The current roster of state capitals of the United States has not changed since 1910, when Oklahoma replaced Guthrie as the capital of the State of Oklahoma. Four states were granted statehood after 1910 (Arizona and New Mexico in 1912 and Alaska and Hawaii in 1959), but the capital of each of these four states had been the capital of the preceding territory since before 1910. It is unlikely that any of the current US capital cities will change in the near future, due to the considerable cost of moving government operations. Also, in 32 of the 50 U.S. states, the state capital is currently not the state's most populous city.

Among one and two-digit numbers: Even numbers are assigned to highways that run roughly east-west /  Odd numbers are assigned to highways that run roughly north-south / Numbers that end in 0 or 5 are intended to be the major interstates that reach a large part of the way across the country / The numbers of east-west highways are smallest in the south, and roughly increase as you move north / The numbers of north-south highways are smallest in the west, and roughly increase as you move east.

As a result, I-10 is the southernmost major interstate highway, stretching from southern California to Florida. I-90 goes from near Seattle, Washington to Boston, Massachusetts, after making a bit of a detour around the Great Lakes. I-5 and I-95 run along the west and east coasts, respectively, connecting the ends of interstates 10 and 90, though 95 continues on up into Maine.

Roadside attractions are a uniquely American phenomenon. They run the gamut from genuine folk art installations to the lurid and tacky The Thing?, Mystery of the Desert, located off Interstate 10 in Arizona. There are the ubiquitous Muffler Men, originally designed as a 20-foot tall advertisement for Midas Mufflers, now seen in a variety of costumes ranging from Paul Bunyan, a spacemen, a Viking, wearing a serape and there's even a couple who have undergone extensive plastic surgery, turning the otherwise manly muffler man into a ringer for Alfred E. "What, me worry?" Newman of Mad Magazine fame.

Bug Tussle, Ala., Igo, Calif., and Peculiar, Mo. We have given our towns and states some unusual names.

This has been happening for hundreds of years. For example, when explorer Ponce de Leon came searching for the fountain of youth in 1513, he landed in what is now Florida. When he and his men first spotted land on April 2, they searched for an appropriate name. The ship’s chaplain reminded de Leon that it was the Pascua Florida – or the Feast of Flowers. The name “Florida” stuck, and it is the oldest place name of European origin still in use in our country today.

When Columbus came to America, he thought he had reached the portion of Asia known as the Indies. Until his death in 1506, he insisted that was where he had been. John Cabot, another early explorer, sailed into what is now the Canadian province of Newfoundland in 1497, and he reported to his sponsors that he had reached China.

In 1501, explorer Amerigo Vespucci called America a “new world,” and Martin Waldseemuller, one of his admirers, published a map in 1507 calling the continent “America” (the feminine form of “Amerigo”). The name was by no means settled, though. Why not check out more of our wacky town names ?

The United States is a federal union of 50 states, with the District of Columbia as the seat of the federal government. The Constitution outlines the structure of the national government and specifies its powers and activities, and defines the relationship between the national government and individual state governments. Power is shared between the national and state (local) governments. Within each state are counties, townships, cities and villages, each of which has its own elective government. This makes up the US Government.