I’m not going to lie; I thought I knew everything there is to know about the Sunflower State and its good, down-home residents. That being said, I was definitely surprised to learn that:

1. In 2010, Kansas State University professor Mark Haub went on a "convenience store" diet to demonstrate that pure calorie counting is what matters most in weight loss.
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He lost 27 pounds after two months of eating mostly Twinkies, Oreos and Doritos.
2. Dennis Rader (the BTK Killer) installed security systems inside the homes of clients who worried about the murderer at large.
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3. The town of Gas, Kansas's motto is "Don't Pass Gas, Stop and Enjoy It."
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4. In 1909, the residents of Ulysses, Kansas literally up and moved their entire town (including the buildings) to evade high taxes.
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5. Believe it or not, the first White Castle restaurant opened in 1921 in Wichita.
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There are currently no White Castle restaurants in Kansas.

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6. In 1879, author L. Frank Baum read a report of a fatal tornado in Irving, Kansas that killed Dorothy Gale, a resident found "buried face down in a mud puddle."
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He wrote his classic "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900.
7. The only head coach in University of Kansas basketball history with a losing career record is James Naismith.
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Naismith, as you may remember, is the inventor of basketball.
8. In 2008, Ness City police were called to a home where a woman's skin had grown around her boyfriend's toilet seat.
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The woman had sat on the toilet for two whole years before her boyfriend called for help.
9. Contrary to popular belief, Florida is the flattest state; not Kansas.
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In fact, Kansas barely made the Top 10 list!
10. In the early 1900s, Dr. John R. Brinkley of Milford performed "goat gland operations" on impotent men, claiming it would fix the "sexually weak."
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Of course, this didn't cure the men and Brinkley was sued dozens of times for preventable infections and wrongful deaths.

Which of these facts surprised you the most? Tell me in the comments!

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