Wisconsin has a rich history. It’s one of the reasons why I love it here. Here are fifteen facts that you may or may not have known about the badger state.

1. The nickname "Badger State" didn't come from badgers living in Wisconsin.

The actual reason for the nickname was when lead miners would burrow into the hills for shelter rather than waste time and resources on a house.

2.Various Indian Tribes first inhabited the area.

The Chippewa, Menominee, Oneida, Potwatomi, and Ho Chunk lived in the area until the 1880s. I'm about 1% Native American, and I'm proud of it.

3. Jean Nicolet was the first European explorer to come to Wisconsin

He was searching for the Northwest passage to Chine. He crossed Lake Michigan and landed near Green Bay in 1634.

4. In 1672, The French claimed Wisconsin as its territory in the New World.

5. A year later, in 1763, France traded the territory to Great Britain.

This was known as the Treaty of Paris. Twenty years later, in Paris, the British reclaimed Wisconsin.

6. In 1787, Wisconsin became part of the great territory north.

This was called the Northwest Ordinance. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin were later created out of this area.

7. In 1848, Wisconsin became the 30th state to be accepted into the Union.

8. The Republican Party was established in Ripon, Wisconsin.

Alvan Bovay, in response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, led a meeting at a schoolhouse in Ripon to create a new political party that would later become the Republican Party. He wanted to defend against the expansion of slavery. The Republican Party was created on March 20, 1854.

9. From 1650 to 1850, Wisconsin's economy was strongly around beavers.

Before the French arrived, the most valuable animals in Wisconsin were white-tailed deer, catfish, turkey, and freshwater mussels.

10. Mining was huge in Wisconsin especially lead mining.

by 1829, there were more than 4,000 miners that worked in southwestern Wisconsin, and they produced 13 million pounds of lead a year. Native Americans also mined copper between 4,000 and 1,200 B.C.

11. Between 1890 and 1910, forest products led Wisconsin's developing industrial economy.

12. Between 1842 and 1861, over a 100 slaves escaped to freedom in Canada by Wisconsin residents.

But the details are scarce due to the fact that they had to conceal their work. Under the Northwest Ordinance in 1787, slavery was prohibited in Wisconsin, but because of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, citizens were forced to help return slaves that are escaping to their owners.

13. During the 1960s, University of Wisconsin-Madison gained a reputation for being a radical campus during the Vietnam War

Students and professors began teach-ins on the war in 1965. In 1967, students protested against the makers of the weapon napalm and the Dow Chemical Company who were recruiting students at the campus. In 1970, in Sterling Hall's east wing, a U.S. Army-funded facility believed to be contributing to the death and destruction in Vietnam, a bomb detonated outside killing Robert Fassnacht, a physics researcher, and injuring four others.

14. In 1932, Harold Grover created a new unemployment bill that became a model for the nation.

It was very successful. President Roosevelt appointed UW economists and Wisconsin natives Arthur Altmeyer and Edwin Witte to serve on the Committee for Economic Security in 1934. They created a program that established a national retirement age insurance system, federal-state unemployment insurance, and aid to people that couldn't work or dependent mothers.

15. The term "cheesehead" started as an insult.

During World War 2, the German soldiers used to insult to the Dutch.

16. Wisconsin's name comes from the Wisconsin River

Algonquian-speaking tribes called in Meskousing. Over time, the word was Anglicized into Ouisconsin later turned Wiskonsan, and finally turned into Wisconsin.

17. There are 7.446 streams and rivers and stretch for 26,767 miles from end to end.

That would be enough to circle the globe at the equator.

18. In 1867, the first practical typewriter was designed in Milwaukee

19. There are 15,210 miles of signed and groomed trails in Wisconsin for snowmobiles.

20. Frank Lloyd Wright was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin.

He was an American architect, interior designer, writer, and educator. He also went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

21. Mark Ruffalo was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin

He's an American actor, filmmaker, and social activist. He's known for playing Bruce Banner/The Hulk.

22. Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in Pepin County, Wisconsin, and spent some of her life in Wisconsin.

Laura Ingalls Wilder was an American writer known for the Little House on the Prairie series.