NEW YORK
State Information
Nickname(s): The Empire State
Motto(s): Excelsior or Ever Upward
State song(s): I Love New York
Capital Albany
Largest City New York City
Admitted to US 7/26/1788 11th State
Brief History of New York
Here are a few interesting facts about New York:
New York is visited by 60 million tourists each year who see things like Niagara Falls, Broadway Musicals, the Statue of Liberty, the United Nations, and the US Stock Exchange.
Four Presidents from New York: Millard Fillmore, Franklin D Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, and Martin Van Buren.
Babe Ruth hit the first home run in Yankee Stadium on its opening day.
The New York Stock Exchange is the world’s largest stock exchange, with an annual trading volume of 5.5 trillion.
NY has 64 Nobel Prize winners – more than any other state.
On July 28, 1945, a B-25 crashed into the Empire State Building, on the 79th floor, without significant damage.
The Statue of Liberty is 151 feet tall from its base.
Interesting Stories
New York has many great men, athletes, movie stars, entertainers, and business leaders. Some examples include Michael Jordan, Lou Gehrig, Bob Cousy, George Gershwin, Vince Lombardi, Normal Rockwell, and many more. But this country is more than just its celebrities. It was built on the backs of everyday heroes who get up each day, work, and come home to a loving family. A sudden loss hit this country when a group of al-Qaeda terrorists flew two planes into the World Trade Center. We lost 2,977 souls that day, including 343 firefighters, 60 police officers, and eight emergency medical technicians. Despite the heinous event, patriotism soared, people focused more on family and community, and everyday heroes emerged from the rubble.
Chuck Margiotta was born on Staten Island. He joined the New York Fire Department, working his way up to Lieutenant. He married the love of his life, Norma, and they had two children, Norma Jean and Charles. He was a tough guy, all muscle at 240 pounds, sporting a bushy mustache. On his way home, he heard the news about the terrorist attack. He rushed to the nearest firehouse and hitched a ride with Rescue 5, heading to the towers. His last telephone call was, “This is a big I love you.” Chuck is an example of why America is so strong and courageous.
Nikola Tesla was born in Serbia and immigrated to the United States, settling in New York. At that time, electricity was transmitted as direct current (DC), like a battery. Tesla suggested the revolutionary idea of alternating current (AC) used today worldwide. Tesla had many inventions, including X-rays and the remote control. He constructed a giant structure on Long Island to prove that he could transmit electrical power wirelessly and free. Unfortunately, he exhausted all of his money before proving the concept. Imagine wi-fi today if he had succeeded! At one point, he told the Yugoslavian ambassador that he had built a death ray. Six years later, on January 1943, he died alone in his New Yorker Hotel room. Rumors floated around that Hitler’s bodyguard killed Tesla and stole the death ray plans. Nikola Tesla was strange but undeniably a genius. He forever changed the world with his inventions and forward-thinking.
Milton Friedman, from New York, received the Nobel Prize for his work on the benefits of a free-market or capitalistic system. The only recorded times when masses escaped from grinding poverty was when they had capitalism. Likewise, places where the masses are worse off, are those in which societies have departed from capitalism. Political self-interest and centralized value judgments are not better than economic self-interests and diverse value judgments. For example, at the height of the British Empire’s economic predominance, government resources were only 10 percent, not the other way around. Centralization through government action impedes, while various multifaceted individual action creates.