Ten reasons we are proud to be from New Hampshire

New Hampshire votes first in the nation: Dixville Notch and Harts Location cast their votes “no earlier than 12:00 AM and no later than 12:01 AM” on voting day.  Legend has it that on the first midnight Tuesday voting a UPI photographer at Dixville Notch, trying to get the jump on his competition and Harts Location, secretly set the clock at Dixville Notch for 7 minutes fast so he could photograph the voting and file the picture ahead of anyone else.  So, that voting actually took place before the midnight legal voting time and Dixville Notch probably cast its 10 votes illegally. “Those were the days” and something like that could never happen today (could it?).Earl Tupper, born in Berlin, NH, invented Tupperware and Manchester is home to Velcro USA. Tupperware was sold mostly by ladies who hosted Tupperware parties and gave presentations on how to “burp” the plastic storage containers so they were air tight.  Tupperware still engages ladies who host parties and the plastic ware still sells quite well.Velcro was invented as a copy of nature's plant seed sacks that cling to animal hair to travel and multiply.  It is one of the most useful fasteners available today.  Many people do not realize that “Velcro” is a trade name and the product is “Hook and Loop” fastener.  Velcro is such a popular product that the trade name has worked its way into society as the product, which would be hook and loop fastener made by some manufacturer (Velcro is the company that owns the trade name Velcro).Legend has it that the first instance of growing Irish potatoes in the colonies occurred in Londonderry, New Hampshire, in the mid 1700’s, brought by the Scots-Irish settlers of the town.  Once a boon to nutrition that saved the masses from starvation, the potato is now under fire and may be banned from government supported school menus, supposedly because it causes overweight problems. But, if the government bans white potatoes,  what would we do without our potato chips?  Even Diane Rehm, the famous NPR radio host, has admitted an addiction to potato chips.View the list »
Mount Washington has some of the worst weather on earth

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New Hampshire is one of the country's smallest states but it is rich in history and various achievements such as being the home of Alan Shepard, the first Astronaut in space, and Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher to travel into space who died in the shuttle STS-51-L Challenger explosion.

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There are many items that make New Hampshire natives and residents proud but this list is the ten that passed muster as being timeless and perhaps worthy of a celebration party every now and then.

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  • Legend has it that the first instance of growing Irish potatoes in the colonies occurred in Londonderry, New Hampshire, in the mid 1700’s, brought by the Scots-Irish settlers of the town.  Once a boon to nutrition that saved the masses from starvation, the potato is now under fire and may be banned from government supported school menus, supposedly because it causes overweight problems. But, if the government bans white potatoes,  what would we do without our potato chips?  Even Diane Rehm, the famous NPR radio host, has admitted an addiction to potato chips.
  • Earl Tupper, born in Berlin, NH, invented Tupperware and Manchester is home to Velcro USA. Tupperware was sold mostly by ladies who hosted Tupperware parties and gave presentations on how to “burp” the plastic storage containers so they were air tight.  Tupperware still engages ladies who host parties and the plastic ware still sells quite well.Velcro was invented as a copy of nature's plant seed sacks that cling to animal hair to travel and multiply.  It is one of the most useful fasteners available today.  Many people do not realize that “Velcro” is a trade name and the product is “Hook and Loop” fastener.  Velcro is such a popular product that the trade name has worked its way into society as the product, which would be hook and loop fastener made by some manufacturer (Velcro is the company that owns the trade name Velcro).
  • New Hampshire votes first in the nation: Dixville Notch and Harts Location cast their votes “no earlier than 12:00 AM and no later than 12:01 AM” on voting day.  Legend has it that on the first midnight Tuesday voting a UPI photographer at Dixville Notch, trying to get the jump on his competition and Harts Location, secretly set the clock at Dixville Notch for 7 minutes fast so he could photograph the voting and file the picture ahead of anyone else.  So, that voting actually took place before the midnight legal voting time and Dixville Notch probably cast its 10 votes illegally. “Those were the days” and something like that could never happen today (could it?).
  • The first in the nation New Hampshire presidential primary.On January 6, 1952, Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge placed the name of Dwight Eisenhower without Eisenhower's permission onto the ballot for the New Hampshire presidential primary. On March 11, 1952, Eisenhower won the New Hampshire primary and the rest, as they say, is history. That was the first time a president was drafted and it showed that New Hampshire was a good starting point, able to reward a strong contender and turn away a weak performer. The NH primary has been the first primary since.
  • The NH state motto is “Live Free or Die”.  That in-your-face motto is printed on NH license plates and it appears in numerous other prominent places.  It also symbolizes the spirit of New Hampshire since its founding. New Hampshire meets under the state house gold dome and it is the largest US state legislature and the fourth largest elected body in the English speaking world following only the British Parliament, The Parliament of India, and the US Congress.  Legislators earn a whole $100 per year, having kept the salary unchanged since 1889.Old Man of the Mountain is a rock formation that dated back to prehistoric times.  The formation made its way onto the NH license plates and became one of the most photographed icons in the state.  The formation fell in 2003 leaving the mountain looking a bit bare and people were so upset that they left left flowers at the base of the mountain .  But, New Hampshire keeps the icon alive on state documents, license plates, and now a state park that offers a simulated view of the formation.
  • Franklin Pierce (whitehouse.gov).  14th president.  Pierce entered office days after he and his wife witnessed his son being killed in a train crash. Legend has it that Pierce's first weeks in office were unorganized and chaotic or (you got it) “a train wreck”. His presidency was marked by increasing turmoil as the nation marched toward the civil war.  History shows that the two major political parties came to impasse after impasse and neither was willing to budge or compromise.  Sound a little familiar?
  • Mt Washington, worst weather than Antartica (Time Magazine).  Mount Washington is the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi River and it lies in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains, only about an hour and a half from the sandy Atlantic Ocean beaches of Hampton, NH. The Mount Washington Observatory is staffed year round and in the winter, staffers may be cut off by snow and weather for weeks at a time. With temperatures of -70F and winds of over 230 miles per hour, I don't think we have to say much more.
  • New Hampshire is the only state that ever played host at the formal conclusion of a foreign war; negotiators were hosted in Portsmouth, NH.The Treaty of Portsmouth, signed September 5, 1905, ended the Japan-Russia war but the treaty was signed at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, which is technically located in Maine. New Hampshire and Maine have gone to court over who owns Portsmouth Naval Shipyard but the two states have not yet actually come to blows over the property (and tax revenue).
  • The mechanical alarm clock was invented in New Hampshire.  Prior to that invention, some clocks had noise makers of various sorts but they were extremely large. The mechanical alarm clock alarm clock was invented by Levi Hutchins, of Concord, New Hampshire, in 1787. However it only rang at 4am so it would not have been much use for modern teenagers. Seth Thomas corrected that problem about 100 years later with his patent for a fully adjustable alarm clock.
  • The New Hampshire Lottery is the oldest legal lottery in the United States. The lottery dates back to 1964, when NH sweepstakes tickets went on sale on March 12. The first lottery winner won just over $5 million.  By 2012, the NH Lottery had given more than $1.5 billion to education and will hopefully continue to do so for many more years. Lotteries had been popular in localities dating back to the 1600's but New Hampshire's was the first legally authorized by a state.
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, Manchester RNC Examiner

Harry's focus over the past 10 years has been local and national politics. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and he continues to be active as a professional field engineer. ...

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