Everyone thinks that they live in the best state, but you can’t really take them seriously unless they live in Maryland. Okay, that is a biased statement from someone that has never lived anywhere besides Maryland, but I am going to choose to believe it, and I have the facts to back it up. Here is a list of things I bet you didn’t know were from Maryland.
- Old Bay: Okay, well we all knew that Old Bay is a Maryland thing, it is in every household you enter in the state. This locally famous blend of spices was assembled in 1940 by Jewish immigrant Gustav Brunn. During this time, U.S. law mandated that every ingredient must be listed. Brunn was nervous that someone would steal his recipe, so he added small amounts of many unnecessary ingredients to throw off any competitor.
- Black and Decker: When you think of power tools, you think Black and Decker, and there is a reason for that. S. Duncan Black and Alonzo G. Decker formed Black and Decker in Baltimore in 1910. Decker is also a graduate of McDaniel College. Together they created the first portable power tool, the cordless drill, and from there have built a business selling every power tool imaginable.
- Crown Bottle Caps: In 1892, the cap to go over the glass lip of a bottle was patented in Baltimore. These caps got the name ‘crown because the cap was said to have resembled the crown of the British Queen. The caps and their 24 teeth would use an interior cork seal to keep the unopened sodas fresh.
- Gas Light: In 1816, the first gas light was used to illuminate the Baltimore Museum, which is now the Peale Museum. The gas light was a hanging fixture that would illuminate a room when connected to a fuel source and lit by hand. The founder of this light, artist and businessman Rembrandt Peale, later founded the Gas Light Company of Baltimore.
- Carrier Railroad: The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, or B&O Railroad, was the first railroad to transport people. At first, the tracks stretched 13 miles from Baltimore to what is now Ellicott City and relied on horses to pull the passengers and freight. Just a year later, the B&O Railroad began testing steam engines. You can see the original cornerstone laid in 1828 at the B&O Railroad Museum’s Roundhouse.
- First Commercial Ice Cream Factory: Ice Cream was known as an upper-class dessert until Dairyman Jacob Fussell started manufacturing itself in 1851. He made it affordable for everybody and sold it all over Baltimore. The demand was so large that Fussell had to relocate his business to Pennsylvania where he could build an ice house and factory. The ice cream was then transported along the B&O Railroad for the residents of Baltimore.
