North Carolina Facts and Firsts

(From The Blackbirch Kid's Visual Reference of the United States, available online in Kids Infobits)

• Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina, was the site of the first English colony in the United States. It was established in 1585. The colony was unsuccessful, and a second colony established in 1587 vanished without a trace.
• In 1898, pharmacist Caleb Bradham of New Bern invented the soft drink Pepsi, which was trademarked in 1903.
• Near Kitty Hawk on December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful airplane flight.
• In 1916, Pinehurst became the site of the first miniature golf course.
• The Venus flytrap plant grows in select boggy areas in North Carolina.

North Carolina grows more tobacco and sweet potatoes and raises more turkeys than any other state. It also leads the country in furniture, brick, and textile manufacturing.