November 11, 1889: Washington is admitted to the Union as the 42nd State. It is the only State named after a President, George Washington. It is also the only State with a green State Flag, and the only State with a State Flag with the face of a real person on it, rather than a representation of some principle or other.
Other States have been named after people, but not Presidents:
* Delaware: Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, a colonial administrator.
* Pennsylvania: William Penn, its founder.
* Georgia: King George II of England.
* Maryland: St. Mary, mother of Jesus.
* South Carolina and North Carolina: King Charles I of England.
* Virginia: Queen Elizabeth II of England, "the Virgin Queen."
* New York: James, Duke of York, brother of King Charles II of England. James succeeded his brother, becoming King James II.
* Louisiana: King Louis IX of France, a.k.a. St. Louis, "the Crusader King." The City of St. Louis, Missouri was also named for him.
Washington was in the Northwest. It had been acquired as part of the Oregon Treaty of 1846. It has become known for its rainy climate; but, when the weather is good, it is known for its outdoor activities: Bicycling, camping in its forests, climbing Mount Rainier, riding the ferry from Seattle (including to Victoria, the Provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada), skiing in the Winter.
Its largest city, Seattle, is particularly known for the U.S. Navy base in nearby Bremerton; the accompanying aviation industry, as the birthplace of aircraft manufacturer Boeing; the computer industry, as the birthplace of Microsoft; and the coffee industry, as the birthplace of Starbucks. The State Capitol is Olympia.
Politically, Washington tends to vote Democratic. However, as with neighboring Oregon, and fellow Pacific Coast State California, the further inland you get, the more conservative people get. This is particularly true of "The Palouse": Eastern Washington (including Spokane), Eastern Oregon, and Northern Idaho, the State's Panhandle. The highest-ranking politician produced by the State has been Thomas S. Foley, who was Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1989 to 1995.
That political divide is evident in the 2 major colleges with sports programs: The University of Washington, in Seattle, is generally thought of as liberal; while Washington State University, in Pullman, 288 miles to the east, is considered conservative. The annual Thanksgiving weekdn football game between "U-Dub" vs. "Wazzu" is known as the Apple Cup, named for the State's best-known agricultural product.
Seattle was home to the 1st American team to win the Stanley Cup, the 1917 Seattle Metropolitans. But after their league failed in 1926, the city, and therefore the State, didn't return to the major leagues until 1967, when the NBA expanded to include the Seattle SuperSonics.
After decades with the Pacific Coast League, with teams called the Siwashes, the Turks, the Giants, the Purple Sox, the Indians, the Rainiers and the Angels, baseball tried the Seattle Pilots in 1969, but they were bankrupt and failed after 1 season. When the Kingdome opened in 1976, the NFL expanded to the Seahawks, and MLB expanded to the Mariners.
The Sonics won the 1979 NBA title, but were moved in 2008. There were new stadiums for the Mariners in 1999 and the Seahawks in 2002. The Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014. The Sounds won the MLS Cup in 2016 and 2019.
The Seattle Sounders played in the North American Soccer League from 1974 to 1983, and MLS expanded to include a new Sounders team in 2009. In 2021, the NHL expanded to include the Seattle Kraken, and the movement to bring in an expansion or moved team to become the new Sonics remains strong.
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November 11, 1889 was a Friday. Baseball was out of season. Basketball was 2 years away from being invented. Hockey barely existed. There was 1 college football game on this day: Lehigh University beat Penn State, 106-0 at the Athletic Association's Grounds in South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Lehigh coach Jake Robeson mercifully offered to stop the game with 5 minutes left on the clock, and it remains the worst loss in Penn State football history.
This was a long time ago: Teams would sometimes play 2 games in less than 1 week, and Penn State had played Lehigh's nearby arch-rival, Lafayette, just 2 days before, and lost that, 26-0. They did play 2 other games that season, and win both, also against Pennsylvania teams, Swarthmore and Bucknell. Penn State was not yet the power that it would become, and, because of the diversion of the schools' footballing prowess, Penn State have not played Lehigh since 1942, and Lehigh haven't beaten them since 1936.
