Thomas Edison born in Milan Ohio, developed not only the first light bulb, but also the phonograph, motion picture camera.
Wilberforce University became the nation's first college owned and operated by African-Americans in 1856.
The Wright Brothers became the first men to fly in a powered airplane that they designed in their bicycle shop in Dayton.
John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth in 1962. His boyhood home is in Cambridge Ohio.
Neil Armstrong was the first person to step foot on the moon in 1969. Neil was from Wapakoneta.
"Ohio, The Heart of it All"
That phrase was created in 1984 by the Ohio Division of Travel and tourism to promote Ohio tourism. The phrase was adopted for several reasons, chief among them was that the geographic shape of the state has a heart shape. Also, because Ohio offers so much to do and see they figured "it" was the heart.
That phrase was replaced in the early 2000s by a new slogan: "Ohio, So Much to Discover."
Professional Football
The American Professional Football Association (direct forerunner of the NFL) was founded in Canton, Ohio on Sept 17, 1920. The Pro Football Hall of Fame is located in Canton.
State Flower: Scarlet Carnation
State Bird: Cardinal
State Tree: Ohio Buckeye Tree
State Wildflower: White Trillium
State Insect: Ladybug
State Animal: White-tailed Deer
State Gemstone: Flint
Ohio has some 19,000 miles of highway, 40,948 square miles in area, 44,000 miles of rivers and streams, and the tallest point is Campbell Hill near Bellefontaine at 1,550 feet.
One of the most visited monuments in Washington DC has its roots in Ohio:
Maya Ying Lin was born in Athens Ohio in 1959 and later attended Ohio University. She won a national design competition for the Vietnam War memorial built in Washington DC in 1982.
Geraldine Mock
What makes Geraldine special, besides being a wife and mother with 3 children, it's not that she was manager of Columbus' Port Columbus, that she was a pilot, and it's not that she once complained to her husband about not having anything interesting to do to occupy her time. What makes Geraldine special is that with only 500 hours of solo flight time under her belt, that she decided to fly around the world solo at the suggestion of her husband.
Geraldine Mock (Jerrie) became the first woman to solo around the world in 1964 flying an old 1953 Cessna 180 that she christened "The Spirit of Columbus". The flight took a total of 30 days and she covered 22,858 miles in 158 actual flying hours.
Jerrie Mock set the record for the first woman to fly solo around the world, she also set some other unofficial records: first woman to fly from the US to Africa via the North Atlantic, first woman to fly across the Pacific in a single engine aircraft, the first woman to fly the Pacific from west to east, and the first woman to fly both the Atlantic and the Pacific
Today her plane is located in in the National Air and Space Museum.
Ohio's First Female Governor
Not too many years ago (1998) Ohio had its FIRST WOMAN GOVERNOR. She actually only held office for less than a month, but she was officially the governor of Ohio. Her name: Nancy Putnam Hollister and she was sworn in as our 66th governor on December 31, 1998.
Hollister was governor George Voinovich's Lieutenant Governor. Voinovich's term was almost up and he wanted to be sworn into office as a US Senate so he resigned his governor's office so he could be sworn in on January 1, 1999. Upon Governor Voinovich's resignation, Hollister became Ohio's chief executive. Hollister was the first woman to become governor. Her term was a short one, however, lasting only eleven days from late December 1998 to early January 1999. Bob Taft, whom voters elected in November 1998, took office in January 1999.
Stars, personalities and people of note for one reason or other, born in Ohio
Besides being the Mother of Presidents, Ohio has also been the Mother of lot of other folks whose names have been put in the history books and the lights of the silver screen.
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Dean Martin--born in Steubenville in 1917, was a high-school drop out, a whiskey runner, a boxer, and a steel mill worker. He went on to become one of the most famous singers, movie actor and TV personality of the 50s and 60s.
Clark Gable-- born in 1901 in Cadiz, Ohio.
Paul Newman-- born in 1925 near Cleveland.
Roy Rogers-- famous TV cowboy, was born in 1911 in Cincinnati.
Bob Hope-- although Bob Hope wasn't actually born in Ohio (he was born in England) he and his family moved to Cleveland when he was 5 years old.
Sarah Jessica Parker-- was born in Nelsonville in 1965.
Anne Heche-- born in Aurora in 1965.
Martin Sheen-- born 1940 in Dayton.
Steven Spielberg-- was born in Cincinnati in 1947.
Halle Berry-- was born in Cleveland in 1966.
Katie Holmes-- born in Toledo in 1978
Drew Carey-- was also born in Cleveland, but in 1958.
Jamie Farr-- known for his character Klinger in the TV show MASH, was born in Toledo.
Henry Mancini-- born in Cleveland in 1924.
Erma Bombeck-- the great American humorist was born in Dayton in 1927.
Toni Morrison-- this Pulitzer Prize winning author was born in Lorain Ohio in 1931.
Gloria Steinem-- founding editor of MS Magazine and co-founder of the modern feminist movement was born in Toledo in 1934.
Jack Paar-- host of the Tonight Show before Johnny Carson was born in Canton in 1918.
Phil Donahue-- was born in Cleveland in 1935 and was the first to introduce talk-tv with his show The Phil Donahue Show in Dayton Ohio, which became the longest continuous run syndicated talk show in U.S. television history.
Paul Lynde-- a long time TV and movie comedian was born in Mount Vernon in 1927
Margaret Hamilton-- a name that most people won't recognize until you mention a character she played in the movies: The wicked witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz movie with Judy Garland. She was born in Cleveland in 1902.
Gordon Jump-- is another actor whose name you probably don't recognize, but will recognize the character he played from hit TV show WKRP in Cincinnati which aired in the mid 70s. He played the role of the station manager, Arthur Carlson. Later in his life, he also played the lonely Maytag Repairman role in many television commercials. Gordon was born in Dayton in 1932.
Allison Janney-- played the press secretary C.J. Cregg on the television series The West Wing was also born in Dayton in 1960.
Doris Day-- was born in Cincinnati in 1924. Known as the ""All-American Girl." Her movie career began in 1948 which established her as both an accomplished singer and movie star.
Ted Turner-- founder of CNN, TCM, and TNT was also born in Cincinnati in 1938.
Gates McFadden-- she played the chief medical officer Beverly Crusher in the TV series: Star Trek: The Next Generation. Born in Cuyahoga Falls in 1949.
Nancy Wilson has recorded over 60 albums, half of which have appeared on the Billboard charts, was born in Chillicothe Ohio in 1937, but grew up in Columbus where she graduated from West High School.
Rosemary Clooney is another singer, movie actress, and TV host. She was born in Kentucky, but moved with her family to Cincinnati when she was 13. She is George Clooney's aunt.
Phyllis Diller, female comedienne, stage performer and actress, was born in Lima Ohio in 1917.
Lillian Gish, a movie actress, stage performer and the first female director in 1920 was born in Springfield in 1893.
Annie Oakley born in Woodland Ohio (now known as Willowdell) in 1860 became known as a highly skilled sharpshooter. "Little Sure Shot" was the name that Sioux Chief Sitting Bull gave her when he saw her shooting skills.
Ruby Dee was born in Cleveland in 1924. She has appeared in numerous stage and screen productions.
Teri Garr, television and movie actress was born in Lakewood, Ohio in 1947.
Luke Perry, actor, directory and producer was born in Mansfield Ohio in 1965.
Jim Backus was born in 1913 in Cleveland. Although he played in numerous movies and television productions, he will probably be best remembered for his role on Gilligan's Island as Thurston Howell III.
Joel Grey, singer and actor, was born in Cleveland in 1932.
Tim Conway was born in 1933 in Willoughby. He is both a well known actor and writer.
Molly Shannon who gained fame on Saturday Night Live in 1975 was born in 1964 in Shaker Heights.
Did you
know...
That the Grandfather of President George H. Bush, and the Great Grandfather of George W. Bush is buried in Columbus' Green Lawn Cemetery? His name is Samuel Prescott Bush. He lived in Columbus for a few years, then moved away, and then returned in 1901 to become General Manager of Buckeye Steel Castings which manufactured railway parts. That company was run by Frank Rockefeller, the brother of John D. Rockefeller.
He later served on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland as well as on the board of the Huntington National Bank of Columbus. His son, Prescott Bush, left Columbus to attend Yale and eventually became a Connecticut Senator.
Samuel Bush lived in Marble Cliff in what is known today as the Bush Mansion which is now upscale condominiums.
Rod Serling, creator of "The Twilight Zone" enrolled at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio after being discharged from the Army in 1946. After graduating from Antioch, Rod and his new wife Carol moved to Cincinnati and got a job with WLW radio. 
