Indigenous peoples of varying cultures lived in Alabama for thousands of years before European colonization. These included tribes involved in trade with northeastern tribes by the Ohio River during the Burial Mound Period (1000 BCE – 700 CE) and ...Read more

After seceding, Alabama joined the Confederate States of America, and the Confederacy’s capital was initially at Montgomery. Alabama contributed about 120,000 soldiers to the war effort, though few battles were fought in the state.

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.

Among the historical tribes living in present-day Alabama at the time of European contact were the Cherokee, an Iroquoian language people; and the Muskogean-speaking Alabama (Alibamu), Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Koasati.

The “Alabama Fever” land rush occurred when settlers and land speculators poured into Alabama to take advantage of fertile land suitable for cotton cultivation after the state was admitted to the Union.

The Moundville Archaeological Site in Hale County, Alabama, was occupied by Native Americans of the Mississippian culture from 1000 to 1450 CE. It is the second-largest complex of the classic Middle Mississippian era, after Cahokia in present-day Illinois.

A company of cavalry soldiers from Huntsville, Alabama, joined Nathan Bedford Forrest’s battalion in Kentucky. Their uniforms had yellow trim, leading to them being nicknamed “Yellowhammer,” a name later applied to all Alabama troops in the Confederate Army.

The expedition of Hernando de Soto passed through Mabila and other parts of Alabama in 1540.

Alabama enjoys a lengthy growing season of up to 300 days in the southern part of the state.