10 Fun Mississippi Facts

Did you know that Elvis Presley and Oprah Winfrey are both Mississippians? Learn all about the Magnolia State with our list of interesting Mississippi facts.
10 Fun Mississippi Facts
1. In 1964, civil rights activists in Mississippi created the "Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party" to challenge the Mississippi Democratic Party, which only allowed White people to participate.
2. The name "Mississippi" comes from the Anishinabe tribe of Native Americans; the word means "Father of Waters."
3. Mississippian Dr. James D. Hardy performed the first successful human lung transplant 1963. The next year, he performed the first heart transplant, controversially putting a chimpanzee heart into a human.
4. Mississippi's Biloxi Beach is the longest man-made beach in the world. It runs 26 miles, from Biloxi to Henderson Point.
5. The "Teddy Bear" came about when President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a cornered bear while on a bear hunting trip in Mississippi. The story spread, and stuffed bears named for him became a popular toy.
6. When the Ohio and Missouri River tributaries are included as part of the Mississippi River system, it ranks as the third largest in the world.
Photo Credit: Shannon1
7. Novelists William Faulkner and Eudora Welty were Mississippians.
8. Alcorn State University, located in Mississippi's Claiborne County, is the nation's oldest African American land-grant college.
9. Mississippi is home to many famous musicians, including Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Britney Spears, Jimmy Buffett, Faith Hill, Muddy Waters, and Tammy Wynette.
Photo Credit: Ronzoni
10. Mississippi University for Women, founded in 1884, was the first state-funded female university in the country.
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