North Carolina is known for being first in flight, but the state also lays claim to a number of other distinctions, from educational firsts to quirky sports achievements to historical mysteries.
Chartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was the first public university in the United States to hold classes when it welcomed students in 1795. North Carolina was also the first to establish a state museum of art.
Although the state is not currently home to a major league baseball club, Babe Ruth got his first professional home run on March 7, 1914, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. That same city also lays claim to establishment of the first mini-golf course, which opened there in 1916.
Well-known as the site of the first powered flight, North Carolina carries another transportation distinction: the state has the largest state-maintained highway system in the nation with 77,400 miles of roadway.
North Carolina's Roanoke Island was the location of the first English colony in America, established by Sir Walter Raleigh. However, the colony later mysteriously vanished and the fate of its inhabitants remains a mystery.
