52 Things You Probably Didn′t Know About Buffalo

1. The Dyngus Day celebration in Buffalo is the largest in the United States, featuring polka music and plenty of Polish food. 2. With the help of the Niagara Falls, Buffalo became the first city to have widespread street lamps in 1886. 3. It’s illegal to throw a snowball intentionally at someone’s head in Buffalo. 4. Originally known as the Statler Hotel, the Hotel Buffalo had private bathing areas in each room before any other hotel in the world. 5. Eminem’s popular hit “Without Me” samples from a song titled “Buffalo Gals” by Malcolm McLaren in which the original line was “two Buffalo gals go round the outside.” 6. The first man executed by an electric chair in the US was from Buffalo, serving a sentence for the murder of his wife. 7. Parts of Bruce Almighty were filmed in Buffalo and many locals feel as if it was one of the more accurate depictions of Buffalo in modern film. 8. The Ellicott Square Building on Main St. was once the largest office building in the world, built in 1896. 9. Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson originally wanted his AFL team to be located in Miami, however after that failed they ended up in New York. 10. The nickname “the City of No Illusions” stems from the 1980s when locals had to endure lots of good news, but lots of bad news (as life in Buffalo was great, but still not perfect). 11. Buffalo’s Turkey Trot is the longest continually running footrace in America, starting in 1896, inspiring similar races all around the country. 12. Millionaires Row on Delaware Ave. got its name from the huge number of millionaires living on the street in the early 1900s, when Buffalo had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the United States. 13. The Buffalo Bills are the only professional football team to lose 4 consecutive Super Bowls, in 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994. 14. A Buffalo resident invented grain elevators in 1842, resulting in a huge savings of cost and labor for farmers. 15. Chicago is the only city in the country that can claim they have more Frank Lloyd Wright buildings than Buffalo. 16. Attracting thousands of people to the area, the Garden Walk is said to be the largest flower festival in the country. 17. Due to state laws, a fine of $25 can be issued for flirting in public on the Buffalo streets. 18. With over 50 art galleries in Buffalo, it’s a lot more artsy than people think. 19. President Theodore Roosevelt was sworn into office in Buffalo following the shooting and subsequent death of President William McKinley. 20. This inauguration happened at the Wilcox Mansion, which is now a museum commemorating the events of that day. 21. Anchor Bar in Buffalo was home to the original buffalo wing, a popular dish now found across the entire country. 22. There are over 300 bicycle parking locations throughout Buffalo, a number that was originally supposed to be only a couple dozen but changed due to popularity. 23. A woman wearing “body hugging clothing” in Buffalo, such as yoga pants, is technically breaking the law. 24. Buffalo is quite the foodie town, with close to 1,000 restaurants. 25. The Peace Bridge that connects Canada to America has been in Buffalo since 1927. 26. There are several speculations with regards to how Buffalo got its name, including a play on the French word “beau fleuve”, which means beautiful river. 27. Buffalo’s “Queen City” nickname references the city’s size as the second-largest in New York. The largest is obviously New York City, or the “king city.” 28. Buffalo is now part of the “rust belt,” an area of the country with a steadily decreasing population due to the shrinking of the industrial sector. 29. However, $4 billion was spent in 2007 in an attempt to revitalize the local economy, 80 times the previous annual spending. 30. While Buffalo Sabres follow after the Bills having no league championships (not including the Bills’ AFL wins), the local lacrosse team, the Buffalo Bandits, have won 4 league titles. 31. Spittoons are required by law in every Buffalo business. 32. Buffalo played a huge role in the early stages of the automobile industry by heavily influencing the first brass cars, also known as the horseless carriages. 33. Patriots superstar Rob Gronkowski hails from the Buffalo area. 34. Musician Rick James was born as James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. in Buffalo, New York. 35. The State of New York is the largest employer in Buffalo with over 15,000 local employees. 36. The local minor league baseball team, the Buffalo Bison, shares a name with a past Buffalo major league team that was formed in 1879 but quickly went bankrupt, forcing them to disband. 37. No summer days in Buffalo have ever hit triple digit temperatures, as the highest local temperature ever recorded was 99 degrees on August 27, 1948. 38. Some people refer to Buffalo as the “Nickel City” due to the bison on the back of the Indian Head nickel. 39. The pop rock band Cute Is What We Aim For formed in the Queen City. 40. When the British burned down Buffalo at the end of 1813, only 3 buildings were left standing, one of which was the jail. 41. Literary genius F. Scott Fitzgerald grew up in Buffalo where his high level of intelligence and interest in literature was first recognized. 42. Known for their death metal world-wide, the band Cannibal Corpse came out of Buffalo. 43. Buffalo is the hub of the country’s debt collection industry. 44. Only 15 miles east of Buffalo, hamlet of Town Line seceded from the Union during the Civil War and did not technically become part of America once again until 1946. 45. Forbes recently voted Buffalo the 10th best place to raise a family in the country. 46. The Guaranty building was one of the first buildings in the world to use steel supports, also making it one of the first skyscrapers. 47. The Goo Goo Dolls, famous for their song “Iris,” got their start in the Buffalo area. 48. Until recently, the blizzard of 1977 was one of the worst storms in Buffalo history, blasting the area with three feet of lake effect snow, less than half of what fell in the most recent storm. 49. Another speculation regarding the name of the city comes from the idea that it was named after a local man from the Seneca Native America tribe. 50. Anna Edson Taylor became the first person to go over the Niagara Falls in a barrel and survive to tell the tale in 1901, an event watched by thousands due to her heavy promotions throughout the Buffalo area. 51. Steam powered trains can’t go fast than 6 miles per hour while crossing a street found in Buffalo. 52. While most Americans think the buffalo is an animal native to the United State, these huge mammals are actually bison. Buffalo only naturally live in Africa and Asia. A city with such a storied past, Buffalo has plenty of history to write about. What’s your favorite fun fact about Buffalo? Tell us in the comments below!