Kansas City — and the people who call this city home — have found many ways over the years to make our city great. However, there is plenty about our city that you might not know. Do you know all of these awesome facts about Kansas City? Test your knowledge with these 13 trivia facts.
1. Kansas City was the home base for the Jesse James gang.
Their first daytime bank robbery happened in Liberty, Missouri.
2. Kansas City is the birthplace of Harry S. Truman.
He was the 33rd president of the United States, serving during the end of World War II.
3. The Greater Kansas City Area is made up of 11 counties.
It's also home to more than a million people. Isn't that crazy?
4. We have more than 200 registered fountains.
They're all over town, and it's strange to see an attraction or hotel lobby without one. We just love our waterworks!
5. We're called "Paris of the Plains" because we have more "boulevards" than anywhere else — except Paris itself.
Allegedly, of course. Who wants to go around counting?
6. Actually, our nickname came about due to the city's stance during the Prohibition era.
It happened when Edward Morrow penned the line, "If you want to see some sin, forget Paris and head to Kansas City."
7. Charlie Parker played his first gig at the Country Club Plaza.
It was at Martin's, a club that used to be where Fogo de Chao is now. He was a legend born from Kansas City's jazz scene.
8. We were almost named Rabbitville and Possum Trot.
Maybe having "Kansas" in our name isn't so bad after all! Much better than Possum Trot, that's for sure.
9. A Nebraskan named J.C. Hall moved to Kansas City in 1910 and started Hallmark Cards.
What would we do for the holidays without him?
10. Arrowhead Stadium has the first scoreboard to ever transmit instant replay.
Now, we can see a quarterback sacked again and again on the big screen.
11. The Happy Meal was invented here.
The inventor's son was staring at his cereal box as he ate breakfast, and the idea of a similar box for McDonalds' kid meals was born.
12. Arthur Bryant actually created KC-style Barbecue when he added molasses to another man's sauce to sweeten it.
He was later made popular in a Playboy article, as pwning "possibly the single best restaurant in the world."
13. Kansas City has more barbecue restaurants per capita than anywhere else.
This one probably isn't hard to believe, though.
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