The name of the Alabama River and state is derived from the Alabama people, a Muskogean-speaking tribe whose members lived just below the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers on the upper reaches of the river.

The first capitol building in Montgomery burned down in 1849, but it was rebuilt on the same site in 1851. The second capitol building, designed by Barachias Holt of Exeter, Maine, remains to the present day.

“Dixie Alley” refers to the area of Alabama and Mississippi that is most affected by tornadoes, as distinct from the Tornado Alley of the Southern Plains.

About three-fifths of Alabama’s land area is part of the Gulf Coastal Plain, a gentle plain that descends towards the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico.

The Alabama Territory was created by the United States Congress on March 3, 1817.

Alabama ranks fifth in the nation for the diversity of its flora, with nearly 4,000 pteridophyte and spermatophyte plant species.

In 1960, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center was established in Huntsville, boosting Alabama’s economic growth by developing a local aerospace industry.

Hurricane Ivan caused over $18 billion in damage in Alabama, making it one of the most destructive storms to hit the state in modern history.

The largest city in Alabama by population and area is Huntsville.

A super outbreak of 62 tornadoes hit Alabama in April 2011, killing 238 people and devastating many communities.