The Nifty Fifty: Maryland

Maryland is a state in the southern region of the United States with the abbreviation of MD. Maryland became the 7th state on April 28, 1788, making the state 236 years old, as of April, 2024. Maryland was named after queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of Charles I of England.

Maryland is the 42nd largest state and the 19th most populous; the capital of Maryland is Annapolis and its demonym is Marylander. Maryland is one of the thirteen original states. Maryland is bordered by the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware and the District of Columbia and the Atlantic Ocean.

The motto of the state of Maryland is Fatti Maschii, Parole Femine; this Italian phrase literally translates to Male Deeds, Female Words, but the actual institutional meaning is Strong Deeds, Gentle Words.

The most common nickname for Maryland is the Old Line State. It is believed that General George Washington bestowed this nickname as an association to Maryland’s regular line troops, the Maryland Line, who served valiantly in many battles during the War of Independence (the Revolutionary War).

The landscape of Maryland has sandy dunes containing seagrass in the east, marshlands with bald cypress near the Chesapeake Bay, rolling hills of oak forests in the Piedmont Region, and mountains and pine groves in the west.

Maryland is known for fishing, blue crabs, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, and for being the birthplace of the Star Spangled Banner. The land of Maryland also contains iron and gold and even pyrite, sphalerite, and galena (the sulfides of iron, zinc, and lead, respectively).

On April 14, 1721, John Hanson was born near Port Tobacco, in the Province of Maryland, which is now the state of Maryland. Hanson was a Founding Father, merchant, and politician. Hanson served various roles for the Patriot cause in Maryland; Hanson was later elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress. In 1781, Hanson signed the Articles of Confederation, and in November of that year, Hanson was even elected as the ninth president of the Continental Congress, but he was the first to be elected under the Articles of Confederation. Peter Contee Hanson, an American soldier who died in late 1776 during the battle of Fort Washington, was one of John Hanson’s sons.

It could be argued that the refrigerator was invented in Maryland, since an 1803 patent for the refrigerator was granted to Thomas Moore of Maryland and signed by President Thomas Jefferson, however, unlike modern refrigerators, this invention used neither electricity nor refrigerants; Moore’s invention was little more than an insulated box containing a piece of ice, which would latter be known as the icebox. While it is true that the icebox was much more simple than the modern appliance we now call the refrigerator, it was Moore who coined the term refrigerator, therefore Moore’s refrigerator is the original. Moore’s refrigerator allowed him to bring chilled butter from his farm to the market, which customers preferred to the softened and melted butter of Moore’s competitors during warmer months. The refrigerator also eliminated the need for farmers to travel during the night to keep their goods cool. One of Moore’s refrigerators was even purchased by President Jefferson in 1804.

On September 17, 1862, the battle of Antietam took place in Washington County, Maryland. Confederate General Robert E. Lee brought troops into northern Maryland in an attempt to draw Union troops away from the US capital, hoping that the capital would be left vulnerable. US Major General George B. McClellan pursued Lee into Maryland where he began launching attacks on Lee’s army that was already in defensive positions. As the day wore on, other Union generals, including Major General Joseph Hooker and Major General Ambrose Burnside, arrived with more troops to join in the fight; Lee also eventually received reinforcements, including Confederate Major General A. P. Hill and his troops. Frequent attacks and counterattacks continued to wreak havoc on both sides throughout the day as scores of men fell by the minute. Roughly 84,000 men were engaged in the battle on that day, and about 2,100 Union men and 1,600 Confederate men were killed; in total, nearly 23,000 men on both sides were killed, wounded, or missing. The battle technically resulted in a Union victory, however, the Battle of Antietam remains the 10th highest fatality battle in American history and the highest fatality day in American military history. A couple months after the battle, President Lincoln, dissatisfied with McClellan’s overcaution and failure to pursue the retreating Lee, relieved McClellan of command.

One interesting fact about Maryland is that, during the Second War of Independence (the War of 1812), British troops burned Washington, DC, including the White House. This forced President James Madison to seek refuge outside the official US Capital. President Madison stayed in Brookeville, Maryland, for one night; during his stay, Madison conducted business and sent dispatches. This caused Brookeville to be named the US Capital for a day, which also technically makes August 26, 1814, the only day during which the US Capital existed outside the District of Columbia since November 17, 1800.

One strange fact about Maryland is that it was the first state to adopt an official state sport; well, that itself isn’t strange, but the sport that Maryland chose was strange: jousting. Maryland adopted jousting as its official state sport way back in 1262! Just kidding, Maryland actually adopted the sport in 1962, more than 700 years after jousting first became popular.

What fact about Maryland most interests you?