Diversity is has been integral to Maryland’s identity for centuries. An Italian, Giovanni De Verrazona, was the first to survey Maryland’s shores in the 1500s – though it was English Catholics, swimming against a Protestant tide – that eventually settled the state. During the Civil War, Maryland’s diversity was grimly evident: 62,000 Marylanders fought for the North and 22,000 fought for the South. Since then, the long march of Irish, German, Hungarian, Scandinavian and Russian immigrants through the Port of Baltimore and steady flow of African-Americans from Southern States has made Maryland a state where stereotypes and assumptions are as fragile as a steamed crab’s shell.
Now that you’re moving to Maryland, there are a couple facts you’ll want to keep in mind:
- Maryland is home to 5,296,486 residents – making it the 19th most populous state in America even though it’s only the 42nd largest.
- Maryland’s official state sport is jousting.
- Maryland’s state house, in Annapolis (the state capital), has the largest all wood dome in the U.S. It’s topped by a sculpture of an acorn (a symbol of wisdom which is, ironically, installed upside down).
- In Maryland it’s illegal to take a lion a movie theater. It’s also illegal to sell chicks or ducklings to a minor within one week of Easter.
- Maryland’s state song is “Maryland, My Maryland,” sung to the melody of “Oh Christmas Tree.”
- Francis Scott Key wrote the “Star-Spangled Banner” in Baltimore, while watching the bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812.
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