How many of these facts did you know?

1. Fruita, Colorado, holds the record for the longest a chicken has lived without a head: 18 months. He died from choking on a corn kernel

Every year in Fruita the town holds a “Mike the Headless Chicken” festival, with activities such as “5K Run Like a Headless Chicken Race”, egg toss, “Pin the Head on the Chicken”, the “Chicken Cluck-Off”, and “Chicken Bingo”, in which chicken droppings on a numbered grid choose the numbers.

2. The invention of the cheeseburger (not the hamburger) is credited to Colorado resident Louis Ballast, owner of the Humpty Dumpty Drive-In in Denver

He applied for a patent for the name Cheeseburger but was instead given a trademark. There is a monument for the restaurant and the invention of the cheeseburger at 2776 Speer Blvd, Denver, CO.

3. The world’s first rodeo was held in Deer Trail

The event was held on July 4th, 1869. The prize was a suit of clothes, and the conditions were that the horses should be ridden with a slick saddle, which means that the saddle must be free from the roll usually tied across the horse, that the stirrups must not be tied under the horse, and that the rider must not wear spurs.

4. Colorado is the only state to turn down the Olympics

In 1976, the winter Olympics were scheduled to be held in Denver. Residents voted against it, saying that it wasn’t worth the cost, pollution and population boom it would cause.

5. Colfax Avenue is the longest continuous street in America

There’s 26.5 miles of continuous roadway. It’s also home to the yearly Colfax marathon.

6. Rocky Ford is the Sweet Melon Capital of the World

The small town in East Colorado grows a ton of cantaloupe and watermelon. Their high school mascot is the “Meloneer.”

7. “America the Beautiful” was inspired by Pikes Peak

It was originally written as a poem by Katherine Lee Bates, and was later set to music and published as a song in 1910.

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