History

Oklahoma native Gayla Peevey is the famous voice behind the 1953 hit song, “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.”

When people think of Oklahoma and its natural resources, it’s likely that oil comes to mind. However, it was a different black gold that fueled Indian Territory and present-day Oklahoma’s early economic growth — coal.

In 1909, oilman Bill Skirvin thought Oklahoma City needed a grand hotel.

Tulsa’s Hex House was inspired by one of Oklahoma spookiest, true stories.

As a teenager, Jack Zink built his first race car from leftover spare car parts. He quickly stepped up to stock and midget cars while earning a degree in engineering at Oklahoma State University. Before his racing career ended, Jack’s teams won the Indy 500 twice, in 1955 and 1956, created Pontiac NASCAR, and put the first turbine-powered race car on the track at Indy.

S&H Green Stamps were highly popular U.S. trading stamps from 1930s to the late 1980s. The stamps were distributed as part of a rewards program operated by the Sperry & Hutchison company. The rewards catalog was the largest publication in America with the company distributing three times more stamps as the U.S. Postal Service.

In history, few achievements happen by accident. Most are accomplished by leaders, such as Cyrus Avery.

Robert Jeremiah Love was a Chickasaw cowboy who created a family tradition of overcoming challenges and seizing opportunities.

In the mid-nineteenth century, Mazeppa Thomas Turner, born to Scottish parents in Virginia, married a Chickasaw woman named Laura J. Johnson.

In 1953 WWII veteran Troy Smith converted an old log home into an upscale restaurant in Shawnee. In front was a little root beer stand called Top Hat.

From 1898 to 1900, Anton Classen purchased several hundred acres of farmland north of 10th Street in Oklahoma City.

Leon Russell, born in Lawton but raised in Tulsa, is a musical genius who influenced artists such as George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Elton John.

Many people across the United States join to recognize the Mexican celebration known as Cinco de Mayo, which is separate from Independence Day.

On July 17, 1863, two Civil War armies met on a battlefield near present-day Checotah.

At a time when women could not vote, Kate Barnard blazed a path of activism and reform.

In the tiny town of Milburn, Oklahoma, stands a wonderful and well-preserved piece of Chickasaw Nation and Oklahoma history.

Tulsa’s Cain’s Ballroom was initially built as a car dealership in 1924. The property was later leased to Madison “Daddy” Cain, who added a neon sign with animated dancers and charged 10 cents per dance lesson. He called the place Cain’s Dance Academy.

During the summer of 1920, more than 200 Kiowa and Comanche American Indians gathered in the Wichita Mountains to shoot an 87-minute silent film called The Daughter of Dawn.

The state of Oklahoma’s first legal beer was brewed in 1934 by a Czechoslovakian immigrant in Yukon named John Kroutil.

The Oklahoma oil booms (1905-1929) attracted immigrants from around the world. After World War I, Lithuanian Jewish immigrants Sam, Maurice and Herman Sanditen moved to Okmulgee with business aspirations and in pursuit of the American Dream.

In 1928, Oklahoma City native Paul Braniff created Oklahoma’s first regularly scheduled air service – Braniff Airlines.