Louisiana has parishes instead of counties

Hawaii is the only US state with no incorporated municipalities

Unlike every other state, Hawaii has no cities or towns. Its four county governments manage all local services—the functions that municipalities provide elsewhere in the US—across the entire state.

America had a national leprosarium—a leper colony—in Louisiana until 1999

Public health officials forcibly sent those diagnosed with leprosy to the Louisiana Leper Home in Carville, first founded in 1894. Listen to an interview about this site, its evolution, and how its residents advocated for themselves—including regaining the right to vote.

France has a strict and explicit separation of church and state

France's principle of laïcité—strict separation of church and state—prohibits religious expression in public institutions, including the wearing of religious clothing and symbols in public schools and by government employees.

American local government comes in five distinct forms

Counties, municipalities, townships, special districts, and school districts are each created for a different purpose, operating under different rules, and answerable to the state in different ways. Special districts, the least known of the group, are created for specific purposes, such as transit or fire protection.

Illinois has more local governments than any other state

As of 2022, there were a reported total of 90,837 local government units across the US. Illinois had the highest number with 6,930, followed by Texas with 5,533. Explore all the data from the 2022 Census of Governments, which takes place every five years.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' has cancer rates 50% above the national average

Due to its proximity to Gulf oil production, an 85-mile stretch of highway linking Baton Rogue, Louisiana, and New Orleans is home to 25% of the country's petrochemical manufacturing. It's also one of the most polluted regions of the US, with cancer rates at 50% above average.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

A Mardi Gras alternative takes place in southwest Louisiana

Courir de Mardi Gras, or Cajun Mardi Gras, harkens back to a medieval "feast of begging," when rural French people donned costumes (often mocking the aristocracy) and went from door to door, performing in exchange for gifts.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

Consolidated city-county governments merge two layers of local government into one

A city-county consolidation removes a layer of local government by merging a municipality with its surrounding county. Examples include Jacksonville-Duval County, Louisville-Jefferson County, and San Francisco, all of which operate as both cities and counties.

How presidential systems differ from parliamentary governments

In presidential systems like the US, the executive and legislature are separately elected, giving presidents fixed terms and independent authority. In parliamentary systems, executives are elected by legislatures and can be removed by a simple vote of no confidence.

There are more than 300 separate sign languages worldwide

Each of these languages has its own grammar, vocabulary and cultural associations. American Sign Language, the predominant Deaf language in the US, is part of the broader French Sign Language family, which means it shares historical influences and similarities with French Sign Language (which is called LSF). International Sign is a simplified, makeshift form of communication that borrows from many languages, and it's used at international deaf conferences, among other locations.

The colonial origins of Haiti/Dominican Republic divide

This 16-minute video explores the colonial origins of the modern-day split between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Haiti previously was the French-Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue, which was torn off the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo in 1697....

Pheasant Island is controlled by both the Spanish and the French

The two-acre plot of land is a condominium—a territory shared by two countries. Pheasant Island (which, curiously, is not home to pheasants) is a holdover from the end of the Thirty Years' War between France and Spain, when it was designated as a neutral area dividing the countries.

When state and local laws conflict, state law almost always prevails

Courts generally side with state law when it conflicts with a local ordinance. Whether the contradiction is explicitly stated or merely implied by the two laws, state authority typically prevails.

View the religious breakdown of the United States

This resource presents religious data by state and region, and nationwide. The primary religious group in the US is Christians, making up 62% of the adult population. Twenty-nine percent of US adults identify as religiously unaffiliated.

The aging electrical substations of Saigon

One of the overlooked influences of French colonialism in Vietnam lies in the capital city Saigon’s electrical infrastructure. Though France withdrew in the 1950s, many of the colonial-era substations built by the French company Compagnie des Eaux et Électricité are still operational today. Scroll through the article for images of these substations and an overview of their history.

Madison urged Jefferson to accept the Louisiana Purchase despite constitutional concerns

As secretary of state, James Madison helped negotiate the 1803 Louisiana Purchase and persuaded Thomas Jefferson to proceed, arguing that the strategic and economic stakes outweighed the unresolved constitutional questions.

Explore William Faulkner's fictional Mississippi county

Faulkner famously set his stories and novels in Yoknapatawpha County, a fictional slice of Mississippi based on his home county of Lafayette. This collaboration between an International Team of Faulkner Scholars and technologists at the University of Virginia allows readers to explore maps of the fictional county, pinpointing the locations of Faulkner's texts and visualizing the genius of one of America's greatest writers.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

All states did not require a unanimous jury verdict to convict until a 2020 Supreme Court case

In Ramos v. Louisiana, the court ruled that the Sixth Amendment requires unanimous jury verdicts to convict in criminal cases, overturning laws in Louisiana and Oregon that had allowed convictions with only 10 of 12 jurors in agreement.

LA used to have one of the best mass transit systems in the country

A century ago, Los Angeles had one of the greatest urban transit networks in America. Today, driving in LA traffic can still be faster than taking the train. The city's rail design, which funnels traffic through a single point, fails to support a city with such a spread-out population.

New Orleans' Congo Square birthed what would become jazz

The city's enslaved people congregated in the city square on Sundays, bringing together the musical traditions of their disparate cultures through drum circles, communal dancing, and call-and-response singing. The rhythmic style that evolved in the area would eventually give rise to ragtime and, subsequently, jazz.

The preferred barbecue sauce depends on your location

America's regional barbecue styles include multiple highly specific sauces. From the tart, acidic vinegar-based sauces of North Carolina, to the thick, sweet-spicy Kansas City variation, American barbecue sauces are as varied as the country’s geography.

The Latin Grammys first began in 2000

For many years, the Grammy Awards honored Spanish-language artists during the main ceremony. Over time, though, these artists became so popular that the decision was made to spin off a separate awards show: the Latin Grammys. The Latin Grammys honor music recorded in Spanish or Portuguese, but the voting process is much the same as it is for the traditional Grammys.

US marshals were the first federal law enforcement officers

Established in 1789, US marshals carried out court orders, served subpoenas, made arrests, and collected fines—serving as the federal government's main law enforcement agency across the states for nearly a century before the creation of the DOJ.

The League of Nations was the predecessor to the UN—and the US never joined

The League of Nations—established in 1920 after World War I—was the first global organization aimed at maintaining world peace. Although US President Woodrow Wilson championed its creation, the United States never joined.

17 cities have hosted a Super Bowl, with Miami and New Orleans tied for the most

The resource details where each Super Bowl has been played, listing every host city alongside its stadium, and shows how a small group of warm-weather and domed locations came to dominate hosting duties over time.

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states, ranging from a complete ban on non-professional fireworks in Massachusetts to states with more lax rules like Indiana.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

The concept of phantom limbs, the perception that amputated limbs are still present, dates back to a French military surgeon in the 16th century.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

Corals are themselves not coral reefs—the term refers to the tiny marine invertebrates that build the rigid reef.

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Learn how monoclonal antibodies, which mimic the body's antibodies, can fight diseases like Ebola.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.

When a Paris department store hesitated to sell Estée Lauder's perfume, she 'accidentally' broke a bottle, causing the smell to spread throughout the store and shoppers to start asking to buy the scent.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

See photos of Meteora, a mountainous site in central Greece, home to 14th-century monasteries perched atop soaring outcroppings.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.