• 50 states + DC + 5 territories: Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands
• 6 time zones: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska, Hawaii (+ Atlantic for Puerto Rico)
• 63 National Parks protecting iconic landscapes — Yellowstone (first, 1872), Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Zion, Glacier, Great Smoky Mountains
• Highest peak in US: Denali (Alaska) at 6,190 m (20,310 ft)
• Lowest point: Badwater Basin (Death Valley, CA) at -86 m below sea level
• Longest river: Missouri River (3,767 km) — even longer than the Mississippi
• 3 of the 5 Great Lakes are world top 10 by area
• 4 megacities: NYC (8.3M), LA (3.9M), Chicago (2.7M), Houston (2.3M)
• Statue of Liberty was a gift from France in 1886
• The dollar bill is the worlds most-traded currency, accepted in 60+ countries
• Mount Rushmore took 14 years to carve (1927-1941)
• Niagara Falls drains four Great Lakes — 168,000 m³ of water per minute
• Alaska bought from Russia in 1867 for 7.2 million USD (about 2 cents per acre)
• Hawaii became the 50th state in 1959 (last one added)
• U.S. dollar is legal tender in: Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama, East Timor, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Zimbabwe, and 5 unincorporated US territories