The Platte River is known as “Nebraska” in Native Otoe, which means “flat water”.¹⁾

Arbor Day was first observed in Nebraska in 1872. Citizens planted trees to help beautify the state.²⁾

Nebraska native While working for the Nebraska Book Company in the 1950s, Clifton Hillegass developed his Cliffs Notes® series.³⁾

Nebraska is the only state in the United States with a unicameral legislature, which means that legislation may only be ratified by one body of elected officials.⁴⁾

Despite the fact that Nebraska's official state nickname is “The Cornhusker State,” state license plates produced from 1956 and 1965 referred to the state as “The Beef State” due to the state's many cattle farms.⁵⁾

When the US Mint included Chimney Rock on their state quarter, it sparked some debate among Nebraskans. Opponents said that the Oregon Trail marker depicted people moving through Nebraska rather than living there.⁶⁾

Over 100 bison on a feedlot in southern Nebraska escaped after stampeding in 2020. The herd managed to expand across 140 square kilometers of the state before being apprehended.⁷⁾

Runzas are yeast dough bread pockets filled with a hash of cabbage and ground meat that originated in Nebraska.⁸⁾

Nebraska's state capital building was the first in America not to be modeled after the US capital in Washington, DC.⁹⁾

Lancaster, Nebraska's capital city, was renamed “Lincoln” in 1869, after Abraham Lincoln, who was slain four years previously.¹⁰⁾

The state motto of Nebraska is “Equality Before the Law”.¹¹⁾

L. Ron Hubbard was born in Nebraska and grew up to become the founder of Scientology.¹²⁾

“Carhenge,” a famous tourist attraction in Alliance, Nebraska, was designed to imitate England's Stonehenge, although it is composed of automobiles rather than monolithic stones.¹³⁾

In recognition of the fact that it was created in Nebraska in 1927, Kool-Aid® is the state drink of Nebraska.¹⁴⁾

The Ogallala Aquifer, a massive underground reservoir utilized by farmers in eight Midwestern states, is fast depleting—except for the portion of the reservoir beneath Nebraska, where it has either changed little or even risen in certain areas.¹⁵⁾

Archie, the world's tallest fossil Columbian mammoth skeleton, is on exhibit at the University of Nebraska State Museum.¹⁶⁾