A survey by the CDC did a study of over 1.3 million people from all over the country and came to the conclusion that people in Louisiana, Hawaii and Florida are among happiest Americans.

Ranking No. 1 in happiness was Louisiana, home of Dixieland music and Cajun/Creole cooking.

Oswald urged a bit of caution in that ranking, however, noting that part of the happiness survey occurred before Hurricane Katrina struck the state, and part of it took place later. Nevertheless, he said, “We have no explicit reason to think there is a problem” with the ranking.

Rounding out the happy five were Hawaii, Florida, Tennessee and Arizona.

At the other end of the scale, last in happiness – is New York state.

[The Huffington Post]

Louisiana has displaced Mississippi as the unhealthiest U.S. state and other Southern states were close rivals due to high obesity and smoking rates in new rankings that deemed Vermont the healthiest.

[From Fox News]

George Washington served as the first President of the United States starting in 1789, he is the only President to have gotten 100% of electoral votes. He was born in Virginia, and was educated at home by his family. He retired from the Presidency in 1797 and returned to Mount Vernon to live, which is a popular tourist attraction today.

[source]

The 1943 copper penny is very rare. In 1943 the US Mint produced steel pennies but a few copper blanks left in the press were accidentally stamped and circulated.

[source]

The United States dollar derives from the Spanish 8 reales coin which was composed of just under one ounce of silver. This coin was popular among American colonists, who called it the Spanish dollar, the name having derived from a German coin of similar size and composition known as the thaler.

[wikipedia]

“During the early 1970s, the price of copper rose to a point where the penny almost contained more than one cent’s worth of copper. This led the Mint to test alternate metals, including aluminum and bronze-clad steel. Aluminum was chosen, and over 1.5 million of these were struck and ready for public release before ultimately being rejected. About a dozen aluminum cents are believed to still be in the hands of collectors, although they are now considered illegal, and are subject to seizure by the Secret Service. One aluminum cent was donated to the Smithsonian Institution.

The price of copper later returned to profitable levels. The Mint did not need to change the cent’s composition until 1982.”

[wikipedia]

“Air Force One is the air traffic control call sign of any U.S. Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States (it is a common misconception that “Air Force One” refers to a single airplane). ”

[read more]

“Dixville Notch, NH is the site of the first voting in the primary elections for the USA. The voters gather at the stroke of midnight to cast their ballots to the click and whir of news cameras from around the world.”

[source]

“The Philadelphia Mint has the capacity to produce 1.8 million coins an hour, 32 million coins per day, and 13.5 billion coins every year.”

www.ushistory.org

“Pennsylvania had the most signers of the Declaration of Independence, with 9 of the 56.”
[http://www.ushistory.org]