Tennessee State Specials . . .
Shelby County has more horses per capita than any other county in the United
States.
The Turtle Capital of the World, Reelfoot Lake features thousands of sliders,
stinkpots, mud and map turtles.
Because of constant energy research, Oak Ridge, Tennessee is known as the
Energy Capital of the World.
The Lost Sea in Sweetwater, Tennessee is the largest underground lake in the
United States.
Greeneville, Tennessee has the only monument in the United States honoring
both the Union and Confederate armies. It is located on the lawn of the Green
County Courthouse.
The nation's oldest African-American architectural firm, McKissack and
McKissack, is located in Nashville, Tennessee.
The nation's oldest African-American financial institution, Citizens Savings
Bank and Trust Company, is located in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Tennessee Aquarium is the largest facility of its kind to focus on fresh
water habitat. It features 7,000 animals and 300 species of fish, birds,
reptiles, amphibians, and mammals.
The world's largest artificial skiing surface, a 5-acre area, is located at
the Ober Gatlinburg Ski Resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
The Memphis Cotton Exchange handles almost 1/3 of the entire American cotton
crop every year.
Tennessee State Firsts
1772: The Watauga Association at Sycamore
Shoals near Elizabethton, Tennessee drafted the first constitution ever written
by white men in America. Their constitution was modeled after the constitution
of the Iroquois League of Nations, developed 200 years earlier.
1811: The largest earthquake in American
history, the New Madrid Earthquake occurred in the winter of 1811-12 in
northwestern Tennessee. Reelfoot Lake located in Obion and Lake Counties was
formed during this earthquake.
1881: Iroquois, bred at Nashville's Belle
Meade Plantation, was the first American winner of the English Derby. Such
modern thoroughbreds as Secretariat trace their bloodlines to Iroquois.
1889: Coca-Cola was first bottled in
Chattanooga, Tennessee after two local attorneys bought the rights to the drink
for $1.00.
1925: Broadcasting since 1925, the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee is the longest-running live radio show in the world.
