125 Ohio History Facts To Refresh Your Memory About The American StateOhio State

Ohio's history has always been very unique.

Ohio was taken by the United States in 1773 after the Revolutionary War and it was declared a state on March 1, 1803. The constitution of Ohio was approved by Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, but only got its presidential stamp of approval in 1953 by President Dwight Eisenhower.

Ohio is a constituent state in the United States of America. It lies in the northeastern part of the midwest region. This American state is bordered by Michigan and Lake Erie in the north, Pennsylvania and West Virginia in the south, and Indiana towards the west. In the beginning, this American state was first explored by Robert Cavalier and Sieur de la Salle who mistook Ohio for France. Then in 1969, Ohio came under the property of Britain after the French and Indian war. After the American Revolution, the British gave Ohio to the now independent United States of America. The US then incorporated it into the Northwest Territory. This created a lot of conflict between the Native American settlers and Anglo-American settlers and the native people tried to kick out the Americans. William T. Sherman, who was an extremely successful general during the Civil War, also came from Ohio state as he was born in Lancaster, Ohio. Historical data on the Civil War also shows that most of the people who fought in the Civil War belonged to Ohio. The first person to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong, also hails from Ohio and the famous filmmaker Steven Spielberg who's known for popular films like 'E.T.' and 'Jurassic Park' is also an Ohio native. Often referred to as the 'Mother of Modern Presidents', the White House has seen seven Ohioans since 1869.

Another special Ohio feature is that it is referred to as the 'Buckeye State' because of all the buckeye trees growing everywhere. Ohio is also popular for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Centre in Cincinnati, and the National Football League Hall of Fame in Canton. The Ohio region is one of the USA's leading industrial manufacturers. The state of Ohio enjoys some really good natural resources like fertile soil, natural gas, coal, and a rock salt called halite. The Iroquois people were believed to have settled down between the Ohio River and Great Lakes by 1650 and the name Ohio is taken from the Iroquois word 'Oyo' which means 'great river'. Another interesting fact about Ohio state is that its state capital, which is Columbus, is named after the discoverer of America, Christopher Columbus. Columbus became the state capital in 1816 and is the largest city in Ohio. Furthermore, the capital is located near the geographic center of Ohio country. 30 Ohio cities act as micropolitan centers and small urban clusters. Ohio has also had a long history of tragic events with natural disasters. The great flood of 1913 severely affected Ohio along with 12 other states, where they saw heavy rainfall continuously for four days. This resulted in extensive homelessness, extensive damage to property and nature, and many deaths too. Once again, in 1937, they experienced another flood where the Ohio River overflowed and this took place in the middle of the Great Depression. The damage from this flood even reached Pennsylvania, Pittsburg, and Cairo in Illinois! The state of Ohio experienced the most known earthquake in Ohio history called the Anna earthquake which was centered in western Ohio. This took place on March 9, 1937. The November of 1950 gave Ohio intense blizzard conditions where the state saw 10 in (25.4 cm) of snowfall and high-speed winds. The 'White Hurricane' or the Great Blizzard of 1978 was another terrible event that struck the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes in the January of 1978 for three whole days. It was such a severe event that the Ohio state government had to step in and provide assistance to the stranded motorists and road crews.

If you enjoy this article on Ohio history facts, be sure to check out our other articles on Idaho history facts for kids or Indiana history interesting facts that you are sure to love!

Fun Facts About Ohio's History

Ohio's natural history is very interesting and quite intriguing to learn about. Ohio was initially colonized by some French fur traders but it later came under the British colony following the 1754 French and Indian wars. Once the American Revolution ended in 1783, the British gave up this territory back to the Americans who then went on to incorporate it into the Northwest Territory. Ohio finally became a state and the 17th member of the union on March 1, 1803, and got its presidential stamp in 1953. March 1 is now celebrated by Ohioans as Statehood Day!

Ohio is often referred to as the 'Mother of Modern Presidents' as it has seen eight Ohioan presidents to the White House since 1869. This state also houses the famous Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, the National Football League Hall of Fame in Canton, and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Centre in Cincinnati. Also known to the Americans as the Buckeye state due to a large number of buckeye trees grown all around the Ohio River Valley, Ohio has an interesting state flag that isn't of the standard rectangular design. Instead, it has a pennant design and is the only flag in the United States to be designed in such a manner. A unique feature of this flag is that it can be folded 17 times, indicating the Ohio country to be the 17th state to join the union. Columbus is Ohio's state capital and is its largest city too. In fact, the three largest cities in the Ohio statehood are Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati and all these three cities are major metropolitan areas. Ohio is considered to be one of America's top industrial leaders, coming in third at manufacturing employment throughout the whole country. Some famous places in Ohio's country known for this are Akron for its rubber, Cincinnati for its jet engines, Canton for its roller bearings, Dayton for its office machines, Toledo for glass and auto parts, Youngstown and Steubenville for their steel, and Cleveland for its diverse range of auto parts and assembly! Apart from being an industry leader, Ohio is also a great producer of nursery plants and greenhouses.

Facts About Ohio's Statehood

Congress passed an act that stated that the citizens or national people of Ohio have adopted a constitution in agreement with the 1803 Enabling Act and thus, Ohio became a state in the United States union. This American state gained representation in Congress when the Ohio Senator, Thomas Worthington extended his credentials on the first day of the eighth Congress to the Senate. Although Ohio legally became the 17th state under the February 19, 1803 Act of Congress, Ohio statehood is now identified on March 1. This date represents when the Ohio Legislature was met for the first time. This was put into effect as the statehood date by a 1953 Resolution of the United States Congress!

Facts About Battles Fought In Ohio

Ohio houses some of the most historic battlefields used in many equally significant wars and conflicts. The Buckeye State had an involvement with the American Revolutionary War, the American Civil War, and many other wars and conflicts with the native Americans who were the initial settlers in Ohio. In total there were about 18 battles fought in Ohio alone!

The Battle of Fort Landusky was one such war that was fought in 1763 during Pontiac's Rebellion. Historical data indicates that the Native American leader took along a band of several other tribes with whom he formed an alliance and attacked the British forts all through what is Michigan and Ohio today. Then in May 1779, in modern-day Xenia, Colonel John Bowman led around 300 soldiers approximately of the Kentucky Militia. They attacked the Shawnee Town in Chillicothe and this battle came to be known as the Battle of Chillicothe. Not being able to overthrow the Shawnee chief and the tribe's natives from their living areas, the American soldiers burned down the town ultimately. Then in 1782, a massive massacre occurred, called the Gnadenhutten Massacre, where many Native Americans kidnapped and killed a lot of Pennsylvanians. Captain David Williamson then led a group of soldiers to a Moravian Church in Gnadenhutten where they captured more than 100 members of a Christian Delaware tribe. They failed to realize that they captured the wrong tribe and then voted to execute them the following day. Of all the battles fought in Ohio, the Battle of Buffington Island was the most significant and one that is remembered by all Ohioans. On July 19, 1863, Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan, a Confederate cavalry leader, headed roughly around 2,100 soldiers across the Ohio River into southern Indiana. Morgan's superiors had expressed the cavalry leader into Kentucky to redirect Union troops from the front lines in Tennessee. Morgan surpassed these orders by passing north of the Ohio River, but by doing so, he created severe conflict between the Union army and civilians.

Facts About Ohio's Leaders

Ohio, in all of America, has seen the most number of presidents to the White House! In total, eight presidents have hailed from Ohio. They are Rutherford B. Hayes, Ulysses S. Grant, William McKinley, Warren G. Harding, William Howard Taft, William Henry Harrison, Benjamin Harrison, and James A. Garfield. Out of all these presidents, only Ulysses S. Grant is known to have served two full terms while four died in office. William Henry Harrison was originally born in Virginia but then moved to Ohio after he married his wife. He held the shortest term of any US President so far, dying of pneumonia only one month after delivering the longest inauguration speech in US history.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 125 Ohio History facts to refresh your memory about the American state then why not take a look at historical facts about Florida facts or Kansas history facts that you probably didn't know before!