Kansas City — and the people who call this city home — have found many ways over the years to make our city great. However, there is plenty about our city that you might not know. Do you know all of these awesome facts about Kansas City? Test your knowledge with these 13 trivia facts.
- Kansas City was the home base for the Jesse James gang.
Tundra Ice/Flickr Their first daytime bank robbery happened in Liberty, Missouri.
- Kansas City is the birthplace of Harry S. Truman.
Matt Turner/Flickr He was the 33rd president of the United States, serving during the end of World War II.
- The Greater Kansas City Area is made up of 11 counties.
Zieben007/Wikimedia Commons It’s also home to more than a million people. Isn’t that crazy?
- We have more than 200 registered fountains.
Vincent Parsons/Flickr They’re all over town, and it’s strange to see an attraction or hotel lobby without one. We just love our waterworks!
- We’re called “Paris of the Plains” because we have more “boulevards” than anywhere else — except Paris itself.
formulanone/Flickr Allegedly, of course. Who wants to go around counting?
- Actually, our nickname came about due to the city’s stance during the Prohibition era.
Matthew Endersbe/Flickr It happened when Edward Morrow penned the line, “If you want to see some sin, forget Paris and head to Kansas City.”
- Charlie Parker played his first gig at the Country Club Plaza.
Hollywata/Flickr It was at Martin’s, a club that used to be where Fogo de Chao is now. He was a legend born from Kansas City’s jazz scene.
- We were almost named Rabbitville and Possum Trot.
Tom Woodward/Flickr Maybe having “Kansas” in our name isn’t so bad after all! Much better than Possum Trot, that’s for sure.
- A Nebraskan named J.C. Hall moved to Kansas City in 1910 and started Hallmark Cards.
Missouri Division of Tourism/Flickr What would we do for the holidays without him?
- Arrowhead Stadium has the first scoreboard to ever transmit instant replay.
Chris Murphy/Flickr Now, we can see a quarterback sacked again and again on the big screen.
- The Happy Meal was invented here.
juni/Flickr The inventor’s son was staring at his cereal box as he ate breakfast, and the idea of a similar box for McDonalds’ kid meals was born.
- Arthur Bryant actually created KC-style Barbecue when he added molasses to another man’s sauce to sweeten it.
Missouri Division of Tourism/Flickr He was later made popular in a Playboy article, as pwning “possibly the single best restaurant in the world.”
- Kansas City has more barbecue restaurants per capita than anywhere else.
Adam Kuban/Flickr This one probably isn’t hard to believe, though.
What other cool facts do you know about Kansas City? Tell us in the comments below! Afterwards, feel free to check out some of the oldest photos ever taken here.
Tundra Ice/Flickr
Their first daytime bank robbery happened in Liberty, Missouri.
Matt Turner/Flickr
He was the 33rd president of the United States, serving during the end of World War II.
Zieben007/Wikimedia Commons
It’s also home to more than a million people. Isn’t that crazy?
Vincent Parsons/Flickr
They’re all over town, and it’s strange to see an attraction or hotel lobby without one. We just love our waterworks!
formulanone/Flickr
Allegedly, of course. Who wants to go around counting?
Matthew Endersbe/Flickr
It happened when Edward Morrow penned the line, “If you want to see some sin, forget Paris and head to Kansas City.”
Hollywata/Flickr
It was at Martin’s, a club that used to be where Fogo de Chao is now. He was a legend born from Kansas City’s jazz scene.
Tom Woodward/Flickr
Maybe having “Kansas” in our name isn’t so bad after all! Much better than Possum Trot, that’s for sure.
Missouri Division of Tourism/Flickr
What would we do for the holidays without him?
Chris Murphy/Flickr
Now, we can see a quarterback sacked again and again on the big screen.
juni/Flickr
The inventor’s son was staring at his cereal box as he ate breakfast, and the idea of a similar box for McDonalds’ kid meals was born.
He was later made popular in a Playboy article, as pwning “possibly the single best restaurant in the world.”
Adam Kuban/Flickr
This one probably isn’t hard to believe, though.
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