. |
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Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo on January 8, 1935. |
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H. T. Merrill from Luka performed the world's first round trip trans-oceanic flight in 1928. |
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The concept of selling shoes in boxes in pairs (right foot and left foot) occurred in 1884 in Vicksburg at Phil Gilbert's Shoe Parlor on Washington Street. |
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Mrs. Mamie Thomas was the first female rural mail carrier in the United States. She delivered mail by buggy to the area southeast of Vicksburg in 1914. |
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Located in Washington, historic Jefferson College, circa 1802, was the first preparatory school established in the Mississippi Territory. Tradition holds that the educational institution is the site where Aaron Burr was arraigned for treason in 1807, beneath what became known as Burr Oaks. |
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William Grant Still of Woodville composed the Afro-American Symphony. |
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Burnita Shelton Matthews of Hazelhurst was the first woman federal judge in the United States and served in Washington, DC. |
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Dr. Emmette F. Izard of Hazelhurst developed the first fibers of rayon which became known as the first real synthetics. |
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The first nuclear submarine built in the south was produced in Mississippi. |
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In 1871, Liberty became the first town in the United States to erect a Confederate monument. |
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Mississippi was the first state in the nation to have a planned system of junior colleges. |
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Leontyne Price of Laurel performed with the New York Metropolitan Opera. |
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Mississippi is the birthplace of the Order of the Eastern Star. |
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The Mississippi Sandhill Crane, the rarest of North American cranes, lives in Mississippi in the grassy savannas of Jackson County. It stands about 44 inches tall and has an 8 foot wingspan. |
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Guy Bush of Tupelo was one of the most valuable players with the Chicago Cubs. He was on the 1929 World Series team and Babe Ruth hit his last home run off a ball pitched by Bush. |
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Blazon-Flexible Flyer, Inc. in West Point is proclaimed to make the very best snow sled in the United States. It is called the Flexible Flyer and became an American tradition. |
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Friendship Cemetery in Columbus has been called Where Flowers Healed a Nation. On April 25, 1866, the Civil War had been over for a year. The ladies of Columbus decided to decorate both Confederate and Union soldiers' graves with bouquets and garlands of beautiful flowers. As a direct result of this gesture, Americans celebrate what has come to be called Memorial Day, an annual observance of recognition of our war dead. |
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The largest Bible-binding plant in the nation is Norris Bookbinding Company in Greenwood. |
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After the Civil War, famed hat maker John B. Stetson learned and practiced his trade at Dunn's Falls near Meridian. |
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Captain Isaac Ross, whose plantation was in Lorman, freed his slaves in 1834 and arranged for them to be sent to Africa where they founded the country of Liberia. Recently, representatives of Liberia visited Lorman and placed a stone at the Captain's gravesite in honor of his kindness. |
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The world's largest cottonwood tree planation is in Issaquena County. |
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David Harrison of Columbus owns the patent on the Soft Toilet Seat. Over 1,000,000 are sold every year. |
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Walter Payton of Columbia was the first football player on a Wheaties box. |
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Greenwood is the home of Cotton Row, once the second largest cotton exchange in the nation and now on the National Register of Historic Places. |
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The Choctaw Indians of Mississippi played stickball, the oldest game in America. Demostrations can be seen every July at the Choctaw Indian Fair in Philadelphia. |
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The Intenational Checkers Hall of Fame is in Petal. |
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Natchez, settled by the French in 1716, is the oldest permanent settlement on the Mississippi River. It once had 500 millionaires, second only to New York City. |
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Natchez now has more than 500 buildings that are on the National Register of Historic Places. |
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The Natchez Trace Parkway, named an All American Road by the federal gevernment, extends from Natchez to just south of Nashville, Tennessee. The trace began as an Indian trail more than 8,000 years ago. |
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The Vicksburg National Cemetery is the second largest national cemetery in the county, exceeded only by Arlington National Cemetery. |
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D'Lo was featured in Life Magazine for sending proportionally more men to serve in World War II than any other town of its size...38 percent of the men served. |
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Of all the Confederate States, Mississippi suffered the largest percentage of casualties in the Civil War. 78,000 Mississippians entered the Confederate military and by the end of the war 59,000 were either dead or wounded. |
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Harry A. Cole, Sr., a Jackson native, invented Pine Sol in 1929. |
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The world's largest pecan nursery is in Lumberton. |
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Greenwood is called the Cotton Capital of the World. |
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Belzoni is called the Catfish Capital of the World. |
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Vardaman is called the Sweet Potato Capital of the World. |
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Greenville is called the Towboat Captial of the World. |
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Edward Adolf Barq, Sr. invented root beer in Biloxi in 1898. |
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Of Mississippi's 82 counties, Yazoo County is the largest and Alcorn County is the smallest. |
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The Mississippi River is the longest in the United States and is the nation's chief waterway. Its nickname is Old Man River. |
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At Vicksburg, the United States Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station is the world's largest hydraulic research laboratory. |
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At Pascagoula, the Ingalls Division of Litton Industries uses cutting-edge construction techniques to build the United States Navy's most sophisticated ships. At the state's eight research centers programs are under way in acoustics, polymer science, electricity, microelectronics, hydrodynamics and oceanography. |
