1. In the 1860s Columbus pharmacist John Pemberton invented the recipe for everyone’s favorite soft drink while trying to create a medicine to help cure his morphine addiction. The original formula was alcoholic and called “Pemberton’s French Wine Coca.” He didn't come up with the name "Coca-Cola," though.
2. There’s a statue of Pemberton still standing in Heritage Park, and his house is a historic museum.
3. Linwood Cemetery (where Pemberton is buried) hosts a ‘Fall Ramble’ every year, an annual guided tour through the cemetery, complete with interesting stories about the lives and deaths of those buried there.
4. Royal Crown Cola (you know, that much-less-popular RC Cola), was also invented here too by another pharmacist in 1905.
5. Columbus’ Fort Benning is the largest infantry camp in the world.
6. Funnyman Wayne Brady was born right here in Columbus.
7. So was Newt Gingrich, of the Republican “Contract with America.”
8. There’s a (defunct) law in Columbus that prohibits bars from holding ladies’ nights. Thank goodness it’s not enforced.
9. It’s also apparently illegal to sell BOGO alcoholic drinks.
10. Everyone’s heard of AFLAC, but not everyone knows that it actually stands for American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus. The company was founded here in 1955.
11. AFLAC is still headquartered in Columbus, in MidTown in the tallest building in the city.
12. Carmike Cinemas is headquartered in Columbus, too.
13. Want to carve your initials in a tree on your property? Don’t, it’s illegal.
14. Cursing over the telephone is technically against the law too.
15. Justin Guarini, the first runner-up on the debut season of “American Idol” (we all remember him, right?) was born in Columbus.
16. If you’re into urban whitewater rafting, Columbus has the world’s largest urban course: The RiverWalk.
17. The historic Springer Opera House is known to be haunted, and many think that one of the ghosts is famous actor Edwin Booth—the brother of John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln’s assassin.
18. There are several other haunted spots in Columbus, like the River Walk, the house people have deemed ‘The House Of A Thousand Cadavers” and “Crybaby Bridge’ on Whitesville Road where people claim to hear a baby crying. Spooooky.
19. It’s not allowed to cut a chicken’s head off or carry a chicken down Broadway by its feet on Sundays in Columbus. But feel free to do what you like the rest of the week.
20. If you’re Native American, you have to return to the Chattahoochee shore by sundown… or so the extremely outdated law states.
21. If you’re going to a movie theater in Columbus, make sure to take off your hat. It’s illegal to wear them there, unless it’s stadium seating. How else are people supposed to see over you?
22. Remember when the Beastie Boys got arrested because of their huge, inflatable “male body part” and lewd language? It was a big deal back in 1987 in Columbus. Afterwards the city passed an anti-lewdness law to keep such things from happening at concerts again.
23. Bobby Brown, Gene Simmons, LL Cool J and Too Short were also arrested at their concerts in Columbus. Some for language, others for moving their bodies in “inappropriate” ways.
24. Kadie the Cow is a 20-foot tall cow that now guards Best Buy, but she used to guard the Kinnett Dairies that stood in the same spot.
25. Kadie’s sidekick baby cow, Bebe (see above), didn’t show up until 2003 when Best Buy added her. She once went missing for months, but then was found in a dumpster and returned beside Kadie.
26. Whether you’re going uptown or downtown in Columbus, you’re really going to the same place. Downtown is considered uptown, and vice versa.
27. Columbus’ Lunchbox Museum is located in the International Marketplace, and it’s more of a room than a museum, but still way cool.
28. So you like cornflakes for breakfast on weekends? Back in the day you would have had to stock up before Sundays. One of the strange outdated city laws made it illegal for Columbus stores to sell them on Sundays.
29. Several of the Burger King locations in Columbus have unique designs. One is housed in what used to be a private residence, and one is even built like a train station with a ticket booth, and a “departure/arrival” board. Source: Flickr User Aloud.
30. Country’s BBQ on Broadway is housed in a restored Greyhound bus station, and you can even eat on an actual bus. It’s way cooler than you might think.
31. Don’t go around waving your gun in public in Columbus unless you want a fine. You’ll actually get fined larger for waving it than if you actually shot the gun.
32. Columbus’ nickname is Fountain City, which seems like a random name until you notice the insane amount of water features around town.
33. Believe it or not, Columbus is a great place for golf. There are seven golf courses throughout the city.
34. Columbus State University started off as a junior college in a hosiery mill, called Columbus College.
35. Today Columbus State University operates the Coca Cola Space and Science Center.
36. The Center features a “Challenger Learning Center” where kids take simulated missions: Voyage to Mars, Rendezvous with a Comet, Return to the Moon or Encounter Earth. If you have kids it’s a must-see.
37. Columbus might not seem like a hot spot for movie production, but there have been quite a few movies filmed here. “We Were Soldiers,” “The Fighting Temptations,” and “Need For Speed,” to name a few.
38. There’s a grave in Riverdale Cemetery shaped like a circus tent and made of Georgia marble. The grave is a monument to the circus troupe and animals that died in 1915 when their train crashed. The event was sad, but the memorial is pretty awesome.
39. Columbus is a hub for aliens sightings. Since 1950 everyone from pilots, policemen, air traffic controllers and kids have reported seeing strange lights in the sky.
40. The largest surviving Confederate warship, the CSS Jackson, lives right in Columbus, at the National Civil War Museum.
41. The museum also has an exact replica of the USS Water Witch out front, complete with a real Bible, flag and bell from the original Water Witch.
Feature Image Source: Flickr user Todd
What’s your favorite fun fact about Columbus? Tell us in the comments below!
