There are many stereotypes about America and its citizens, but how many of them are rooted in fiction, and how many of them hold a grain of truth? We can’t say for certain, but we can share these four interesting facts about Americans and their country that you may not have known!
More Than 100 Acres of Pizza Are Consumed in America Every Day
Americans are certainly not the only people that love pizza, but they are one of the societies that love it the most. Still, even most Americans would be flabbergasted to learn that, as a people, they eat more than 100 acres of pizza every single day. That’s approximately 3 billion pizzas a year.
Of course, that’s just the absolute minimum. How much pizza exactly is eaten every day in America is something no one will ever know, but we’re sure that the number of pizzas eaten each year is a bit beyond 3 billion these days. But hey, can anyone blame them? Pizza is one of the most versatile and delicious foods ever!
Americans Do Not Have an Official Language
While America has long been considered a great melting pot in which many cultures comes together, anyone could be forgiven for assuming that the official language of the country is English. but what many people, even most Americans, don’t know, is that it isn’t true at all. There is actually no official language in America.
Make no mistake, English is still the majority spoken language across the country, but on a technicality, the federal government of America has never declared an official language, English or otherwise. Until they do, there is no actual official language in the nation, at least not on paper. Still, most Americans would claim that English is the official language of the land.
Most Americans Believe Christopher Columbus Discovered Their Land
More people know that Columbus Day is kind of silly than they did a few decades ago, but even so, many Americans still believe that Christopher Columbus was the first European explorer to discover North America. Even if we ignore Leif Erikson, the first European truly believed to have set foot in North America, it’s still not true.
The truth is, Christopher Columbus never even set foot on mainland North America. Not once. During all of his travels, Christopher Columbus visited many parts of the New World, but they were all in Central or Latin America and the Mediterranean. Truly, no one has ever been more undeserving of their own holiday!
Corn is the Most Grown Produce in the United States
Americans may love pizza, but they love their corn too. In fact, corn is the most grown produce in the country, with a whopping 91.7 acres of the stuff grown in 2019. That’s enough to fill 69 million football fields. But why does America grow so much corn? In truth, it’s not primarily for consumption. Corn has many other uses.
Thanks to the powers of science, corn can be turned into all sorts of useful things, including plastic, ethanol, and high-fructose corn syrup. It gets used in engine fuel, feed for farm animals, shampoo, aspirin, wallpaper, and much, much more. Being an industrialized country with a large population and many needs, the versatility of corn makes it invaluable in America.
Of course, corn is still grown just for people to eat as well. After all, who doesn’t love juicy corn on the cob? Even so, there’s no denying that the massive production of corn in America is only partially due to its value as actual food.
