7 strange facts and curiosities about the United States
The greatest power in the world offers a number of interesting curiosities to discover. Here are 7 strange facts about the United States!
Are you passionate or intrigued by the United States and North American culture? How many things do you know about the USA? Here are 7 weird facts and trivia about the United States to challenge you, or just learn more!
1. In the United States, Kinder Eggs are illegal
One of the most incredible curiosities about the United States is that they have banned the sale and consumption of the delicious surprise chocolate eggs, as they are considered lethal to American children.
The reason for this incredible danger would be the risk of suffocation deriving from the union of chocolate (food product) with surprise (non-food product).
And so, every year, in a country where anyone can buy a weapon, American customs officers keep thousands of very dangerous eggs…
2. The American Congress “legalized” Christmas only in 1870
Until about 1870, Christmas was illegal in the United States, because it was considered a pagan holiday: the anniversary was banned in 1660 and for nearly 200 years celebrating Christmas was a real crime.
Alabama was the first state to legalize it in 1836, followed by the other states, Congress in 1870, and finally Oklahoma in 1907.
3. Congress thought of “renaming” the country “United States of Earth”
In 1893, an exalted congressman named Lucas Miller proposed to Congress to amend the constitution and change the country’s name to ” United States of Earth”, since, he said, the United States would expand to encompass every nation of the planet…
The proposal was not very successful and Miller, unfortunately, could not redeem himself, since he never reached the second term.
4. Mandela remained on the “country’s enemies list” until 2008
In the 1980s, while the apartheid regime collaborated closely with Reagan and Nixon, the American administrations did not look favorably on Mandela’s alleged closeness to the Communist Party.
It is therefore to issues dating back to the Cold War that we owe the embarrassing mistake discovered in 2008: to enter the country the Nobel laureate had to request special authorization, since he was still on the “terrorism watch list” of the American government.
5. There is a whole day dedicated to the famous donuts: National Donuts Day!
National donut day is celebrated every year on the first Friday of June. The anniversary, dating back to the First World War, celebrates the initiative of the Salvation Army, which served donuts to the soldiers.
The idea was successful among the members of the army and not only: another 3 holidays dedicated to donuts were born from 1938 to today.
6. About 500,000 m2 of pizza is eaten every day in America
According to several surveys by American consumer associations, the nation’s favorite fast food dish is not the typical hamburger, but pizza.
It is estimated that Americans consume around 100 acres of it per day, which equates to nearly 500,000 m2, an impressive number of slices of pizza eaten every day!
7. In the United States, there are more Facebook users than voting citizens
Another noteworthy curiosity about the United States is the fact that there are more Facebook users in America than voting citizens. This surprising finding was readily exploited for political ends.
In fact, during the last elections, the very popular social network was used as a fundamental source of information on the preferences, opinions and objections of American citizens. A remarkable resource for all presidential election candidates.