While we all know that Iowa is a huge farming state, we love a good Maid-Rite and we’re home to the Field of Dreams, there’s a lot more to learn about this great state we live in. Here are 11 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About The State Of Iowa.

1. Because Iowa was part of the Louisiana Purchase, a land deal between the U.S. and France, the Iowa flag’s blue, white and red vertical stripes are a nod to the French flag.
Flickr/bourgeoisbee
2. Iowa’s population is actually more urban than rural. 61.1% of people live in towns or cities, and 38.9% live in the country.
Flickr/Phil Roeder
3. The best thing since sliced bread? Yep, we might be, because sliced bread was actually invented by Iowan Otto Frederick Rohwedder. He invented the automatic bread slicer in 1912.
Flickr/Slice of Chic
4. Iowa is home to the Red Delicious apple. It originated at an orchard in Peru, Iowa, in 1872.
Flickr/Stacy
5. The infamous plane crash in 1959 that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and “The Big Bopper” happened in a field in Iowa. Yes, Clear Lake, Iowa is “where the music died.”
Flickr/photolibrarian

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6. Iowa has most states beat when it comes to women’s rights.
Flickr/Steve Rhodes
Married women were able to own property in 1851. In 1869, women were granted the right to practice law. Iowan Arabella Mansfield was actually the first female lawyer in the United States.
7. The hogs outnumber us! That’s right. There are more hogs than people in Iowa, with hogs coming in at 21.2 million in 2013, and humans coming in at a paltry 3 million.
Flickr/U.S. Department of Agriculture
8. There was almost a war between Iowa and Missouri over a surveying mistake in the 1830s.
Wikipedia/Dbp653
No shots were fired, thanks to the federal government stepping in and settling the dispute. It is referred to as "The Honey War," due to a copse of trees containing honeybees that was destroyed during the dispute.
9. Iowa is actually named after the Ioway people, a Native American tribe that inhabited the land.
Flickr/H. Michael Miley
10. Iowa is actually a major hub for Transcendental Meditation. In the Maharishi Vedic City outside Fairfield, Iowa, people are currently meditating for world peace.
Wikipedia/Keithbob
11. We’re pretty ahead of our time when it comes to green energy. More than 25% of our state’s electricity comes from wind power.
Flickr/Theodore Scott

Did you know about any of these? Are there any that we missed? For more interesting facts about Iowa, here are 12 Shocking Facts About Iowa That Could Make You Want To Move.

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