Hurricane Ivan, a category 3 storm upon landfall, struck Alabama in 2004, causing over $18 billion in damage. It was one of the most destructive storms in the state’s modern history.

Cahaba in Dallas County was Alabama’s first permanent state capital from 1820 to 1825.

Alabama’s population increased from under 10,000 people in 1810 to more than 300,000 people by 1830.

Tuscaloosa served as Alabama’s capital from 1826 to 1846.

The new voter registration laws, particularly the cumulative poll tax, also disenfranchised poor white voters. By 1941, whites constituted a slight majority of those disenfranchised by these laws, with 600,000 whites and 520,000 African Americans losing the ability to vote.

Alabama’s economy in the 21st century is based on automotive, finance, tourism, manufacturing, aerospace, mineral extraction, healthcare, education, retail, and technology.

High-profile events such as the Selma to Montgomery marches made Alabama a major focal point of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.

Alabama’s economy shifted away from traditional industries like lumber, steel, and textiles due to increased foreign competition. New industries, such as technology and automobile manufacturing, emerged, with Huntsville benefiting from the opening of the George C. Marshall Space Flight ...Read more

In the Alabama language, the word for a person of Alabama lineage is Albaamo (or variously Albaama or Albàamo in different dialects; the plural form is Albaamaha).

The name “Alabama” first appears in written accounts from the Hernando de Soto expedition of 1540, with Garcilaso de la Vega using Alibamo, the Knight of Elvas using Alibamu, and Rodrigo Ranjel using Limamu.