X-Nico

99 unusual facts about Alabama


1969 Alabama 200

The 1969 Alabama 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series racing event that took place on December 8, 1968 at Montgomery Speedway (Montgomery, Alabama).

4th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment

The regiment participated in the Third Battle of Chattanooga from November 23–27 1863, then was on garrison duty at Bridgeport and Huntsville in Alabama, until June 1864, having Veteranized during the spring of 1864.

61400 Voxandreae

It is named after Andreae Deman, a planetarium program speaker for the Von Braun Astronomical Society in Huntsville, Alabama.

8 Mile

Eight Mile, Alabama, an unincorporated community in Mobile County, Alabama, United States

Alabama Railroad

The remainder of the line north of Peterman, Alabama was abandoned approximately 1994 to include an 800+ foot tunnel built in 1899 located at Tunnel Springs, Alabama.

Alabama State Route 297

By 1997, $118,590,000, was requested to construct the first portion of the road between Interstates 20/59 in Cottondale and Rice Mine Road including a new Black Warrior River crossing.

Alexander Winchell

He then taught at Pennington Male Seminary of New Jersey, Amenia Seminary of New York (where he had previously been a student), an academy in Newbern, Alabama, and the Mesopotamia Female Seminary of Eutaw, the last of which was founded by him.

Allene Roberts

Allene Roberts (born September 1, 1928) was born in Fairfield Highlands, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama.

Andre Royal

Andre Tierre Royal (born December 1, 1972 in Theodore, Alabama) is a former professional football player in the National Football League who played linebacker for five seasons for the Carolina Panthers and the Indianapolis Colts.

Battle of Collierville

The Memphis & Charleston Railroad remained open to Tuscumbia, Alabama, for Union troop movements.

Belize Bank

American investors from Mobile, Alabama, incorporated the Bank of British Honduras in 1902, and it commenced operations in 1903.

Bettye Kimbrell

Kimbrell married Calvin Kimbrell and moved to Mount Olive, Alabama.

Bob Gresham

Robert Clark "Bob" Gresham (born July 9, 1948 in Porter, Alabama) is a former American football running back in the National Football League.

Bobby Humphrey

As of 2012, Humphrey is vice president of business development for Bryant Bank in Birmingham, Alabama.

Brian Webber

Brian Webber (December 19, 1967) is an American actor from Birmingham, Alabama.

Bridge Day

In 1983, Michael Glenn Williams from Birmingham, Alabama, drowned when his gear was caught in the current after he made a successful jump.

Buzzard Roost

Buzzard Roost, Alabama, an unincorporated community in Colbert County, Alabama, United States

Campbellton, Florida

Joseph Sanders, a former Confederate officer who had switched sides and taken a commission as a lieutenant in the Federal Army, hid out in the swamp for four months during the winter and spring of 1864; he emerged in March of that year to mount an unsuccessful attack on Newton, Alabama, which resulted in the loss of three of his men.

Charles E. Anderson

Upon finishing, he was stationed in Tuskegee, Alabama where he was assigned as a weather officer for the 332nd Fighter Group now known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

Cooper Green Mercy Hospital

It first opened as Mercy Hospital in 1972 and was renamed for former Birmingham mayor Cooper Green three years later.

Crosley Broadcasting Corporation

The WLWI call letters are used by an AM and FM radio station serving the Montgomery, Alabama radio market.

CWF Heavyweight Championship

The NWA Continental Heavyweight Championship was a major title in the National Wrestling Alliance's Alabama territory called Southeastern Championship Wrestling.

Dallas County High School

Dallas County High School is a public high school in Plantersville, Alabama, United States.

DeDee Nathan

LeShundra "DeDee" Nathan (born April 20, 1968 in Birmingham, Alabama) is a retired heptathlete from the United States, who won the gold medal at the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba.

Dee Dee Warwick

In October, she cut 10 tracks at Muscle Shoals, again with Crawford producing (along with Brad Shapiro).

Donald Watkins

Donald V. Watkins (born 1948 - ) of Birmingham, Alabama is an African-American lawyer, banker and international entrepreneur.

E. B. Teague

During his role as a preacher, he served churches in Selma, Columbiana, Montevallo, Fayetteville, Jefferson County, Greene County, Alabama and LaGrange, Georgia.

Evan Harris Walker

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Harris received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Maryland in 1964.

Fanaticon

Fanaticon is a multi-genre, science-fiction, fantasy, comic book, anime, and gaming convention held in Dothan, Alabama.

Frank Camper

Several newspapers and radio stations reported that he was involved in the Air India bombings in the 1980s, noting that he trained one of the Sikh bombers at his mercenary school headquartered in Dolomite,AKA "The Bunker".

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

The "Whistle Stop Cafe" is loosely based on the Irondale Cafe in Irondale, Alabama, a suburb near Flagg's birthplace.

Fyffe

Fyffe, Alabama, a town in DeKalb County, Alabama, in the United States

Gary Stephen Krist

He was arrested in Point Clear, Alabama, for conspiracy to bring cocaine and illegal aliens into the United States.

Geoffrey D. Stephenson

, the party of Air Commodore Stephenson, accompanied by 30 RAF and USAF officers, flew to Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama, for interment at the Royal Air Force plot there.

George G. Siebels, Jr.

He served from m 1967 to 1975 and then represented Jefferson County in the Alabama House of Representatives from 1978 to 1990.

Georgia State Route 136

SR 136 initially heads east from the Alabama state line, where it continues into Alabama as SR 71 in the direction of Higdon.

Gus Mayer

Gus Mayer is a Birmingham, Alabama based, family-owned, upscale specialty department store that caters to upper-end clientele and is known for its high-end fashions.

Henry James Thomas

Although Thomas was injured, and injected with a sense of fear, he participated in a second Freedom Ride from Montgomery, Alabama to Jackson, Mississippi 10 days later.

The Greyhound bus Thomas was riding was making its way into Anniston, Alabama.

Hilliard P. Jenkins

Jenkins served in other leadership roles with the Mobile-Baldwin Area Boy Scouts of America, the Baldwin County Mental Health Board, the Baldwin County Executive Committee, and the Alabama Selective Service Board.

Hospital Corporation of America

In April 1998, Birmingham, Alabama-based HealthSouth Corporation announced it was acquiring the majority of HCA's surgical division.

Hubbertville School

Hubbertville School is located in the community of Hubbertville, which itself is situated in Northern Fayette County, Alabama, within the corporate limits of Glen Allen, Alabama.

Ilisha Jarret

Ilisha Keisha Marie Jarrett, born 8 January 1977, in Illinois, USA, is a former professional women basketball player from Birmingham, Alabama, USA.

Jacob Broughton Nelson

In the 1900 census Nelson was listed as the son of Jacob Boone Nelson and Laura Hill Locke Nelson in Summerfield, Alabama.

James Adams Stallworth

Born in Evergreen, Alabama, Stallworth attended Old Field Piney Woods Schools.

James Zwerg

The group traveled by bus to Birmingham, where Zwerg was first arrested for not moving to the back of the bus with his black seating companion.

Jean Baptiste Louis DeCourtel Marchand

Jean Baptiste Louis DeCourtel Marchand (died 1722 in Wetumpka, Alabama) was a French soldier.

Jim Davenport

James Houston Davenport (born August 17, 1933 in Siluria, Alabama) is a former Major League Baseball infielder (mostly third base) who played his entire career with the San Francisco Giants (1958–1970).

Jocelyn Benson

Prior to attending law school, Benson also lived in Montgomery, Alabama, where she worked for the Southern Poverty Law Center as an investigative journalist, researching white supremacist and neo-Nazi organizations.

John Fox Slater

The fund has been of great value in aiding industrial schools in the South, its largest beneficiaries being the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute of Hampton, Virginia, the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute of Tuskegee, Alabama, Spelman Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia, Claflin University in Orangeburg, SC, and Fisk University, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Johnny Ford

Johnny L. Ford (born August 23, 1942, in Midway, Alabama) is an American politician and mayor of Tuskegee, Alabama, and a former Alabama State Representative.

Kim Sunée

She now lives in Birmingham, Alabama, and is food editor for Cottage Living magazine, a Time Warner publication.

Kinetic Communications

Kinetic Communications, based in Birmingham, Alabama, is a website and multimedia development company.

KOLD-TV

Gannett had owned the Tucson Citizen since 1977, and FCC regulations of the time forced Gannett to sell KOLD along with KTVY (now KFOR-TV) in Oklahoma City and WALA-TV in Mobile, Alabama to Knight Ridder Broadcasting after just one day of ownership.

Law enforcement in the Marshall Islands

Kwajalein Atoll is serviced by Alutiiq Security & Technology of Huntsville, Alabama.

Mark Potok

Mark Potok is a spokesman and director of publications and information for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in Montgomery, Alabama, a nonprofit organization that arose from the anti-segregation movement to counter extremism and hate crimes.

Mid-Atlantic Freight

23 October 2002 - Mid-Atlantic Freight Cessna 208B Cargomaster I, on a flight between Mobile and Montgomery in Alabama, crashed after an uncontrolled descent into Big Bateau Bay, 8 km from Spanish Fort, Alabama.

Misery Loves Kompany

Production was mainly handled by David Sanders II, a producer from Huntsville, Alabama; Sanders handled half the production with the rest mainly being handled by Seven (who produced numerous track for Tech N9ne's 2006 effort Everready: The Religion) with lone production credit going to Rob Rebeck for "You Don't Want It."

Oak Grove, Alabama

It is not to be confused with the unincorporated town in Jefferson County west of Rock Creek which was hit by an F5 tornado on April 8, 1998 and an EF2 tornado on January 23, 2012.

Oscar Gamble

Born in Ramer, Alabama, Gamble was discovered playing baseball in a semi-professional league by legendary Negro League baseball player Buck O'Neil, who was working as a scout for the Chicago Cubs at the time.

Pedro Toledo

In 1991, Toledo also participated in negotiations during riots at the federal prison in Talladega, Alabama.

Pelham Civic Center

Pelham Civic Complex is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Pelham, Alabama.

Pete Coachman

Bobby Dean Coachman (born November 11, 1961, in Cottonwood, Alabama) is a retired professional baseball player who played one season for the California Angels of Major League Baseball.

Philip Bradbourn

Philip Bradbourn also came under fire in 2008 when it was discovered that the website of the West Midlands Conservative MEPs showed a photo of Birmingham, Alabama instead of Birmingham, England.

Pop the Trunk

The song's concept revolves around life in Gadsden, Alabama and the environment that the artist grew up in, as Yelawolf is essentially just describing his surroundings and different events he's witnessed.

Pursuit Channel

On cable, it is available on Troy Cablevision in Troy, Alabama and Luverne, Alabama, and on the cable systems that carry its broadcast affiliates.

Quincuncina burkei

This very distinct species was first discovered in the Pea River at Elamville, Ala., by Joseph B. Burke and is named

Rebel Love

The picture was shot on locations in Birmingham and Bessemer, Alabama during the summer of 1983, with many scenes filmed at the Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park.

Richard R. Muller

Dr Richard R. Muller is professor of airpower history within the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies at the USAF's Air University in Montgomery, Alabama.

Roger Briggs

Roger Briggs, born and raised in Florence, Alabama, began playing the piano at age 8 and composing by age 11.

Ronald Brise

Brisé graduated from Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, with degrees in Biology and Biology Education.

Roszetta Johnson

She was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and grew up singing in her local church choir.

Ruby Sales

Ruby Sales (born July 8, 1948 in Jemison, Alabama) is an African-American social activist.

Rush darter

This fish is currently known from three Alabama river drainages: the Clear Creek drainage in Winston County, some springs in Jefferson County, and Little Cove Creek drainage in Etowah County.

Samuel Stehman Haldeman

On his return trip from Texas, he was offered the position of president of Masonic College in Selma, Alabama, which he accepted and held from January to October 1852.

Satsuma, Alabama

Lee Primary, Lee Intermediate, and Satsuma High were in the city of Satsuma, while North Mobile County Middle was in Axis.

Scott Loftin

Born in Montgomery, Montgomery County, Alabama; moved to Pensacola, Florida, with his parents in 1887; attended the public schools and Washington and Lee University School of Law at Lexington, Virginia; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1899 and commenced practice in Pensacola, Fla.

Sensational Sherri Memorial Cup Tournament

The show was held in honor of American female professional wrestler and manager "Sensational" Sherri Martel who died of an accidental drug overdose at the home of her mother in McCalla, Alabama four months earlier.

Shiloh, Alabama

Shiloh, Marengo County, Alabama, an unincorporated community in Marengo County, Alabama, United States

South Carolina in the American Civil War

On February 4, a congress of the seven seceding states met in Montgomery, Alabama, and approved a new constitution for the Confederate States of America.

Sportz Blitz

The show focuses on Alabama high school and college sports, specifically Auburn University and the University of Alabama.

Spring Hill, Kansas

In 1856, James B. Hovey named the community after a town near Mobile, Alabama.

STS-26

The VCU was created by SCI Systems in Huntsville, Alabama, and was based on technology licensed from the Votan company.

Sue Ellen Brown

Sue Ellen Brown (born 1954) is an artist living in Birmingham, Alabama.

Sweet Water High School

The late 1920s saw some consolidation of Marengo County schools, with children from former schools in Beaver Creek, Exmoor, and Aimwell moved to Sweet Water.

Tara Gray

She is also a former beauty queen originally from Birmingham, Alabama who has competed in the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants.

Teresa Cheatham

Teresa Ann Cheatham-Stricklin (née Cheatham) is a vocal instructor from Wellington, Alabama who was named Miss Alabama 1978 and finished first runner-up at Miss America 1979.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Alabama

Before August 24, 1842, branches in Tuscaloosa (the Cybry Branch) and Perry (Bogue-Chitto Branch) counties were organized by Elder Brown.

The Statesmen Quartet

Cat Freeman (brother of Vestal Goodman), a native of Fyffe, Alabama was replaced by the great Irish tenor Denver Crumpler.

Tony Shore

Tony Jason Shore (born October 30, 1980 in Huntsville, Alabama) is American musician and actor, best known for appearing as himself in comedy skits on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and playing cop & criminal types on TV crime shows.

Toronto Toros

Following the season, with the drop in attendance and onerous lease terms at the Gardens, Bassett moved the club to Birmingham, Alabama, where they were renamed the Birmingham Bulls for the 1976–77 season.

Troy Trojans men's basketball

He was inducted into the Wiregrass Sports Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Dothan, Alabama on June 7, 2008.

Ty G. Allushuski

Allushuski mainly covered prep sports in Shelby County in suburban Birmingham, Alabama.

US Orbital Segment

The segment is monitored and controlled from various mission control centers around the world including Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, Columbus Control Center in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, Tsukuba Space Center in Tsukuba, Japan, and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

W49AY

W49AY, known on-air as WAY-TV, is a low-powered religious station based and licensed in Birmingham, Alabama, owned and operated by the Glen Iris Baptist Church, who also owns WGIB radio.

Wayne Mixson

Born in New Brockton, Alabama, immediately after graduating from high school he moved to Jackson County, Florida.

Wayne Sowell

Wayne Sowell is married to Dr. Marietta Cameron, an associate professor of computer science at Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama.

Wildwood Centre

Wildwood Centre was opened on September 29, 1991 to the south of Birmingham, but north of Hoover, Alabama on Lakeshore Drive next to I-65.

Zita Szabó

She claimed the bronze medal at the 1991 European Youth Triathlon Championships in Germany, and reached into the international junior level at the 1992 ITU Triathlon World Championships in Huntsville, Alabama.


1975 Sugar Bowl

After Penn State's Chris Bahr missed a 62-yard field goal, Alabama scored on a 25-yard Danny Ridgeway field goal to take a 3–0 lead.

20 Years After

Filmed principally in north Alabama and southern Tennessee, the low-budget film was initially released under the title Like Moles, Like Rats, a reference to the Thornton Wilder play The Skin of Our Teeth.

2003 Auburn Tigers football team

After consecutive losses to Ole Miss, led by Eli Manning, and Georgia, the Tigers concluded a disappointing regular season by defeating arch rival Alabama, 28–23.

40-Hour Week

When it reached the top of the chart on May 4, "There's No Way" became Alabama's 16th consecutive No. 1 single (excepting for the 1982 Christmas single "Christmas in Dixie").

Ashland Airport

Ashland/Lineville Airport in Ashland/Lineville, Alabama, United States (FAA: 26A)

Billy Powell

In 2007, two years before his death, Powell played piano on Kid Rock's summer anthem "All Summer Long" (which samples "Sweet Home Alabama").

Bob Vance

Bob Vance (jurist), American jurist who ran for Alabama Supreme Court against Roy Moore in 2012

Bull Connor

Spike Lee's documentary 4 Little Girls (about the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Alabama in 1963) includes footage of Connor and interviews with people describing police brutality under his watch.

Caddell

John A. Caddell (1910–2006), American lawyer in the state of Alabama

Chicken Truck

The song features Anderson (in first person narration) discussing an experience of getting stuck behind a Georgia truck hauling a load of chickens (Georgia is a major poultry-producing state), on Alabama State Route 65 (a winding, 2-lane highway in Jackson County in the northeast corner of Alabama) heading to Tennessee in mid-July.

Don Fuell

College scouts began seeking his services when he was in the 10th grade at Marshall County High School in rural Alabama.

Fay Bellamy Powell

After her time in the Air Force, Bellamy moved all over the United States, from Florida to New York City to San Francisco, before settling down in Alabama.

Great Temple of the Aten

Project leader Sarah Parcak of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, "Based on the coins and pottery we found, it appears to be a massive regional center that traded with Greece, Turkey and Libya."

Gyrotoma

They were native to the main channel of the Coosa River in Alabama, where the last suitable habitat was destroyed by the filling of the reservoir Logan Martin Lake in the mid-1960s.

Hickory Ground

During the Creek War, the inhabitants who were not fighting in the war were confined at nearby Fort Jackson.

Hootie Ingram

During the 1953 football season, Ingram was moved to the quarterback position on an Alabama team that included Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr.

Illuminated dance floor

They were popularised for disco by the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever which it had gotten inspiration from a floor the director of the movie had seen at "The Club", a private supper club in Birmingham, Alabama.

Lamar Thomas

He was the victim of "The Strip", George Teague's strip of the football at the 10 yard line in the 1993 Sugar Bowl that continued an Alabama rout of Miami.

Loveman's

Loveman's of Alabama, a Birmingham, Alabama-based chain of department stores with locations across Alabama

Mike Shula

Despite a catastrophic leg injury suffered by star wide receiver Tyrone Prothro, Alabama went 10–2 with a victory in the 2006 Cotton Bowl Classic over the Mike Leach-led Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Moundville Archaeological Site

The culture was expressed in villages and chiefdoms throughout the central Mississippi River Valley, the lower Ohio River Valley, and most of the Mid-South area, including Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi as the core of the classic Mississippian culture area.

Needtobreathe

Named after the University of Alabama football coach Bear Bryant, brothers Bear and Nathaniel Bryant "Bo" Rinehart were born and raised in rural Possum Kingdom, South Carolina, where their father, a pastor, ran a church camp.

New Vision Television

On August 1, 2006, New Vision announced an agreement to acquire CBS affiliates WIAT in Birmingham, Alabama and KIMT in Mason City, Iowa from Media General for $35 million.

NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship

The NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title defended in the US states of Tennessee and Alabama.

Premiere Cinemas

Flagship megaplex Premiere Cinema locations are operated in Bryan-College Station, El Paso, Houston, and Temple, Texas, Orlando, Florida, Gadsden, Spanish Fort, and Bessemer, Alabama, and Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

Qualla Boundary

The Cherokee were forcibly removed from much of this area, especially the Black Belt in Georgia and Alabama, under authority of the 1830 Indian Removal Act, and were relocated to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma.

Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor

Baylor was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-first Congress (March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1831) from Alabama's 2nd congressional district and was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1830 to the Twenty-second Congress.

Sampson Willis Harris

Harris was then elected in 1846 to represent Alabama's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives during the 30th United States Congress and was reelected to three additional terms (31st, 32nd and 33rd Congresses) in that seat from March 4, 1847, until March 3, 1855.

Santosh Marray

In September, 2012, Bishop Marray accepted the call to the position of Assistant Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, under the Right Reverend John McKee Sloan.

Simon Haley

Simon Haley held positions at various southern universities including Alabama A&M just north of Huntsville, Alabama.

Sinclair Skinner

Skinner has worked for numerous engineering companies including Ohmeda, Inc., Honeywell, Pillsbury, McDonnell Douglas Corporation and The Architect of the Capitol where he performed testing and development for the space shuttle’s main engine controllers, manufacturing for a flour mill company and designed roadways in Macon County, Alabama where he was an apprentice to Curtis Pierce, the first African American county engineer in Macon County, Alabama.

Spartan Fidelity

The name Spartan Fidelity is derived from rearranging the name of an Alabama insurance company, Fidelity Spartan.

Sprot

Sprott, Alabama, an unincorporated community in Perry County, Alabama

Spruce Pine

Spruce Pine, Alabama, a census-designated place in Franklin County, Alabama, United States

Steve Seskin

Steve Seskin is an American songwriter whose compositions have been recorded by Alabama, Kenny Chesney, Peter Frampton, Waylon Jennings, Brian McComas, Neal McCoy, Tim McGraw, John Michael Montgomery, Colin Raye, Tebey and Mark Wills.

Stippled studfish

The Stippled studfish (Fundulus bifax) is a small freshwater fish which is endemic to the Tallapoosa River system in Georgia and Alabama, USA; and Sofkahatchee Creek (lower Coosa River system) in Alabama.

T. D. Little

He ran for Alabama's 3rd congressional district for United States House of Representatives in 1996 after Glen Browder retired but lost to Bob Riley (R).

The Battle of the Kearsarge and the Alabama

The painting commemorates the Battle of Cherbourg of 1864, a naval engagement between the Union cruiser USS Kearsarge and the rebel privateer CSS Alabama.

The Crimson White

Other famous former CW staffers include longtime New York Yankees broadcaster Mel Allen, Crazy in Alabama author Mark Childress, and New Journalism pioneer Gay Talese.

Tyson House

McBryde-Screws-Tyson House, Montgomery, Alabama, listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in Montgomery County

Warren Thompson

Warren A. Thompson (born 1802), explorer and original citizen of Butler County, Alabama

WCNF

Weekend programming includes talk shows hosted by Dennis Prager, Steve Gill, and Hugh Hewitt, plus Outdoors with Alan Warren and Viewpoint Alabama.

WOOF

WOOF-FM, a radio station (99.7 FM) licensed to Dothan, Alabama, United States

WVOK

WVOK-FM, a radio station (97.9 FM) licensed to Oxford, Alabama, United States

Youngtown

Youngtown, Alabama, populated place in Lawrence County, Alabama, United States