1856 Margarethe Meyer Schurz opens America's first kindergarten in Watertown.
1869 The first typewriter is invented in Milwaukee by Christopher Latham Sholes.
1884 First performance of the Ringling Brothers Circus takes place in Baraboo.
1885 The first hamburger is made in Seymour.
1921 Wisconsin is the first state to grant women the right to vote.
1924 Carl Eliason of Sayner builds the first snowmobile.
1968 The first Super Bowl is won by the Green Bay Packers.
History
The area known as Wisconsin was first inhabited by various Indian tribes. The Chippewa, Menominee, Oneida, Potawatomi and Winnebago tribes lived in the area until the late 1800's. The first European explorer to reach Wisconsin was Jean Nicolet. Searching for the Northwest Passage to China, he arrived in the region in 1634. France laid claim to Wisconsin as part of its territory in the New World in 1672.
In 1763, Wisconsin was part of the territory ceded by France to Great Britain in the treaty of Paris. Twenty years later, again at Paris, the British relinquished their claim to Wisconsin; and it became a part of the United States. In 1787, under the Northwest Ordinance, Wisconsin became part of the great territory north and west of the Ohio river out of which Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin were created.
In 1836, the Wisconsin territory was organized, including what are now the states of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and parts of the Dakotas. The first territorial legislature met at Belmont about 5.5 miles northeast of Platteville. The two story frame building and grounds surrounding the first Capitol are now a state park.
In 1848, Wisconsin became the 30th state to be accepted into the Union. The present Capitol building in Madison was erected between 1906 and 1917 and is the third on this site.
Our State song is none other than "On Wisconsin". We average about 45 inches of snow a year and 30 inches of rain. The average temperature is 43 degrees. There are 10 state forests and 2 national forests. The Chequameqon and Nicolet forests cover more than 1.5 million acres. I've been to the Nicolet and it's just beautiful! Wisconsin has nearly 15,000 lakes and Winnebago is the largest inland lake covering 137,708 acres. Milwaukee is the largest populated city, in the 1990 census it was recorded to have 628,088 residents. In the state wide census in 1990 Wisconsin had 4,891,769 residents. The total area of the state is 56,153 sq. miles, 26th biggest of the 50 states.
Famous Folks from Wisconsin
Kathy Kinney, "Mimi" on the Drew Carey show, is from Stevens Point.
Georgia O'Keefe, of Sun Prairie, is recognized as one of the leading artists of our time.
Gary Burghoff, MASH's Radar O'Reilly, is from Wisconsin.
Sportscaster and former Milwaukee Brewer Bob Uecker was born in Milwaukee.
Thornton Wilder, Pulitzer prize winning author,was born in Madison.
The famous magician, Harry Houdini, was raised in Appleton.
Amy Pietz, "Annie" on Caroline in the City, was born and raised in Oak Creek.
Other Fun Facts
Nearly 21 million gallons of ice cream are consumed by Wisconsinites each year.
Wisconsin is a leading producer of Ginseng in the U.S.
Green Bay is known as the "Toilet Paper Capital" of the world.
The first icecream sundae was concocted in Two Rivers in 1881.
The Fox River is one of the few rivers in the nation that flows north.
Practically all the natural lakes in Wisconsin have resulted from glaciers.
According to Wisconsin yarns, Wisconsin contains more ghosts per square mile than any other state in the nation.
American Birkebeiner, the largest cross country ski race in the U.S., brings upwards of 5,000 campetitors to Cable.
The largest experimental aviation event in the world is the EAA Fly-In at Oshkosh.
Sun Prairie's sweet corn festival is one of the largest of its kind in the nation.
It takes an average of 100 hours of fishing to catch a 33.4 inch muskie.
The first circus n the U.S. was in Delavan, Wisconsin.
Sheyboygan is the "Bratwurst Capitol" of the world.
More that 800,000 deer roam Wisconsin's wood.
Almost 1/3 of all Americans live within a 500 mile radius of Wisconsin.
Door County has more shoreline than any other county in the U.S., over 250 miles.
State Symbols
Peace: Morning dove
Tree: Sugar maple
Mineral: Galena
Flower: Wood violet
Bird: Robin
Soil: Antigo Silt Loam
Fish: Muskellunge
Animail: Badger
Insect: Honey bee
Wildlife animal: White-tailed deer
Domestic animal: Dairy cow
Rock: Red granite