Alabama
Capital:
Montgomery
Date of Entry:
December 14, 1819
Maps:
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| Map of USA. Alabama outlined (poorly) in dark ink. |
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| A close-up of Alabama & its neighbors. |
Neighbors:
Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi
Water Borders:
Chattahoochee River, Gulf of Mexico
Total Area:
52,419 square miles
Five Largest Cities:
Birmingham, Montgomery, Huntsville, Mobile, Tuscaloosa
Famous Geographical Point:
Dauphin Island
State Nickname:
The Yellowhammer State. Alabama doesn't have an official nickname. Many people, like me, are more familiar with the nickname "The Heart of Dixie," but according to my research, "The Yellowhammer State" has been the unofficial nickname since the Civil War. During that war, soldiers from Alabama wore uniforms trimmed with yellow, which earned them the nickname "yellowhammer," after a type of woodpecker with bright yellow feathers.
Famous Person:
Hank Aaron, Hall of Fame-inducted baseball player
Book Set In/About:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Told through the perspective of his young daughter, a white lawyer in Depression-era small-town Alabama defends a black man accused of raping a white woman.
Movie Set In/About:
"Fried Green Tomatoes" (1991), directed by Jon Avnet
When a middle-aged woman befriends an elderly woman she meets in a nursing home, she begins to find herself & blossom. Her story is intertwined with that of a story told by the elderly woman, about two friends & a murder in 1930sish Alabama.
Headline of the Day:
"Alabama Authorities Hunt Prisoner Still at Large After Peanut Butter Jailbreak" in The Guardian.
Curious but don't have the time/inclination to look up this article? Sadly, it says: "prisoners used peanut butter to change the numbers above a door and trick a new employee into opening another door that led outside." Which I don't think really clarifies anything. An article on boingboing.net sort of helps: "A dozen prisoners at Jasper, Alabama's Walker County Jail escaped on Sunday and one is still at large. One of them used peanut butter to change the number above his cell door and then called for the guard, a new employee, to open it. The number the prisoner changed it to was actually the door to the outside." Bet that guard, if he/she keeps his/her job, will never live that down.
Alabama has some darn good names within it's borders. The nickname information was interesting also.
ReplyDeletePeanut butter jailbreak! So crafty those prisoners are.
One of my book clubs recently chose Fried Green Tomatoes for its November read. I forgot to look at the polls, so I didn't have a hand in the vote. Just thought it was a strange coincidence.
ReplyDelete