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Butler County's great daily newspaper

State Trivia

The ruffed grouse is the Pennsylvania state game bird.

Population: 13.002 million

Capital: Harrisburg

Statehood: Dec. 12, 1787

Total area: 46,041.7 square miles

Land area: 44,729.9 square miles

Water area: 1,311.8 square miles

Location: 40.276N, 076.884W

Governor: Josh Shapiro

State animal: White-tailed deer

State beverage: Milk

State dog: Great Dane

State fish: Brook trout

State flagship: U.S. Brig Niagara

State flower: Mountain laurel

State tree: Eastern hemlock

State game bird: Ruffed grouse

State amphibian: Eastern hellbender

State motto: Virtue, liberty and independence

Origin of state name: State founder William Penn named the state in honor of his father, Admiral William Penn.

Nickname: Keystone State. Keystones are wedge-shaped stones in the center of arches that hold all the other stones in place. Pennsylvania served as a keystone in the economic, social and political development of the United States.

Famous for: Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Liberty Bell, Independence Hall

Famous Pennsylvanians: Louisa May Alcott, Mary Roberts Rinehart, John Updike (novelists); Samuel Barber, Stephen Foster (composers); Daniel Boone (frontiersman); James Buchanan (president); Gene Kelly, James Stewart (actors); Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey (bandleaders); W.C. Fields (comedian); Robert Fulton (inventor); Grace Kelly (actress, princess of Monaco); Reggie Jackson (baseball player); George McClellan (general); Andrew Mellon (financier); Arnold Palmer (golfer); Robert Peary (explorer); Betsy Ross (flag maker); Andrew Wyeth (painter); and Taylor Swift (singer/songwriter).

Mountain laurel is the Pennsylvania state flower.

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