It has been 18 years since I’ve heard a state history lecture. Mr. Altman’s seventh-grade Alabama history class. And, I have to admit, I don’t remember much — except that Mr. Altman looked a lot like Colonel Sanders and tended to wear little string bow ties to reinforce the likeness. Other than that, I vaguely recall that the state capital moved around a couple of times before settling in Montgomery and the state was home to four Indian tribes: Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Creek.

The rest is pretty much a blur.

Since moving to Natchez a couple of years ago, I’ve tried to build a working knowledge of Mississippi history by reading books such as John Barry’s account of the Mississippi River flood of 1927, &uot;Rising Tide,&uot; and others. But the list of books one must read to replace a seventh-grade history class is pretty long, and I have a long way to go.

Lucky for me, someone passed along a nice little cheat sheet the other day. Admittedly, itis more of a collection of interesting facts than a substitute for a good history class. But I sure learned a thing or two from it. Hope you do to. Here it is:

The Mississippi Gulf Coast, from Biloxi to Henderson Point, is the largest and longest manmade beach.

National Geographic is printed by the Ringier-America company in Corinth.

The world’s only cactus plantation is located in Edwards with more than 3,000 varieties of cacti.

Mississippi has more tree farms than any other state.

Mississippi has more churches per capita than any other state.

Norris Bookbinding Company in Greenwood is the largest Bible rebinding plant in the nation.

Dr. Tichenor created Dr. Tichenor’s Antiseptic in Liberty.

Four cities in the world have been sanctioned by the International Theatre/Dance Committee to host the International Ballet Competition: Moscow, Russia; Varna, Bulgaria; Helsinki, Finland; and Jackson, Miss.

David Harrison of Columbus owns the patent on the &uot;Soft Toilet Seat.&uot; Over one million are sold every year.

The first football player on a Wheaties box was Walter Payton of Columbia.

The Teddy Bear’s name originated after a bear hunt in Mississippi with President Theodore Roosevelt. President Roosevelt refused to shoot an exhausted and possibly lame bear. News of this spread across the country, and a New York merchant capitalized on this publicity by creating a stuffed bear called &uot;Teddy’s Bear.&uot;

H. T. Merrill of Iuka flew the first round-trip transoceanic flight in 1928. The flight to England was made in a plane loaded with ping-pong balls.

The birthplace of Elvis in Tupelo includes: a museum, a chapel, and the two-room house in which Elvis was born.

The world’s oldest Holiday Inn is in Clarksdale.

Blazon-Flexible Flyer, Inc., in West Point, manufactures the best snow sled in the country, the Flexible Flyer.

Greenwood is the home of Cotton Row, which is the second largest cotton exchange in the nation and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Emil and Kelly Mitchell, the King and Queen of Gypsies, are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Meridian. Since 1915, people from all over the world have left gifts of fruit and juice at their grave sites.

Captain Issac Ross of Lorman freed his slaves in 1834 and arranged for their passage to the west coast of Africa. They founded the country of Liberia.

Todd H. Carpenter is publisher of The Democrat. He can be reached at 446-5172, ext. 218, or by e-mail at todd.carpenter@natchezdemocrat.com.