Famous Facts About Maryland
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- William Nuthead started the first printing business in St. Mary’s
City in 1685. When he died, his wife Diana inherited the business. She was
the first female licensed as a printer in the colonies.
- The Maryland Gazette founded in 1727 is the oldest continuously
published newspaper in the United States.
- Charles Mason and Jeremiah surveyed the Mason-Dixon Line in 1763
to determine the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland. In 1767 the Mason-Dixon
Line was established as Maryland’s northern border.
- William Goddard inaugurated the first Post Office system in the
United States in Baltimore in 1774.
- In 1784 the first balloon ascension in the United States took place
in Baltimore. The balloon was designed by Peter Carnes, but the ascent was
made by thirteen year old Edward Warren.
- Georgetown Prep in Bethesda, founded in 1789 by the society of
Jesuits, is the oldest Catholic secondary school in the United States.
- The Baltimore Water Company, the first water company in the United
States, was chartered in 1792.
- Mary Pickersgill designed the flag that flew over Ft. McHenry during
the War of 1812.
- Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner” after seeing
the flag still waving during a battle in 1814.
- In 1828 St. Francis Academy was the first dental school in the
world. This became the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery in 1839.
- In 1844 the first telegraph line in the world was established between Washington and Baltimore
- In 1856 Charles Benedict Calvert created the first agricultural research
college in the United States. The Maryland Agricultural College became the
University of Maryland at College Park.
- The USS Constellation docked in Baltimore is the last ship to survive
from the Civil War.
- The B & O Railroad was incorporated in 1827 by Charles Carroll.
Today the railroad is part of CSX.
- The Carrollton Viaduct in Baltimore was named in honor of Charles
Carroll of Carrollton and is the oldest railroad bridge still in use.
- The Thomas Viaduct in Relay was the longest bridge in the United
States on completion in 1835 and is still in use.
- Dr. Florence Rina Sabin of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in
Baltimore became the first female professor of medicine in 1901.
- Maryland is often referred to America in Miniature.
Maryland possesses a variety of topography within its borders,
contributing to its nickname America in Miniature. It ranges from sandy
dunes dotted with seagrass in the east, to low marshlands teeming with
wildlife and large bald cypress near the Chesapeake Bay, to gently rolling
hills of oak forests in the Piedmont Region, and pine groves in the
mountains to the west.
- Smith Island. This place is entitled as the only
populated off-shore Island in the United States. If you want to visit this
island, you need to catch the ferry. Smith Island is also Maryland's
official state dessert.
- The United States Naval Academy was founded on October 10, 1845 at Annapolis.
- King Williams School opened in 1696 it was the first school in the United States.
- Tilghman Island is home to the Skipjacks, the only commercial sailing fleet in North America.
- The 1,200 foot Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore is the second longest continuous truss bridge in the nation.
- Annapolis is known as the sailing capital of the world.
- The Maryland State House is the oldest state capitol still in continuous legislative use.
- The town of Garrett Park declared the first nuclear free zone in the United States in 1982, thus affirming a tradition of
peacefulness that began back in 1898 when it became illegal to harm any tree or songbird within the town limits.
- The Concord Point Lighthouse in Havre de Grace is the oldest continuously operated lighthouse in the State of Maryland.
- Havre de Grace is known as the decoy capitol of the world.
- Sixteen of the 23 Maryland counties border on tidal water. The combined length of tidal shoreline, including islands, is 4,431 miles.
- Annapolis was known as the Athens of America during the seventeenth century and once served as the capital of the United States.
