1

Jawn

In Philadelphia, "jawn" can mean almost anything! The term grew from African American English and evolved into a catchall word for an object, event, or person. Visitors sometimes get confused, but locals enjoy its flexibility. It works as a little verbal wink that says you belong.

2

Snowbirds

Florida locals call winter visitors "snowbirds." The playful name popped up when northerners began heading south for warm weather during the cold months, just like those birds. It reflects the state’s seasonal rhythm and the migration pattern that still fills beach towns once the temperatures drop up north.

3

Slush

Order a "slush" in Boston, and you’ll receive something close to an Italian snow cone. Local ice cream stands helped cement the name, and kids who grew up in Massachusetts often carry a strong opinion about which shop makes the best one.

4

Yinz

People from Western Pennsylvania use "yinz" to call out to a group. It grew from old Scots-Irish speech patterns brought by early immigrants. The sound changed over time, but the community kept the word alive. If you grew up around Pittsburgh, you might slip and say it without even thinking.

5

Rotary

In Massachusetts, a "rotary" is simply a traffic circle. The term stuck thanks to local road planners who liked the older label long after other states switched to "roundabout." If you hear someone gripe about a rotary on their commute, chances are they have roots in the Bay State.

6

Bubbler

If someone in Wisconsin asks where the "bubbler" is, they just want a sip of water. The word came from early drinking fountain designs that created a bubbling stream. While the term is also popular in some parts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, many other parts of the country simply began to use the term "water fountain."

7

On sale liquor

Minnesota liquor rules created the terms "on sale" and "off sale." On-sale liquor is what you drink right where you buy it, like at a bar. Off-sale means you take it home before opening it. It sounds like a bargain at first, but it’s just a local way to talk about alcohol laws.

8

Cattywampus

Alabama families use "cattywampus" for anything crooked or out of place. The term has roots in older American slang style that mixed playful sounds with creative spelling. It is one of those words that makes you smile, even if it’s describing your own hair.

9

Bear down

In Arizona, "bear down" is tied to college sports. The phrase began to be used as a battle cry after a student from the University of Arizona left that message for his team in the 1920s. Fans kept the spirit alive, turning it into a tradition that shows pride and determination.

10

Sourdough

Longtime Alaskans call themselves "sourdoughs." Why? During the early days of settlement, folks relied on sourdough starter when other leavening ingredients were hard to get in such a distant region. The nickname became a badge of endurance and also a hint of humor about tough living.

11

Janky

In parts of New England, "janky" describes something shabby or unreliable. The word has traveled through many communities, but locals in the Northeast use it with a knowing grin. It works for a rickety bench, a questionable motel, or any situation that leaves you raising an eyebrow.

1

The original plan included full-body figures

Image: Thomas Shockey

Mount Rushmore was supposed to be even more colossal than it already is. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum envisioned the four presidents carved from the waist up .

He even made plaster models showing Abraham Lincoln's coat folds and Teddy Roosevelt’s hand clutching his lapel. But as costs went up, Congress said: "heads only, please."

2

Charles Rushmore was just a curious New Yorker

Image: Maarten van den Heuvel

Back in 1925, when the mount was about to be carved into a monument, Charles Rushmore wrote a letter explaining why the peak bore his name. He recalled that in the 1880s he was a young New Yorker working in the area, and fell fond of that particular granite peak .

When he asked the locals about it, they informed him that it had no name, but that if he wished so, they would just start calling it Rushmore Peak, or Mount Rushmore, or the likes. Years later, that very name had been inscribed in the public domain to designate the peak.

3

Yes, there’s a hidden room behind Lincoln’s head

Image: Laura Nyhuis

Behind Abraham Lincoln’s hairline lies a hidden chamber, part of Borglum’s lofty idea for a "Hall of Records." This room was meant to house foundational American documents like the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence.

Instead of that, in 1998, a titanium box was placed inside, filled with copies of important documents and biographies, as a time capsule to preserve the treasure of knowledge for future generations.

4

Thomas Jefferson was moved

Image: Dave Baraloto

Jefferson was originally supposed to go to Washington’s right, but after 18 months of chiseling , the granite betrayed them. Cracks and flaws made the site unworkable.

Borglum made the painful decision to blast Jefferson’s half-formed face clean off and start anew on Washington’s left.

5

The mountain was almost a monument to western heroes

Image: Timberly Hawkins

Before presidents took over, the mountain was pitched as a giant tribute to the Wild West . South Dakota historian Doane Robinson wanted to see frontier legends like Lewis & Clark carved into the Black Hills.

But when Borglum came aboard, he had a grander (and more politically bankable) idea: four presidents to symbolize national unity and expansion.

6

A woman’s face was almost added

Image: Tom Fournier

In the 1930s, there was serious talk of honoring Susan B. Anthony alongside the Founding Fathers, as a nod to the women’s suffrage movement.

Borglum wasn’t opposed to the idea, but Congress quickly nixed it, stating that only U.S. presidents could be included.

7

The workers were mostly local miners and loggers

Image: Pixabay

They were neither sculptors nor artists. Most of the workforce came from nearby Keystone, South Dakota: miners, loggers, and hard-up laborers looking for work during the Great Depression.

Borglum trained them himself. There were no safety harnesses, and yet, remarkably, no one died on the job.

8

Dynamite did 90% of the work

Image: Alexander Paramonov

To carve the faces of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln, workers used carefully timed dynamite blasts to remove over 450,000 tons of rock. They got so precise, they could blast within inches of where the final surface would be.

The last details, like wrinkles, pupils, or Roosevelt’s glasses, were done with jackhammers and chisels.

9

The noses are disproportionate

Image: Dudubangbang Travel

Standing in front of the mountain, the faces seem alright. But that’s a trick of perspective. Each presidential nose is a whopping 20 feet long .

If the sculptures had included full bodies as planned, each figure would have stood 465 feet tall. That’s taller than the Statue of Liberty and most downtown skyscrapers.

10

Teddy Roosevelt was the most controversial pick

Image: Dudubangbang Travel

Washington, of course. Jefferson, made sense. Lincoln, sure. And Teddy? Some critics raised their eyebrows at Borglum’s fourth choice. Roosevelt had only recently passed away in 1919, and many questioned whether he'd stood the test of time.

But Borglum defended the decision Roosevelt’s role in breaking up monopolies, conserving national parks, and engineering the Panama Canal. Plus, Borglum had met him personally and was a fan.

11

It was supposed to have inscriptions

Image: Dan Pick

Borglum had grander plans than just four giant heads. He wanted to carve a massive inscription next to them, a timeline of America’s most important milestones , chiseled straight into the mountain. In time, the idea was scrapped for practical and aesthetic reasons.

12

The visionary died before completion

Image: Lisa Reichenstein

Gutzon Borglum, the visionary behind it all, didn’t live to see his masterpiece finished. He died in March 1941, just as the construction was reaching its end. His son, Lincoln Borglum (yes, named after that Lincoln), took over the project.

Still, with WWII drawing resources elsewhere, funding was slashed, and Lincoln had to wrap things up quickly . Some features, like Lincoln’s ear, were never fully detailed.

1

A Presidential curse

For almost 140 years, U.S. presidents elected in years ending in zero died while in office. It happened to William Henry Harrison (1840), Abraham Lincoln (1860), James A. Garfield (1880), William McKinley (1900), Warren G. Harding (1920), Franklin D. Roosevelt (1940), and John F. Kennedy in 1960 . Ronald Reagan, elected in 1980 , broke the curse by surviving an assassination attempt.

2

Mark Twain and Halley’s Comet

In the year Mark Twain was born, 1835, Halley’s Comet passed by Earth. The great writer famously predicted he’d "go out with it" as well . Indeed, he passed away in 1910, the next time the comet appeared.

3

Jefferson and Adams

A patriotic yet somber coincidence, indeed. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the second and third U.S. presidents, both died on July 4, 1826 —exactly 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

4

Hoover Dam’s first and last casualties

The construction of the Hoover Dam was a long and difficult process, claiming over 100 lives. The first person to die was J.G. Tierney , and the last recorded death was his son , Patrick Tierney.

5

Lincoln and Kennedy

Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy were elected 100 years apart (1860 and 1960). Both suffered fatal head wounds and were succeeded by presidents named Johnson. Their assassins each had three names: John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald. Both were assassinated on a Friday while sitting next to their wives at the time that it happened.

6

Charles Francis Coghlan’s last journey

Actor Charles Francis Coghlan died in Texas in 1899. But his casket was lost at sea during a hurricane. Eight years later, his coffin washed ashore near his birthplace in Prince Edward Island, Canada, more than 3,000 miles away.

7

The Titanic coincidence

A few years before the Titanic sank, Morgan Robertson wrote a short book called Futility , about a massive "unsinkable" ship called the Titan that hit an iceberg and sank. The tale describes a ship with a similar size and a similar lack of lifeboats to the famous vessel.

8

Dennis the Menace

Two comic strips featuring a character named Dennis the Menace debuted in British and American outlets, respectively, on March 12, 1961—only a few hours apart. However, the two creators did not know each other and had no idea of the other’s work.

9

Jim Lewis and Jim Springer

Identical twin brothers separated at birth , Jim Lewis and Jim Springer, were reunited at age 39 and discovered many coincidences: both married women named Linda , divorced, and then remarried women named Betty. Both had dogs named Toy and drove the same model of car. Both grew up with an adopted brother named Larry and had sons whom they named James Allan.

10

Disney magic

A soon-to-be-married couple, Alex and Donna , were looking through old photos to include in their wedding video. They found one photo of Donna posing on a childhood trip to Disney World in 1980. And in the background, they spotted Alex being pushed in a stroller by his father.

11

Moped meets taxi, twice

In 1975, 17-year-old Erskine Lawrence Ebbin was struck by a taxi in Bermuda while riding his moped. A year later, his brother Neville , also 17 at the time, was riding the same moped when he was struck by the same taxi —with the same passenger—on the same street.

12

Lightning strike survivor

Being hit by lightning is an extremely rare occurrence. Park ranger Roy Sullivan was struck not once, but seven times between 1942 and 1977 —and survived them all. The strikes hit him in a fire tower, in his truck, in his yard, while patrolling, and more. His unusual record earned him the nickname "Human Lightning Rod."