220 Weird Facts About Wisconsin You Didn't Know

220 Weird Facts About Wisconsin You Didn't Know

The first circus in the US was in Delavan, Wisconsin.
The state flower of Wisconsin is the wood violet.
The state insect of Wisconsin is the Western honey bee.
The state tree of Wisconsin is the sugar maple.
The state fish of Wisconsin is the muskellunge.
The postal abbreviation for Wisconsin is WI.
Wisconsin is the dairy capital of the United States.
Wisconsin produces more milk than any other state.
Frank Lloyd Wright was born in Richland Center on June 8, 1867
The National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward is shaped like a Muskie.
The original Barbie is from Willows. Barbie’s full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts.
Bloomer is the Jump Rope Capital of the World.
Milwaukee is home of Harley Davidson Motorcycles.
The first Ringling Brothers Circus was staged in Baraboo in 1884.
Somerset is the Inner Tubing Capital of the World.
Green Bay is Wisconsin’s oldest city.
Two Rivers is the home of the ice cream sundae.
Wisconsin’s second oldest city is Prairie du Chien.
The state’s constitution is the oldest of any state west of the Allegheny Mountains. It was adopted in 1848.
Boscobeel is the Turkey Capital of the state.
The Republican Party was founded in Ripon in 1854.
The Hamburger hall of fame is located in Seymour.
Monroe is the Swiss Cheese Capital of the World.
Mercer is the Loon Capital of the World.
Wisconsin's motto is "Forward".
Inhabitants of Wisconsin are called Wisconsinites.
About 5.8 million people currently live in Wisconsin.
The largest city in Wisconsin is Milwaukee.
The state animal is a badger, and the state domestic animal is a cow.
The National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame is in Hayward.
Eagle River is known as the Snowmobile Capital of the World.
Marshfield is located in the geographic center of the state and is known Hub City.
Bonduel is the Spelling Capital of Wisconsin.
Muscoda is the Morel Mushroom Capital of Wisconsin.
Sauk City is Wisconsin’s oldest incorporated village.
Prairie du Sac hosts the State Cow Chip Throwing Contest on Labor Day weekend.
Sturgeon Bay is the Shipbuilding Capital of the Great Lakes.
Sheboygan is the Bratwurst Capital of the World.
The falls in Niagara has the same geological feature as Niagara Falls, New York.
Green Bay is the Toilet Paper Capital of the World.
Wisconsin shares a border with four other states, namely Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota.
Devil’s Lake was established in 1911. The facility has become one of Wisconsin’s oldest and most famous state parks. It leads the state parks in attendance.
The House on the Rock was designed and built in the early 1940s. It is considered an architectural marvel and is perched on a 60-foot chimney of rock. The 14-room house is now a complex of rooms, streets, buildings, and gardens covering over 200 acres. The Infinity Room contains 3,264 windows.
The state is nicknamed the Badger State.
In 1882 the first hydroelectric plant in the United States was built at Fox River.
The first practical typewriter was designed in Milwaukee in 1867.
Wausau is the Ginseng Capital of the World.
The American Birkebeiner, a 52K cross-country ski race between Cable and Hayward, is the largest on the North American continent.
Wisconsin snowmobile trails total 15,210 miles of signed and groomed snow highways.
Mount Horeb is the Troll Capital of the World and home to the Mustard Museum (see below.)
In the 1930s the Flambeau River State Forest was established and became a legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Project Administration.
Noah’s Ark in Wisconsin Dells is the nation’s largest water-themed park.
Belleville is the Unidentified Flying Object Capital of Wisconsin.
Potosi is the Catfish Capital of the state.
The nation’s first kindergarten was established in Watertown in 1856. Its first students were local German-speaking youngsters.
The first ever hydroelectric plant in the world was built in 1882 at Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin.
The state holds the largest experimental aviation event in the world in Oshkosh, called the EAA Fly-In.
During this aviation festival, the Oshkosh control tower is the busiest in the world, as more than 15,000 aircrafts land at the airport over the course of a week.
You can see many effigy mounds in Wisconsin. They are piles of earth sculpted in the shape of a symbol or a figure, sometimes an animal.
Summerfest in Milwaukee is recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest music festival in the world, attracting one million visitors to Milwaukee every year.Racine, Wisconsin has the tallest lighthouse still standing on the Great Lakes. It was built in 1880 and is 112 feet high.
A white buffalo called Miracle was born on a farm in Wisconsin in 1994, the first white buffalo to be born since 1933.
As well as a popular music festival, Wisconsin hosts one of the biggest sweetcorn festivals in the world in the city of Sun Prairie.
The state originally belonged to France, who then sold it to the US during the 1783 Treaty of Paris.
The Republican Party was born in Ripon, Wisconsin on 20 March 1854.
Janesville, Wisconsin contains a landmark called the Lincoln-Tallman House Museum. The house was built in the 1850s by William Tallman and became famous when Abraham Lincoln stayed there for two nights.
Margarine used to be banned in the state, from 1895 up until 1967. Nowadays, it's still illegal for restaurants to serve margarine instead of butter, except if a customer requests it.
Kenosha, in Wisconsin, was the place where the largest ever woolly mammal was excavated. A replica of it is visible in the Milwaukee Public Museum.
The oldest city in Wisconsin is called Green Bay, it was founded in 1634 when a French explorer called Jean Nicolet started a small trading store there.
There are more than 15,000 lakes and 13,500 miles of navigable rivers in the state, including its namesake Wisconsin River. About three percent of the total area of the state is composed of lakes, and 17% of the state is water.
The largest lake in the state is Lake Winnebago, which is 30 miles long and 10 miles wide at its widest point! Door County, Wisconsin also has 250 miles of coastline along Lake Michigan, the third largest lake in the country.
Waukesha, Wisconsin is home to many natural springs which have been attracting many tourists since the 19th century. Some believe that the springs have healing properties.
Just in case that was not enough water, the state is also home to the highest number of water parks in a single area (the Wisconsin Dells) in the whole world. The Wisconsin Dells has over 10 water parks, which together contain over 200 water slides.
The state does not have a lot of heights. The highest natural point in the state is a hill called Timm's Hill, which rises up the 1,951 feet.
Sheboygan in Wisconsin is known as the "Malibu of the Midwest" as plenty of people go freshwater surfing there.
Wisconsin is sometimes nicknamed America's Dairyland or the Cheese State.
As these nicknames suggest, the state is the number one producer of cheese in the United States. 90% of the milk produced there is used to make cheese. This is what the state is most famous for.
The state has the highest number of dairy cattle per square kilometer than any other US state.
The first ever ice cream sundae was made in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, by Ed Bermers, who owned a soda fountain shop. As it was illegal to sell soda on Sundays for religious reasons, one day he served ice cream with the sauce used for ice cream sodas on top.
It is estimated that Wisconsinites eat almost 21 million gallons of ice cream a year!
Actor Mark Ruffalo is from Wisconsin.
All of the ginseng produced in the United States is produced in Wisconsin, which accounts for about 10% of the world's production.
Soviet satellite Sputnik IV fell out of orbit in 1962 and while most of it burned up on re-entry, a 20-pound piece of debris crashed to the ground in Manitowoc. The original piece of Sputnik was returned to the Soviets but the Rahr-West Art Museum has a replica of it on display and Manitowoc celebrates Sputnikfest each September.
Although Warrens only has 400 residents, it draws 100,000 visitors each September for the world’s largest cranberry festival (and Wisconsin produces 60 percent of the nation’s cranberries!).
Wisconsin’s state symbol, the badger, doesn’t refer to the animal but instead to the 1820s lead miners who traveled for work and dug tunnels to sleep in and keep warm, much like a badger. Celebrate the name on gameday with the UW-Madison Wisconsin Badgers!
Famous names that hail from Wisconsin include Kurtwood Smith, Harry Houdini (visit The History Museum at the Castle), Frank Lloyd Wright, Chris Farley, Georgia O’Keeffe, Orson Welles, Laura Ingalls Wilder (there’s a museum devoted to her life here!), Liberace, Mark Ruffalo, Les Paul and Frank Caliendo.
Wisconsin banned the sale and use of margarine from 1895 to 1967, and while the ban was lifted, some restrictions on margarine remain today. It’s still illegal for a restaurant to serve margarine as a butter substitute unless the customer specifically requests it.
The Iron Brigade, the bulk of which was made up of members of the 2nd, 6th and 7th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry regiments, suffered the highest percentage of casualties of any brigade in the Civil War.
This song was originally written about the state of Minnesota, but was later changed to be about its next-door neighbor,
The battle cry “On Wisconsin!” was first uttered at the Civil War Battle of Missionary Ridge by then-lieutenant Arthur MacArthur, Jr., whose future little boy Dougie would grow up to be five-star General Douglas MacArthur.
Confederate spy Belle Boyd, known as the “Secesh Cleopatra,” was a Virginian by birth and loyalty, but she's become a posthumous Unionist as she died and lies buried in Wisconsin Dells.
Door County takes its name from a dangerous sea passage where the waters of Green Bay join those of Lake Michigan—early French explorers named it the Porte des Morts, or Death's Door.
A Milwaukee newspaper editor and printer created the QWERTY keyboard.
During the summertime, the population of Door County explodes, reaching almost 10 times the number of year-round residents.
Barbie, the improbably-proportioned doll of a million career and wardrobe changes, comes from the (fictional) town of Willows, Wisconsin.
The “terrible towel” waved by Pittsburgh Steelers fans is actually manufactured by McArthur Towel and Sports of Baraboo.
The first-ever ice cream sundae was served (on a Sunday) in 1881 at Edward C. Berner's soda fountain in Two Rivers, and it only cost a nickel.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison fight song, “On Wisconsin!,” is also the state song, although the lyrics differ slightly.
The Wisconsin Dells has the world's largest concentration of water parks all in one area: eight indoor and three outdoor, with more than 200 water slides and 16 million gallons of water.
The Noah's Ark Waterpark in the Dells is the largest outdoor water park in the U.S.
Milwaukee's Summerfest attracts up to a million visitors per year, which has earned it a Guinness World Records citation as world's largest music festival.
The Infinity Room at the House on the Rock in Spring Green has 3,264 windows.
Another monster critter, an enormous statue of a badger, once sat atop a Birnamwood gas station/gift store that was housed in his “log.” The badger's got a new gig now—he's welcoming patrons to see the nekkid ladies at the Northern EXposure Gentlemen’s Club.
The first kindergarten classes in the U.S. were held in 1856 at the home of a German couple residing in Watertown.
The giant muskie also contains a memorial to Herman, a 16 1/2” night crawler who appeared on the “Tonight Show” and “Late Night with David Letterman.” Not only was Herman telegenic, but he was also able to paint using his entire body as a brush and to shoot a tiny basketball.
Celebrity cheeseheads include Lil Wayne, Larry the Cable Guy and Big Papi David Ortiz.
The city of Rhinelander has its own mythical beastie, the Hodag, which is a sort of horned frog thing. A captive Hodag was exhibited at the Oneida County fair, but sadly was revealed to be a hoax.
Wisconsin Statute 97.18, aka the “oleomargarine regulations” is, despite a 2011 attempt at repeal, still in place to guard dairy staters against the evils of having margarine masquerade as real butter. It's against the law to substitute margarine for butter in a restaurant unless the customer requests it, and even the margarine sold in grocery stores must be colored in a certain way so as to make sure it doesn't resemble butter too closely.
Wisconsin even champions domestic non-dairy-related agriculture, as this statute also forbids the use of imported oil in the production of margarine.
Wisconsin's rivers and streams, if laid end-to-end, would stretch for 26,767 miles, which is almost 2,000 miles more than the circumference of the earth.
While Wisconsin created the first workman's compensation and unemployment insurance programs, they've been more recently associated with the welfare reform movement.
Wisconsin is the only state to have the accordion as its state instrument It was also, until 2011, the only state to have the polka as its official dance, until bandwagon-hopping Pennsylvania also rolled out the barrel.
Bloomer bills itself as the jump rope capital of the world due to its annual jump rope contest that has been going on since 1960.
The 52K American Birkebeiner, a cross-country ski race between Cable and Hayward, is North America's largest such event.
If you're ever in Middleton, you can visit the (free!) National Mustard Museum and see a collection of 5,300 different types of mustard from more than 60 countries.
And speaking of clowns...while the original “killer clown” wasn't a cheesehead, Wisconsin has been home to Leatherface/Norman Bates inspiration Ed Gein and the “Milwaukee Cannibal” Jeffrey Dahmer.
The unmanned Soviet satellite Sputnik IV fell out of orbit in September of 1962, and, while most of it burned up on re-entry, one 20-lb. chunk of metal crashed to the ground in Manitowoc. The Rahr-West Art Museum, has a replica copy of it on display since the original was returned to the Soviets.
Baraboo was, in the 19th century, winter home to a number of different circuses, including Ringling Brothers. The Ringling may have left for the warmer climes of Florida but Baraboo's still got its clowns and elephants, though, performing at the Circus World Museum.
The first kindergarten classes in the U.S. were held in Watertown in 1856 at the home of a German couple. Plan your visit and step back in time to an early class still in session.
The first ever ice cream sundae was served in Two Rivers, Wisconsin in 1881. Stop in for a sweet treat at the birthplace itself at The Washington House.
During the summer, the population of Door County reaches ten times the number of year-round residents. (28,000 vs. 250,000)
The term “cheesehead” actually started as a term the German soldiers used to insult the Dutch during World War II. These days, the term is used in a bit more endearing way to describe cheese-lovin’ Wisconsites. The first cheesehead was worn at a Brewers game, not a Packers game, and was a couch cushion with holes burned in the foam and painted yellow.
Celebrities rumored to be Packers fans include: Lil Wayne, Harry Styles, Larry the Cable Guy, Erin Andrews, Ryan Reynolds, David Ortiz, Shawn Johnson, Ellen DeGeneres and Justin Timberlake. Maybe you’ll spot one of them moseying around Lambeau!
Marathon County produces nearly all of the ginseng grown in the U.S. and about 10 percent of the world’s supply. There’s even an international festival in September to give you an up-close look at the process and a chance to taste foods and drinks incorporating the product.
Barbie hails from the fictional town of Willows, Wis. For the collector and doll aficionado, a day at the Fennimore Doll & Toy Museum may be in order.
Wisconsin’s name comes from the Wisconsin River, which was called Meskousing by the Algonquian-speaking tribes. The name was recorded in 1673 by French explorer Jacques Marquette. Over time, the word was Anglicized into Ouisconsin, Wiskonsan and finally into its current spelling and pronunciation. Linguists think the original name must have been borrowed from the Miami word “meskonsing” which translates to “it lies red” or “this stream meanders through something red”, likely referring to the sandstone formations in the Wisconsin River.
The Onion, arguably the most famous news satire organization, was humbly started by two University of Wisconsin-Madison students, Tim Keck and Christopher Johnson, in 1988.
Thirty percent of the state’s population lives in the five-county metropolitan area around Milwaukee.
The coldest temperature ever recorded in Wisconsin is -55 degrees Fahrenheit in Sawyer County in 1996. (That’s without wind chill, folks.)
The largest wooly mammoth ever excavated was found in Kenosha, and a replica can be viewed at the Milwaukee Public Museum.
Freshwater surfers know Sheboygan as the “Malibu of the Midwest”. Peak surf season, however, takes place between September and March…brrr!
The first ever Flag Day was celebrated in Ozaukee County.
“On, Wisconsin” was first said by Arthur MacArthur, Jr. in the Battle of Chattanooga at Missionary Ridge during the Civil War.
Wisconsin is situated in central northern area of the United States, in the region called the Midwest or the Great Lakes.
Wisconsin became a state on 29 May 1848, which made it the 30th state to join the Union.
Wisconsin is the 20th biggest US state in terms of population.
Wisconsin is the 23rd biggest US state in terms of surface area.
Wisconsin's current capital is Madison. It used to be Belmont, founded in 1836, back when the state was only a territory.
The name of the state is thought to be from the Wisconsin River, itself derived from an Algonquian word which was then derived to its current form. The word Wisconsin was first recorded by French explorer Jacques Marquette in 1673.
Wisconsin is sometimes called the Badger State, but not because it has a lot of those animals. In fact, it refers to miners in the 1820s who dug tunnels to sleep and stay warm, similarly to badgers. The badger is also the mascot of the state's biggest university.
The state is home to the first ever kindergarten in the US. It was started by Margarethe Schurz in 1856 in Watertown, Wisconsin.
The state is the biggest exporter of cranberries and sweetcorn in the US, as well as the second biggest exporter of whey.
Green Bay, Wisconsin is known as the toilet paper capital of the world. The first splinter-free toilet paper was produced there in 1935, and the local Northern Paper Mills was the biggest producer of toilet paper in the world in 1920.
The Milwaukee Art Museum, also known as MAM, is one of the biggest museums in the US. It contains about 30,000 works of art and boasts more than 400,000 visitors a year.
Guitar manufacturer Les Paul was from Wisconsin. His incredible guitar playing skills earned him the title of Wizard of Waukesha.
The founders of Harley Davidson, William Harley and the Davidson brothers, built their first ever motorcycle in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The state saw the birth of the first functioning typewriter, created by Christopher Latham Sholes in 1868. Latham also invented the QWERTY keyboard which is still used today.
Many famous gangsters, including Al Capone and Bugs Moran, used to hideaway in Wisconsin.
Frank Lloyd Wright was a popular architect from Wisconsin. The buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright are some of the most popular attractions in the state.
Mount Horeb is full of trolls, but not the online hater kind. The town's main street, dubbed the “Trollway,” is lined with hand-carved wooden ones.
Wisconsin is the only state to offer a Master Cheesemaker program. It takes three years to complete, and you need 10 years of cheese making experience before you can even apply as a candidate.
The cheesehead hat actually debuted at a Brewers, not a Packers, game. It was popularized by Brewers outfielder Rick Manning when a dugout photo of him wearing the now-iconic wedge appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Wisconsin was the first to institute a statewide income tax. Thanks a bunch, guys. 5. A record-breaking 209,376 bratwursts were consumed in 2010 at Madison's Brat Fest.
Wisconsin repealed its laws enforcing Prohibition in 1929, four years before the nation as a whole.
In fact, the 21st Amendment, which did away with Prohibition nationwide, was authored by Wisconsin senator John J. Blaine.
Schlitz, the “beer that made Milwaukee famous,” is now owned by the Los Angeles-based Pabst Brewing Company, which also produces Old Milwaukee.
The Wisconsin State Cow Chip Throw Festival, held in Sauk City and Prairie du Sac, is the world's largest celebration of bovine fecal matter.
A sign that used to mark the Business 51 exit on southbound I-39 managed to misspell every single word except for “exit.” Rothschild came out as “Rothschield,” Schofield was “Schofeild,” and the sign makers even managed to mess up the word “business”—“Buisness”? Seriously? More like serouisly.
Wisconsin produces more cheese than any other state in the nation. And no, this does not include those foam cheesehead hats worn by Packers fans.
About 90 percent of the milk from Wisconsin cows is used to make cheese.
The National Freshwater Fishing Hall in Hayward is home to what is claimed to be the world's largest fiberglass sculpture, a four story high, 143 feet long muskie complete with an observation platform in its gaping mouth.
Chalet Cheese Cooperative in Monroe is one of only two U.S. companies still producing Limburger, the world's stinkiest cheese.
The world's largest soup festival was at one time used to prepare soup for Laona's annual Community Soup festival. While the festival's still going on, and the kettle's still standing, it has retired from the soup cooking business.
Marathon County produces nearly all of the ginseng grown in the U.S.—about 10 percent of the world's total supply.
Wisconsin has more dairy cattle per square mile than any other state, and ranks second behind only California in milk production.
Warrens may be a tiny little village with only 400 residents, but each September it draws over 100,000 visitors to the world's largest cranberry festival. 50. Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers, is the only baseball stadium that sells more brats than hot dogs.
Wisconsin visitors and residents enjoy the state’s 7,446 streams and rivers.
End-to-end they’d stretch 26,767 miles. That is more than enough to circle the globe at the equator.
Wisconsin’s Door County has five state parks and 250 miles of shoreline along Lake Michigan. These figures represent more than any other county in the country.
In 1878-1879 the Wisconsin legislature approved the creation of a state park in Vilas County. The proposal was not successful and the state ended up selling two-thirds of area land to lumber interest for $8 an acre in 1897.
In 1900 land acquisition for Wisconsin’s first state park began. The park became Interstate State Park located in St. Croix Falls.
With an average of 2,500 performers, Milwaukee’s Summerfest is the nation’s largest music festival.
Famous Wisconsinites include: Harry Houdini, famous magician and escape artist. Douglas MacArthur, well known World War II and Korean War general. Frank Lloyd Wright, America’s most famous architect. William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Don Ameche, actor and winner of an academy award for his performance in “Cocoon.”
Mount Horeb’s internationally known Mustard Museum holds the world’s largest mustard collection. The museum contains more than 2,300 varieties of mustard. The museum celebrates National Mustard Day each August.

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