Cincinnati Trivia

Cincinnati has a rich and diverse cultural history, which makes it ripe for interesting facts about the city and its many residents over the years.  If you've lived in the Queen City for most of your life, like many of us have, then why is it called the Queen City?  What other interesting facts and trivia do you know about Cincinnati. 

Here is some great Cincinnati trivia you can use to stump your friends.

During the steamboat day, Cincinnati became known as the Queen of the West since it was one of the fastest growing cities.  Hence the name the Queen City.

The Porkopolis moniker came from the boom in pork packing in the mid 1880s.

Important Firsts

The first professional baseball team was the Cincinnati Reds.

Cincinnati was the first U.S. city to establish a Jewish hospital.

The Gibson Greeting Card Company, founded in 1850, made Cincinnati the first city to manufacture greeting cards.

Cincinnati was the first city to have a practical steam fire engine in 1853.  Soon to follow, the first municipal fire department and the first fire pole.

Cincinnati is home to the first ambulance service, started in 1865.

1880 made Cincinnati the first and only city to build and own a major railroad.

Cincinnati is the first city to have a major weather bureau.

Baseball got another first in the Queen City, making it the first city to have a night game under lights in 1935.

WCET TV was the first licensed Public TV station, which was formed in Cincinnati in 1954.

Fun Facts About Cincinnati

The Cincinnati Zoo is the second major zoo formed in the United States.  The white Bengal tiger was save from extinction here.

St. Mary's Cathedral-Basilica of the Assumption, located in Covington, KY, right across the Ohio River, is home to the largest hand blown stained glass window in the world.  It's 24 feet by 67 feet.

The World Peace Bell, located in Newport, KY, is the largest free swinging bell in the world, weighing in at over 66,000 lbs., and it 12 feet high by 12 feet wide.

There are only a few rivers in the world that flow south to north, and the Licking river is one of them.

The Roebling Suspension Bridge was the prototype used to help design the Brooklyn Bridge.

Cincinnati received a statue of Romulus and Remus from Mussolini and the Italian government.  Why, you ask?  Cincinnati is named after a Roman hero named Cincinnatus and has seven hills just like Rome. 

People

Daniel Carter Beard lived here, and helped to form the Boy Scouts of America.

Steven Spielberg was born here.

Cincinnati has been the home to three U.S. Presidents- Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison and William Howard Taft.

Fortune 500 Companies Headquartered In Cincinnati

Procter & Gamble

Kroger Company

Federated Department Stores

Cinergy

American Financial Group

See any interesting Cincinnati trivia we missed, add it in the comments.