If you’re a Kansas native (or have ever lived in Kansas), you know firsthand how lovely the Sunflower State really is and how much pride we have for our beautiful home! What makes us so proud? Well, from feeding the world to “shocking” a nation during the 2013 NCAA tournament, we just can’t help it!  Here are 15 reasons why Kansans are most proud of their state:

1.) George Washington Carver, the famous botanical scientist who discovered more than 300 products made from the peanut, graduated from high school in Minneapolis in 1885.
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2.) Helium was discovered in 1905 at the University of Kansas.
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3.) ...and Kansas is one of the two sources of helium in the U.S.
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Balloons = Birthday magic. You're welcome, world!
4.) The Geographic Center of the United States (contiguous 48) is located about two miles northwest of Lebanon, Kansas.
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5.) The first black woman to win an Academy Award was Wichita native Hattie McDaniel (who won for her role in "Gone with the Wind").
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6.) Starting in 1918, Wichita had one of the first completely motorized fire departments in the United States.
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7.) The first woman mayor in the United States was Susan Madora Salter, who was elected to office in Argonia in 1887.
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8.) University of Kansas alumni have gone on to co-develop life saving vaccines, chair billion dollar companies, and go to space (3 NASA graduates)!
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9.) ...While K-State has turned out notable politicians, award-winning actors, activists and athletes...
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10.) ...and Wichita State "shocked" the nation with their mad basketball skills.
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Who run the world? Kansas grads.
11.) In 1919, the first airplane factory in Kansas was built in Wichita, which became one of the nation's top plane manufacturing cities.
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Today, Wichita continues to reign as the "Air Capital of the World."
12.) Kansas produces enough wheat each year to bake 36 billion loaves of bread (enough to feed over six billion people for about 2 weeks).
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13.) Sumner County is known as The Wheat Capital of the World.
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14.) All the wheat grown in Kansas in a single year would fit in a train stretching from western Kansas to the Atlantic Ocean.
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Who feed the world? Kansas farmers.
15.) At 44 feet high, Wichita’s landmark Keeper of the Plains is the 12th largest statue in the United States. (the Statue of Liberty is the largest, at 151 feet).
Flickr/Lane Pearman

What makes you Kansas proud?

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