Mississippi, USA
The Magnolia State (20)
Capitol: Jackson
Admitted into Union: December 10, 1817
State Flower: Magnolia
State Tree: Southern Magnolia
State Bird: Mockingbird
Population: 2.8 million

Ladies’ firsts: In 1839, the Mississippi Legislature passed one of the first laws to protect the property rights of married women. In 1884, the country’s first state college for women—now called the Mississippi University for Women—was established in Columbus. The first Parents-Teachers Association was founded in Crystal Springs. When you get together with the girls, bring your Mississippi Brunch Bag and make a day of it.

The long and winding name: Mississippi, named for the river that forms its western boundary, comes from the Chippewa words mici zibi—meaning "great river" or "gathering in of all the waters"— and the Algonquin word Messipi, which means "Father of Waters." The river, the longest and largest in North America, lives up to its name, flowing 2,522 miles from Minnesota to Louisiana, passing through 10 states, and draining 40% of the US, making its watershed girth second in the world.

Perfect for lounging: The Mississippi Gulf Coast, from Biloxi to Henderson Point, is the largest and longest man-made beach in the world.

Bless y’all! Mississippi has more churches per capita than any other state. Greenwood’s Norris Bookbinding Company is the largest Bible rebinding plant in the nation.

Foamy wonders: In 1894, Coca-Cola was first bottled by Joseph A. Biedenharn in Vicksburg. Root beer was invented in Biloxi in 1898 by Edward Adolf Barq, Sr.

Party on! Petal is the home of the International Checkers Hall of Fame

Follow your nose: Pine-Sol, developed by H.A. Cole in Jackson, is manufactured only in Pearl.

Best seat in the house: David Harrison of Columbus owns the patent on the "Soft Toilet Seat." Over one million are sold every year.

Elvis slept here: Tupelo, the King’s hometown, features an Elvis museum, a chapel, and the two-room house in which Elvis was born.

Stay a spell: Clarksdale is the home of the world's oldest Holiday Inn.

Pre-football heroes: Stickball, the oldest field game in America, was first played by the Choctaw Indians of Mississippi.

Perfect match: Shoes were first sold as pairs in 1884 at Phil Gilbert's Shoe Parlor in Vicksburg.

Let freedom ring! Captain Issac Ross of Lorman freed his slaves in 1834 and arranged for their passage to the west coast of Africa. They founded the country of Liberia. The McCoy Federal Building in Jackson is the first US federal building named for an African American, Dr. A. H. McCoy, a dentist and business leader. Hiram Revels was the first African American U.S. senator; he served during Reconstruction.

Keep your whiskers to yourself: In Tylertown, it is unlawful to shave in the center of main street.

Who should be eating whom? The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds—more than any other animal. Mississippi is the world's leading producer of pond-raised catfish, providing 70% of the nation’s supply. Belzoni calls itself “the Catfish Capital of the World.”

River Phoenix: Vicksburg was known as "The Gibraltar of the Confederacy" because the Battle of Vicksburg was one of the Civil War's longest campaigns. The city fell in 1863, giving Union forces control of the Mississippi. Ten years later, the river changed course and destroyed what was left of the city after the War. The Great Flood of 1927 was also devastating. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built canals and levees to protect the city.

Veterans honored: Mississippi lost proportionally more soldiers during the Civil War than any other Confederate state. In fact, the Vicksburg National Cemetery is the second-largest national cemetery in the US, after Arlington. On April 25, 1866, women in Columbus decorated the graves of Confederate and Union soldiers in Friendship Cemetery. This became known as Decoration Day, the beginning of what we now call Memorial Day

Famous Mississippians: Jimmy Buffett, Bo Diddley, Charles Evers, Medgar Evers, William Faulkner, Brett Favre, Richard Ford, John Grisham, Barry Hannah, Jim Henson, James Earl Jones, B. B. King, Elvis Presley, Sela Ward, Muddy Waters, Eudora Welty, Tennessee Williams, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Wright, Tammy Wynette, Zig Ziglar.