South Dakota

South Dakota is a Midwestern state in the United States. It is named after the Lakota (Sioux) American Indian tribe.

Trivia

A bill for statehood for North and South Dakota (and Montana, and Washington)

Related Topics:
Bill - Statehood - Montana - Washington

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was passed on February 22 1889 during the Administration of Grover Cleveland.

Related Topics:
February 22 - 1889 - Grover Cleveland

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It was left to his successor Benjamin Harrison to

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sign proclamations formally admitting North and South

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Dakota to the Union on November 2 1889. However, the rivalry

Related Topics:
November 2 - 1889

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between the northern and southern territories

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presented a dilemma: only one, upon the President's

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signature on the proclamation, could gain the distinction

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of being admitted before the other. So Harrison directed

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his Secretary of State James Blaine to shuffle

Related Topics:
Secretary of State - James Blaine

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the papers and obscure from him which he was signing

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first, and the priority went unrecorded.

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Harney Peak, in the Black Hills, is the highest point between the Rocky Mountains and the French Alps. More than 70,000 people hike to its 7,242 foot summit each year. The ashes of Dr. Valentine McGillycuddy, the first white man to climb Harney Peak, are sealed in a crypt at the top of the mountain.

Related Topics:
Harney Peak - Black Hills - Rocky Mountains - Alps - Dr. Valentine McGillycuddy

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The deepest mine in the United States, the Homestake gold mine (now defunct), is in the Black Hills of South Dakota, near the town of Lead. Its shaft plunges more than 8,000 feet beneath the surface. From 1969 until 1993, it was home to the Homestake Chlorine Solar Neutrino Experiment, famous for detecting the solar neutrino problem. Currently there is pending legislation that would give the mine to the National Science Foundation for use as an underground research laboratory.

Related Topics:
Homestake - Gold mine - Lead - Neutrino - Solar neutrino problem - National Science Foundation

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South Dakota is home to the largest indoor, naturally heated, swimming pool in the world. Evans Plunge, heated from natural mineral springs, is in Hot Springs.

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The Black Hills of South Dakota was one of the sites considered for the permanent home of the United Nations.

Related Topics:
Black Hills - United Nations

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The largest and most complete fossil of Tyrannosaurus rex ever found was uncovered near the city of Faith, in 1990. Named "Sue," the remains are over 90 percent complete.

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Citibank rechartered itself as a South Dakota bank in 1981 to take advantage of a new law that set South Dakota's maximum permissible interest rate on loans to 25 percent, then the highest in the nation (New York had refused to raise its interest rate even after prolonged lobbying). However, South Dakota's dreams of becoming a major financial center were dashed when Delaware matched its move the next year, and banks in search of the right to charge high interest rates flocked to Delaware instead.

Related Topics:
Citibank - Bank - 1981 - New York - Delaware

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The 1990 movie Dances With Wolves, starring Kevin Costner as Lt. John Dunbar, was shot entirely in South Dakota.

Related Topics:
Dances With Wolves - Kevin Costner

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