It seems a lot of people forget North Dakota is even a state, but what they don’t realize is that there is a lot of things would be different if the Flickertail State wasn’t around. Ever since the Native Americans have been here, since Lewis and Clark explored the lands, since it entered statehood – North Dakota has been here shaping the course of history along with everywhere else. The world just wouldn’t be the same without it, and here are a few reasons why.
- We’re flourishing with agriculture and provide food for millions of people.
Nikos Koutoulas/Flickr North Dakota has always been very agriculturally driven and it shows. We are the number one producers of many crops, including sunflowers, honey, and provide most of the nation with the wheat that goes into their pasta, bread, and other things. We produce tons of milk and meat, too. Without us the country would be without a huge source of all of those and more.
- Theodore Roosevelt would have never become president if it weren’t for North Dakota.
Wikimedia “If it had not been for what I learned during the years I spent in North Dakota, I never in the world would have been president of the United States,” are his own words. He believed that, had it not been for our state, he would not have become president. He would not have had great influence within the US and the rest of the world. He would not have accomplished huge things such as helping to end the Russo-Japanese War and all the other achievements that earned him a permanent place in world history.
- The International Peace Garden.
Mark Goebel/Flickr Right on the border of Canada and North Dakota lies the International Peace Garden. The garden represents the peaceful relationship between the United States and Canada. It is also very beautiful - over 15,000 flowers are planted there each year!
- We provide the world hundreds of millions of pounds of french fries per year.
Kris Krug/Flickr Move over Idaho - North Dakota has quite the potato yield to boast about, too. In a Grand Forks plant alone, over 400 million pounds of french fries are produced each year, with their main customer being McDonald’s. Not-so-coincidentally, the worlds largest french fry feed is also located in Grand Forks. Last year they surpassed the world record for french fries served at once with 5,220 pounds of french fries in one day! I doubt many people would be happy for very long if there was a french fry shortage in one of the most popular fast food chains in the world. So you’re welcome, everyone else - North Dakota’s got you covered.
- A lot of the special effects and cinematography in some of the most memorable movies of all time were thanks to a North Dakotan.
BagoGames/Flickr Richard Edlund was born in Fargo and went on to win multiple academy awards for his cinematography and special effects work in movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark, the original Star Wars trilogy, Ghostbusters, Die Hard, Air Force One, and other timeless films we all remember. Even if the effects in those could be considered a little dated compared to today’s, they still hold up all these years later with their amazing visuals. They just wouldn’t be the same without them, and it’s thanks to a North Dakotan!
- Oil, more oil, and the nation’s only synthetic natural gas producer.
Tim Whitlow/Flickr This is a way North Dakota made plenty of headlines and became known starting a few years ago - the oil boom. Second in the nation for oil production, and also containing the nation’s only synthetic natural gas facility, North Dakota has shown why we are pretty important to everyone else. Not only does our state provide our country and others with oil; it also created a ton of jobs during a time when unemployment was a big issue. I’d say we really made an impact.
North Dakota is nothing to be forgotten, that’s for sure. What else wouldn’t be the same without the influence of North Dakota?
Nikos Koutoulas/Flickr
North Dakota has always been very agriculturally driven and it shows. We are the number one producers of many crops, including sunflowers, honey, and provide most of the nation with the wheat that goes into their pasta, bread, and other things. We produce tons of milk and meat, too. Without us the country would be without a huge source of all of those and more.
Wikimedia
“If it had not been for what I learned during the years I spent in North Dakota, I never in the world would have been president of the United States,” are his own words. He believed that, had it not been for our state, he would not have become president. He would not have had great influence within the US and the rest of the world. He would not have accomplished huge things such as helping to end the Russo-Japanese War and all the other achievements that earned him a permanent place in world history.
Mark Goebel/Flickr
Right on the border of Canada and North Dakota lies the International Peace Garden. The garden represents the peaceful relationship between the United States and Canada. It is also very beautiful - over 15,000 flowers are planted there each year!
Kris Krug/Flickr
Move over Idaho - North Dakota has quite the potato yield to boast about, too. In a Grand Forks plant alone, over 400 million pounds of french fries are produced each year, with their main customer being McDonald’s. Not-so-coincidentally, the worlds largest french fry feed is also located in Grand Forks. Last year they surpassed the world record for french fries served at once with 5,220 pounds of french fries in one day! I doubt many people would be happy for very long if there was a french fry shortage in one of the most popular fast food chains in the world. So you’re welcome, everyone else - North Dakota’s got you covered.
BagoGames/Flickr
Richard Edlund was born in Fargo and went on to win multiple academy awards for his cinematography and special effects work in movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark, the original Star Wars trilogy, Ghostbusters, Die Hard, Air Force One, and other timeless films we all remember. Even if the effects in those could be considered a little dated compared to today’s, they still hold up all these years later with their amazing visuals. They just wouldn’t be the same without them, and it’s thanks to a North Dakotan!
Tim Whitlow/Flickr
This is a way North Dakota made plenty of headlines and became known starting a few years ago - the oil boom. Second in the nation for oil production, and also containing the nation’s only synthetic natural gas facility, North Dakota has shown why we are pretty important to everyone else. Not only does our state provide our country and others with oil; it also created a ton of jobs during a time when unemployment was a big issue. I’d say we really made an impact.
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