55 Interesting Facts About Arizona

Last updated on November 5th, 2022

38. The Great basin is a cold desert in northern Arizona characterized by sparse vegetation comprising mostly of sagebrush, prickly cactus, and junipers. It hosts the southern rim of the Grand Canyon with breathtaking gorges carved by erosion over millions of years. The great basin is famous for the legendary Bristlecone Pines. These trees have endured for millennia, with some having an estimated age of 5,000 years. Visitors should watch out for a diverse range of seasonal plants that bloom in the late summer.^[31]

39. Trenton Hayward, a regional professional tennis player from Flagstaff, Arizona, broke the world record for most serves done in an hour. He got his name into the books by hitting 1,658 in-bound serves in 1 hour. This broke an eight-year-old longstanding record in May. He had to follow strict regulations for his record attempt to count. It involved having acclaimed US tennis officials, scorekeepers, and a minimum of 2 camera angles.

40. A Batmobile utilized during the 1960s Batman TV show was involved in the world’s most expensive Batman memorabilia auction on 19th January 2013. It took place in Scottsdale, Arizona, at a Barrett-Jackson auction for a record bid of $4,620,000. George Barris, a custom car designer, transformed the Lincoln Futura into the iconic Batmobile in 1955.

41. Scott Flansberg from Phoenix, Arizona, became the world’s fastest human calculator by correctly summing up the number 38 to itself 36 times in record time of 15 seconds. This was achieved on 27th April 2000 in Wembley, UK. Oprah happened to meet this record-breaking human calculator in 2003.

42. Anne Lorimor, an 89-year-old from Arizona, became the oldest woman to summit Mount Kilimanjaro. The mountain in Tanzania, Africa, is considered the tallest free-standing mountain in the world. Despite falling and getting injured during the start of the climb, her endurance enabled her to achieve the feat in nine days.

43. As of April 2018, the city of Wenden, Arizona, was included in a list by World Health Organization’s Global Ambient Air Quality Database for the cities with the least PM 2.5 pollution per meter cubic. The cities produce an average of just 2 micro-grams annually. The other 3 cities are Bredkalen, Sweden; Wyoming, USA; and Williston, North Dakota, USA.

44. Robert Thomson set the world record for the longest distance ever covered while on a skateboard. He covered a distance of 12,159 km, from Leysin, Switzerland, finishing in Shanghai, China. The feat took place between 24th June 2007 and 28th September 2008, showcasing his strength and endurance throughout this period. The journey was part of a longer 20,000 km one where cycling, sailing, and train rides were involved.

45. The Davis-Monthan Airforce Boneyard in Tucson boasts of being the world’s largest airplane boneyard. It has served as a storage site for military airplanes from World War 2 to date. The area experiences low humidity and low rainfall, along with having hard alkaline soil and being situated 2,550 feet in altitude. This allows the natural preservation of the aircraft for possible reuse.

46. Spencer H. Suderman, a certified aerobatics pilot, set the world record for most inverted flat spins in an aircraft at Yuma International Airport in Arizona. He did a total of 98 spins, breaking his own previous record of 81 inverted flat spins.

47. At 55, Cory Nielsen from Phoenix, Arizona, set a world record for building a pyramid using 1 million pennies. The pyramid measures 65 stacks across, back, and in height. Each coin stack is said to compose of 11 pennies. He achieved this feat without any glue or welding by simply using his exemplary balancing skills to stack them on top of each other.

48. State Farm stadium can easily be considered as the epitome of Glendale culture. What is distinct about this town/city is its crowning moment: hosting Wrestlemania XXVI. With a roll-out grass filed, it attracted a feature on the History Channel, and continues to attract major sports events to this day.

49. On the strength of a 2019 national survey, Gilbert, Arizona, was rated as the 4th safest place to live and the 7th best place to raise a family. A happy medium in terms of climate, you find that it brings together subtropical, tropical and desert climates, making it a rare find as far as desert weather is concerned.

50. If you thought you had Arizona figured out, you don’t know the half of it. Far from being mildly picturesque, the mountains and hills of Twin Buttes, Sunrise Mountain, Cholla Mountain-to name but a few-are perhaps the main reason why Peoria was ranked among the top 100 places to live by Money Magazine.

51. The training home for Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals–both Major League Baseball teams–one soon discovers that an all too common feature of Surprise, is sport. Having played host to the Fed Cup tennis quarter final in 2009, Flora Mae Statler was proven wrong, as she once said, she would be surprised if the town ever amounted to much.

52. Three years before the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1968, the African American couple of Carol and Warren Livingstone had purchased property in Tempe, Arizona. This speaks volumes about the established culture: easygoing, friendly and quiet. And as if that wasn’t enough, the comedy rock band Pyschostick is originally from Tempe.

53. Chandler, named after Alexander John Chandler -a 19th century surgeon- this is a city whose establishment is like no other. Notable attractions include its annual Ostrich Festival, an occasion of wearing hats with colourful and vibrant feather plumes, and a tradition that has spread to all the ends of the world. Chandler experienced rapid population growth in the 1990’s, making it one of the fastest growing municipalities in the country.

54. Tucson, commonly misspelt as Tuscan, rare snowfalls during winter can provide much relief and momentary entertainment from the scorching heat. Furthermore, it will come as a surprise that it is also a ski destination on the peaks of Santa Catalina Mountain.

55. Considered as the most western part of the west, Scottsdale has a humble, adorable aura about it, albeit, with a sprinkle of the sophisticated. Old-fashioned stores, art galleries and teaming with streets, you’re bound to get lost at some point. But you’ll be caught unaware when you walk into the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall, which is one of the largest shopping malls in the entire country–now how about that for some aggressive simplicity.

Arizona – Quick Facts and State Symbols

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