History

Ohio is home to many natural and man-made wonders, and one of those is located in Adams County in the south-central region. The Serpent Mound is the world’s largest surviving example of a prehistoric effigy mound. An effigy mound is a raised pile of earth built in the shape of an animal and containing one or more human burials.

While American football can trace its roots back to the mid-1800s, the tradition of the tight, circular huddle began in 1892 to serve a very niche purpose.

We don’t pay much attention to traffic lights, but they were a big deal in the early 1900s. In fact, Ohio was one of the first states to use traffic lights. A semaphore signal was first tried in Toledo in 1908. The words “stop” and “go” were illuminated with red and green lenses and lit by lamps at night.

The United States flag has undergone 27 different designs since 1777, and its latest design was created by a then-teenager from Lancaster, Ohio. A 50-star flag was ordered by President Dwight Eisenhower when Hawaii and Alaska joined the union.

An estimated 650 million people watched on television as Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk the moon, on July 20, 1969. A 10-day celebration is planned at Armstrong Air & Space Museum during the 50th anniversary of the famous Apollo 11 mission.

June 6 marks the 75^th anniversary of the historic D-Day operation, where 150,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches in Normandy, France, to liberate northwest Europe from German occupation.

During the 18^th and 19^th centuries, thousands of slaves crossed the Ohio River to Cincinnati, making their way to freedom. That period in time is brought to life at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, open to the public every day.

We know that the state of Ohio is the birthplace of several U.S. presidents, but now you can see where they lived, worked and played through a unique online guide. The new Ohio Presidential Trail launched this month through an effort by TourismOhio and the Ohio History Connection.

What do Paul Newman, Gloria Steinem, Simone Biles, Neil Armstrong and Halle Berry have in common? If you haven’t heard by now, they were all born in our terrific state.

President’s Day on Feb. 18 has special meaning for Ohioans. That’s because many former presidents have deep roots in the Buckeye State.