Learning the states of the USA just for fun

[ian]

...
This seems to be irrelevant to the US. It is almost as though some invading marauders came in and carved it up with no reference whatsoever to the indigenous people.

Thus has all history been written.

[fimm]

Next you've got to learn all the elements of the periodic table.  Have fun!

I used to be able to write out most of the periodic table from memory (I never quite got the lanthanides and actinides and don't care if I've forgotten how to spell them) because of Reasons. This is no longer a thing I waste neurons on.

[Exit Stage Left]

The two most interesting US quiz questions are 'What's the first foreign country you hit if you go South from Detroit? and 'Which State is closest to Africa?'

[SteveC]

Cuba and Rhode Island?

[Redlight]

Cuba and Rhode Island?

Not New York?

(If I had a globe and a tape measure....)

[T42]

...
This seems to be irrelevant to the US. It is almost as though some invading marauders came in and carved it up with no reference whatsoever to the indigenous people.

Thus has all history been written.

Bierce: “Aborigines, n. Persons of little worth found cumbering the soil of a newly discovered country. They soon cease to cumber; they fertilize.”

Cumberbatch take note.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Canada, RI, oh such fun.

[ian]

Canada is literally south of Detroit, you just drive across the bridge or the through the tunnel into Windsor, ON (via customs and immigration, of course).

Probably Maine, and the entire US is a lower latitude than most people think.

Fascinating bonus fact, Maine is the location of the only remaining US vs. Canada contested border (a small island of no particular consequence).

[Steph]

I will add "name the furthest E/W/N/S states of the USA".

[Wowbagger]

Sporcle quiz for Wow: https://www.sporcle.com/games/gazzso/indianamerica

86% whereas the average, apparently, is 70%.

[SteveC]

and the entire US is a lower latitude than most people think.

There is a plaque on a beach in west Wales, not that far from Basil, which states that it is on the same latitude as the most northerly part of the contiguous 48 US states.
(Shame I can't remember exactly where...)

[ian]

I will add "name the furthest E/W/N/S states of the USA".

Hmmm. Maine, Washington, Michigan, and Texas.

Assuming you meant the 48 contiguous states and not Alaska and Hawaii.

[Wowbagger]

Next you've got to learn all the elements of the periodic table.  Have fun!

Risk of that being useful, thobut.

At this point it is obligatory to channel the Harvard Bard: "This may prove useful to somebody some day perhaps, in a somewhat bizarre set of circumstances."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcS3NOQnsQM

If you watch that, at 1 minute 50 seconds or so someone looking very like a youthful Michael Gove is in shot.

[Steph]

I will add "name the furthest E/W/N/S states of the USA".

Hmmm. Maine, Washington, Michigan, and Texas.

Assuming you meant the 48 contiguous states and not Alaska and Hawaii.

I meant all 50. And for the 48, Minnesota is the northernmost.

[Exit Stage Left]

Canada is literally south of Detroit, you just drive across the bridge or the through the tunnel into Windsor, ON (via customs and immigration, of course).

Probably Maine, and the entire US is a lower latitude than most people think.

Fascinating bonus fact, Maine is the location of the only remaining US vs. Canada contested border (a small island of no particular consequence).

Maine's the answer. But Newfoundland is the closest point to Africa in North America. Its position is why so many planes ended up at Gander due to 9/11. There's a musical about that. http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20190212-come-from-away-why-we-need-the-911-musical

[mark]

Maine's the answer. But Newfoundland is the closest point to Africa in North America. Its position is why so many planes ended up at Gander due to 9/11. There's a musical about that. http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20190212-come-from-away-why-we-need-the-911-musical

Thanks for posting that. I spent a week in Gander after 9/11, and I was damned impressed at how the Newfounlanders responded to a few thousand people getting dropped in their laps the way they did.

[Exit Stage Left]

The 911 musical is touring China next year. An accurate placing of Chinese provinces would be impressive.

[road-runner]

I will add "name the furthest E/W/N/S states of the USA".

On the western edge, the string of islands off Alaska means it stretches a long way west, probably beyond Hawaii. I have no idea which state Guam belongs to but it surely must be a contender for the westernmost point of the USA.

[Exit Stage Left]

I will add "name the furthest E/W/N/S states of the USA".

On the western edge, the string of islands off Alaska means it stretches a long way west, probably beyond Hawaii. I have no idea which state Guam belongs to but it surely must be a contender for the westernmost point of the USA.

Guam isn't attached to a state, but is a 'Commonwealth', a term that's used by four 'States'.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_(U.S._state)

[Cudzoziemiec]

If we're including Guam then the southernmost point of the USA would be Tutuila. But that's probably getting even sillier.

[Steph]

Again, I am only asking about States. There are loads of 'possessions' and other terms, such as Puerto Rico, which are not states. There are some really odd suggestions for Southernmost, and as the southernmost US=protected place is the Scott-Amundsen base at the South Pole...

So here are the answers NEWS based entirely on States, and not on territory.
48:
Lake of the Woods, Minnesota
Sail Rock, Maine
Cape Alava, Washington
Rio Grande south of Brownsville, Texas

50:
Point Barrow, Alaska
Peaked Island, off Attu Island, Alaska (past the 180 degree line of longitude)
Ogliuga Island, Alaska (or various rocks not QUITE past the E/W longitude split)
Ka Lae, Hawaii

[Mr Larrington]

Canada is literally south of Detroit, you just drive across the bridge or the through the tunnel into Windsor, ON (via customs and immigration, of course).

Probably Maine, and the entire US is a lower latitude than most people think.

This.  A couple of years ago I was surprised to find vineyards in the Canuckistani part of the Okanagan, but a few minutes with an Internetz shewed that the 49th parallel appears to run smack through the middle of Karlsruhe, some way south of quite a lot of German viticulture.

[Exit Stage Left]

Half of Canada's population lives South of Milan.

https://www.citymetric.com/horizons/we-think-canada-long-way-north-half-its-population-lives-south-milan-1194

[Karla]

Canada is literally south of Detroit, you just drive across the bridge or the through the tunnel into Windsor, ON (via customs and immigration, of course).

Probably Maine, and the entire US is a lower latitude than most people think.

This.  A couple of years ago I was surprised to find vineyards in the Canuckistani part of the Okanagan, but a few minutes with an Internetz shewed that the 49th parallel appears to run smack through the middle of Karlsruhe, some way south of quite a lot of German viticulture.

Wanna go skiing in Cornwall?  Whistler is on a latitude with Lands End.

[T42]

Canada is literally south of Detroit, you just drive across the bridge or the through the tunnel into Windsor, ON (via customs and immigration, of course).

Probably Maine, and the entire US is a lower latitude than most people think.

This.  A couple of years ago I was surprised to find vineyards in the Canuckistani part of the Okanagan, but a few minutes with an Internetz shewed that the 49th parallel appears to run smack through the middle of Karlsruhe, some way south of quite a lot of German viticulture.

Right enough, we're ~5 km south of Lat 49°N and there are vineyards just up the road dead on it.