Chicago the 51st state?

Two rural Illinois legislators want to expel Chicago from Illinois. Their idea is to force Chicago to become the 51st state, so the rest of ...

The town in two states

The fine folks of Price Place, Arkansas seem to live in two states simultaneously. They pay taxes to Arkansas, but their kids go to Missouri...

All 50 states mentioned in movies

I'm not sure how anyone could have enough free time to create this, but I'm glad they did. If you are studying state capitals in sch...

Hiatus

Real life is ramping up—so I'm going to have less time for this blog in the coming months. It's a bit of a bummer, because creating ...

Weekly World News - flag "fail"

I put "fail" in quotes, because, of course, everything in Weekly World News  is a silly joke. After all, this is the paper that on...

Young state riddle

Just four US states are less than 100 years old. Can you name them? Two are so easy, I included them on the map above: Alaska and Hawaii. Bu...

County named after killer

So an outsider comes to town and shoots one of the locals dead in cold blood. The shooter is then hailed as a hero, and the townfolk decide ...

Sitcom quiz - Packerland version

You expect TV sitcoms to be set in Los Angeles or New York. But Wisconsin? Sure enough, at least five major sitcoms have been set in the Dai...

Why is this street sign illegal?

Can you guess why the top sign is illegal and the bottom one is not? It's because he Federal government just doesn't like all caps—a...

Our government's geography test: full of bias and errors

The National Association of Educational Progress is a government organization that tells us how our kids are doing in many subjects, includi...

One letter wrong

Yesterday I was driving through Tichigan. Yes, you read that right. There is a small town on Wisconsin named Tichigan. Passing through, I ...

Forgotten secession: when the original 13 tried to split.

In 1812-13 there was a movement in the original thirteen states to secede from the rest of the nation—an idea first championed by a guy na...

Italian guy creates his own nation

Italy has always been a land of micronations, city-states, and enclaves. Even today, San Marino and Vatican City are tiny independent nati...

Worst geography blunder in a movie?

What movie has the worst geography error? Steven Seagal's Submerged is is classic—portraying Uruguay as mountainous (it's actually...

The Rodney Dangerfield nation

"I don't get no respect" ...that was the catchphrase of comedian Rodney Dangerfield. And it might as well be the slogan of t...

Obama's secession secret?

There's been a lot of criticism of Rick Perry's talk of Texas secession, but at least he's not giving his vacation dollars to ...

Criminal Corner - Another spot for the perfect crime?

Yesterday we laid out the case made by legal scholar Brian Kalt that major crimes committed in the Idaho portion of Yellowstone National ...

Loophole land—where crimes can't be prosecuted. Really.

According to a law professor from Michigan, there is small section if Idaho where major crimes can not be prosecuted—thanks to a giant blu...

When Hawaii was Russian

Hawaii became a U.S. state 52 years ago yesterday. One long-forgotten chapter in Hawaii's history is when the Russians tried to take c...

The place that's name shall not be spoken

I'm not going to write the name of this place, because I fear Google will put up some weird ads. Hey, this is a family-friendly site! ...

The Northwestern Confederacy

Secession-talkers like Rick Perry get a lot of heat these days, but the truth is, America has always had leaders who advocated leaving the...

Is Kansas flatter than a pancake?

Scientists at Arizona State and Texas State have focused considerable research energy on one of the great questions of our time: Is Kans...

Snooki vs Montana

No one is likely to be surprised that Snooki from Jersey Shore is a bit of a dim bulb. But her geographic illiteracy was on full display...

Rick Perry and Texas secession revisited

Can Texas secede from the Union, as presidential candidate Rick Perry once suggested? Probably not. Can Texas split into multiple states ...

Kanawha - the rough draft of West Virginia

Before West Virginia was, well, "West Virginia," it was "Kanawha." That was the original name for a proposed state tha...

Garden of Eden - located!

Has the Garden of Eden been located? New scientific research, coupled with coordinates laid out in the Bible itself, mean it may indeed be ...

National Geographic's map fail

The National Geographic Society should know better. I've always been a little frustrated that their yellow-bordered National Geographi...

Swim from Cuba to US ends

This morning, Diana Nyad had to end her quest to swim the 103 miles from Cuba to the United States. She made it half way, which is nothin...

Tennis pro fails geography

When tennis pro Bojana Jovanovski landed in Carlsbad, New Mexico for the Mercury Insurance Open last week, everything seemed fine—until sh...

Columbus stamp goof - revealed

Yesterday we posed the question: What's the geography goof on the 1993 Columbus stamp? I must say I had the same question as reader Phi...

US stamp's Columbus error

This 1992 US stamp has a significant geography goof. It's supposed to show Columbus pitching Isabella on the idea of a westward journey ...

Naming rights for Tennessee

Should the state of Tennessee sell naming rights as a way to make money? The idea was floated the other day by Knoxville humorist Scott McN...

Ironic Grant County

Grant County, Oregon voted to declare itself a "United Nations-Free Zone" over concerns that the UN has plans to send in the black...

The unfriendly place?

Above is an unretouched detail from a very popular map... can you guess what place this is? Note the politically incorrect "Unfriendly ...

The map that made Colorado angry

Above is an excerpt from the government’s 1947 plan to build the US Interstates. The map closely approximates the highways as they were actu...

Wayward Mountain Lion - route revealed

Have you heard about this wayward mountain lion that supposedly wandered from the Black Hills to Connecticut? I have a hard time buying thi...

ERA map: Half-Pint vs Scarlett

Do you think women should have the same rights as men? In at least 15 U.S states, the legislature is not so sure. The Equal Rights Amendment...

West North Carolina... or Griffith

Are you ready for the new state of West North Carolina? Yesterday Ashville Citizen-Times columnist John Boyle officially launched the movem...

51st state of "West Arizona" or ??

The attempt to split California to create the 51st state has big hurdle—the movement needs to come up with a better name. "South Califo...

MIT study weighs in on the California split

MIT did a study which tries to identify natural geographic connections by looking at who we text and call. Quoting the MIT release, "in...

Map errors on postage stamps? Yep!

You'd be surprised how many stamps have major map errors. One classic goof is the above US stamp commemorating the 1803 Louisiana Purcha...

The Alaska puzzle puzzle

You know those wood map puzzles we all had as kids (well, mine was cardboard because we were poor)... anyway, they're a nightmare to man...

Biggest map goof ever?

Maps have errors all the time, but usually those errors aren't cast in stone (or a copper-zinc-nickel alloy). But that's exactly wha...

Historian: North Dakota not really a state

In November of 2012, the people of North Dakota will vote to become a US state. This is no joke. It turns out the 122-year-old state constit...

America's most "Desperate" state

What state do those "Desperate Housewives" live in? Sharp Lost States reader " A B " pointed out evidence that Wister...

We get a nice mention in Huffington Post

The Huffington Post just ran a piece on the California secession plan... with several quotes from yours truly. A big thanks to Huffington Po...

"Shutdown" means a map without Minnesota?

So if Minnesota's government really has "shut down" then wouldn't the map look like the above? I just don't understand...

"Supremely Ridiculous"? No so fast Jerry Brown

California Governor Jerry Brown's spokesman called the new plan to split California in two "a supremely ridiculous waste of everybo...

Family trip? Be thankful for good roads

Planning a family trip in the USA this summer? Most likely, you'll be driving on some of the world's best roads... made possible by ...

Impossible to get an accurate world map?

Today is the first business day of a world with 196 nations (South Sudan was added on Saturday). So where can you get an updated world map? ...

Why Sarah Palin should be in Sudan

Last week, Sarah Palin reversed her plan to go to Africa for July 9th creation of the world's newest nation: South Sudan. That's to...

Geographic illiteracy (& Transformers) explained

Why don't Americans know their geography or history? A big part of the problem is institutions like Crossroads School , the super-exclus...

California split approved by state legislature

It's true. The California state legislature approved splitting the state in two... back in 1859. The US Constitution Article IV Section ...

California split - a bad good idea

There's been talk in the last few days of splitting California to create the 51st state, but advocates have the names all wrong. (OK, th...

Michael Bay drops Israel from the map

The second Transformers movie concludes with a big battle near the border between Egypt and Jordan. The problem: there is no such border. Th...