Introduction 

 

Although Nebraska's history resembles that of other states in the Great Plains and Midwest, it is unique. Nebraska is Nebraska due to the interaction of her people and their cultures with the environment over time. While we share many traits and characteristics with our neighbors in the Great Plains and Midwest, Nebraskans, too, are unique. Some of this uniqueness is revealed by institutions and innovations we proudly claim as our own, such as a unicameral legislature, the Vise-Grip wrench, or a hand-planted forest in the Sand Hills.

On the other hand, Nebraskans have also expressed themselves in ways that are peculiar or downright weird. Here is a sampling of Nebraska's strange stories, along with some of her amazing facts.

Ghosts Abound in Nebraska Towns! A Theater Where Every Movie Is Scary Faceless Fred, the Phantom of Phelps County Ghosts Photographed, Proof that They Exist? Circles in Corn Leave Farmers Forlorn Ghostly Airships of the 1890s: "Look! Up in the Air . . . !" Monster Makes Big Splash in Small Lake Rock Star Tours the Country "If There's Somethin' Strange in Your Neighborhood, Who Ya' Gonna Call?" Nebraska Rivers of Cosmic Energy A Martian Paradise in Nebraska? Every Body Is Welcome! But He Looks So Natural "Shocking" Medical Breakthroughs! Don't Worry, It's All in Your Head Would You Vote for These Candidates? I'll Buy Boardwalk and Park Place Nebraska's Perfectly Peculiar People The Behemoth Baby of Beaver City Silly Structures or Artful Architecture? Huge Ball Falls to Earth in Crete, Nebraska! What Is It?? Why Editors Have Nightmares There Must Be Something in the Soil Sonja Henie's Cold, Cold Heart Strange But True? Nebraska Ship Sails on a Sea of Grass Hogzilla Was from Nebraska? Andy, the Footless Goose And We Thought They Were on Our Side English Landmark Mysteriously Appears in Western Nebraska Lincoln Invaded by Boys!  Idle Hands Are the Devil's Workshop Nebraska Knives Take the Cake Stronger than Steel!  Nebraska Meets the Jetsons Decline in Armadillo Population Linked to Fashionable Basket Increase Grasshoppers Stop Train (and we thought they usually traveled by air)

Still-Tasty Bagel Makes Perilous Journey, Arrives in One Piece, and Lives Happily Ever After  "Cesspool of Politics" Found in Capitol Basement Cockroaches and Cows Now Safe from Fallout Breaking News: Columbus Now the Nebraska Capital It Ain't Heavy Father, It's My Ball of Stamps Don't Wash that Dress, Recycle It! Have You Seen Lubber?  Lincoln Car Drives Itself, Road Rage a Thing of the Past Oh Give Me a Home, Where the White Horses Roam Shaking Loose the Rain  Postmaster Pulls Letter Out of Hat Football Is a Crime Football Players to Eat Corn, Not Bugs   DID YOU KNOW . . . . "Wild Bill" Hickok's gunfighter career began in Nebraska? Modern Rodeo is said to have originated in Nebraska? A Lincoln band became a one-hit wonder with a chart-topping record in 1969? Lincoln was once a leader in the U.S. aviation industry? The B-29s that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan were built in Nebraska? The first homestead claim in the United States was in Nebraska?  A Nebraska-designed mousetrap is still being made today? Nebraska has more admirals than the U.S. Navy? The McRib®? Sandwich has a Nebraska connection? Earth Day, April 22, is held on a famous Nebraskan's birthday?  The largest national forest planted entirely by hand is in the treeless Sand Hills? A famous sandwich may have been invented in Omaha? A Nebraska company changed Americans' eating habits? One of the most famous beverages in America was invented in Hastings? One Nebraska town was "too tough to stay put?" A Nebraska-made building became famous for surviving an atomic bomb?  A biscuit named for Nebraska was stockpiled in case of nuclear attack?