58 Fun Facts About Omaha

Omaha sits on the bank of which river?

Omaha sits on the west bank of the Missouri River, which forms Nebraska's eastern border there; the Platte joins the Missouri a short distance south of the city.

Omaha is the county seat of which Nebraska county?

Omaha is the county seat of Douglas County, Nebraska, named for Senator Stephen A. Douglas, the sponsor of the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act that created the territory.

In the Omaha language, the city's name means what?

The name comes from the tribe's own name, Umonhon, meaning 'Upstream People' or 'those going against the current'; Omaha is a Dhegihan Siouan language closely related to Ponca.

Omaha's pioneer period began in 1854 when speculators crossed the river from which neighbouring town?

Speculators from Council Bluffs, Iowa crossed on William D. Brown's Lone Tree Ferry in 1854 to claim the site, and the ferry helped earn Omaha its 'Gateway to the West' nickname.

Omaha was informally founded in 1854 at a picnic on Capital Hill, now the site of what?

Central High School now occupies Capitol Hill; the school opened in 1859 in the old territorial capitol building and moved into its present columned building, finished in 1912.

Omaha was Nebraska's territorial capital, but the state capital moved in 1867 to which city?

Lincoln, about 53 miles southwest of Omaha, became the state capital in 1867; the village had been called Lancaster and was renamed for the assassinated president.

In 1804 which expedition passed the riverbanks where Omaha would later be built?

Lewis and Clark passed the site in late July 1804 and held their first formal council with Plains tribal chiefs near present-day Fort Calhoun, about 20 miles north of Omaha.

Which railroad built west from Omaha from 1866 on the first transcontinental line?

Union Pacific built the eastern leg of the first transcontinental railroad west from Omaha, meeting the Central Pacific at Promontory Summit, Utah, on 10 May 1869.

Omaha hosted a world's fair in 1898 under what name?

The Trans-Mississippi Exposition ran from June to October 1898 on Omaha's north side, drawing more than 2.6 million visitors; President McKinley attended in October.

On 31 August 1898 Omaha's world's fair declared a special day in honour of which showman?

The exposition held 'Cody Day' on 31 August 1898 for Buffalo Bill Cody, a Nebraska resident whose touring troupe performed on the fair grounds that day.

By the 1950s, what share of Omaha's workforce was in meatpacking and processing?

Half of Omaha's workforce was in meatpacking and processing by the 1950s; the Union Stockyards closed in 1999, and only the Livestock Exchange Building survives on the site.

Which of these Fortune 500 companies is NOT headquartered in Omaha?

ConAgra Brands left Omaha for Chicago in 2016 after decades on a riverfront campus built over the demolished Jobbers Canyon warehouse district; the other three companies kept their Omaha headquarters.

Since 1950 Omaha has hosted which annual NCAA championship?

The College World Series first came to Omaha in 1950 and stayed, playing at a South Omaha ballpark through 2010 and at a new downtown stadium from 2011.

Before Omaha, the college baseball championship was held in Kalamazoo and then in which city in 1949?

The 1949 championship was played in Wichita, Kansas after the 1947 and 1948 editions at Hyames Field in Kalamazoo; the event settled in Omaha from 1950.

Which Omaha ballpark hosted the college baseball championship from 1950 through 2010?

Rosenblatt Stadium opened in 1948 as Omaha Municipal Stadium and was renamed in 1964 for former mayor Johnny Rosenblatt; it was demolished in 2012 and the neighbouring zoo took over the site.

Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo grew out of a public zoo opened in 1894 under what name?

Riverview Park Zoo opened in 1894 in south Omaha and was renamed Henry Doorly Zoo in 1963 after a $750,000 gift from Margaret Hitchcock Doorly in memory of her publisher husband.

The Henry Doorly Zoo's 13-storey desert exhibit, opened in 2002, holds what world record?

The Desert Dome's record is 'Largest glazed geodesic dome'; its glazing covers the world's largest indoor desert, and Kingdoms of the Night beneath it is billed as the largest nocturnal exhibit.

Which civil rights leader was born at University Hospital in Omaha on 19 May 1925?

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little at University Hospital in Omaha on 19 May 1925; after Ku Klux Klan threats the family moved to Milwaukee in 1926, and the Pinkney Street house was demolished in 1965.

Which US president was born in Omaha in 1913 under the name Leslie Lynch King Jr.?

Gerald Ford was born Leslie Lynch King Jr. in Omaha on 14 July 1913; his mother soon moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and he took the name of his stepfather, Gerald Rudolff Ford.

Which legendary dancer was born Frederick Austerlitz in Omaha in 1899?

Fred Astaire was born Frederick Austerlitz in Omaha on 10 May 1899 and began in vaudeville with his sister Adele; the AFI ranked him fifth among male screen legends.

Which two-time Oscar-winning actor was born in Omaha on 3 April 1924?

Marlon Brando, born in Omaha on 3 April 1924, won Best Actor for On the Waterfront (1954) and The Godfather (1972); Henry Fonda, another Nebraskan, was born in Grand Island.

Omaha native Alexander Payne set which of his films in the city?

Election (1999), Payne's satire of a high-school vote adapted from Tom Perrotta's novel, is set in Omaha; Citizen Ruth and About Schmidt were also shot in the city.

Which tennis player, a 2003 US Open champion, was born in Omaha in 1982?

Andy Roddick was born in Omaha on 30 August 1982 and won the 2003 US Open, his only Grand Slam singles title; he later lost four major finals to Roger Federer.

Which three-weight undisputed boxing champion was born and raised in Omaha?

'Bud' Crawford was the first male boxer of the four-belt era to be undisputed in two and then three divisions.

Which author of 'The Notebook' and 'A Walk to Remember' was born in Omaha in 1965?

Nicholas Sparks was born in Omaha on 31 December 1965; The Notebook (1996) was his first published novel and became the 2004 film with Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.

Which star of 'Bring It On' was born in Omaha in 1972?

Gabrielle Union was born in Omaha on 29 October 1972 and grew up in Pleasanton, California; she played rival cheer captain Isis in Bring It On (2000).

Which indie rock band was founded in Omaha by singer-songwriter Conor Oberst?

Bright Eyes formed in Omaha in 1995 around Conor Oberst's songwriting and broke through with 2005's I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning; 311 and Mannheim Steamroller also came out of Omaha.

Which sandwich was reputedly invented at a poker game in Omaha's Blackstone Hotel?

Grocer Reuben Kulakofsky gets the credit locally; the city marks Reuben Sandwich Day on 14 March, though a New York deli also claims it.

The Top 40 radio format was invented in the early 1950s at which Omaha station?

Todd Storz developed the Top 40 format at KOWH in the early 1950s, repeating the records jukebox patrons played most often, then bought stations such as WHB Kansas City to spread it.

Which frozen convenience food did Swanson launch in 1953?

The TV dinner was launched by Swanson in 1953 after the company was left with a surplus of Thanksgiving turkeys; salesman Gerry Thomas is credited with the idea and the name.

Skinner's, the first brand of which breakfast cereal, was introduced in 1926 by an Omaha company?

Raisin Bran was first sold as Skinner's Raisin-BRAN by Skinner Manufacturing of Omaha in 1926; the company lost exclusive rights to the name in a 1944 court ruling, and Kellogg's and Post followed.

Nebraska Consolidated Mills of Omaha made the first cake mixes sold under which brand?

Duncan Hines cake mixes were first produced in 1951 by Nebraska Consolidated Mills of Omaha under licence from the restaurant critic of that name; the business was sold to Procter & Gamble in the mid-1950s.

Which notorious energy company traces one of its main predecessors, InterNorth, to Omaha in 1930?

Enron grew out of InterNorth, the Omaha pipeline company founded in 1930 as Northern Natural Gas, which merged with Houston Natural Gas in 1985; the headquarters moved to Houston the following year.

Mutual of Omaha sponsored which long-running TV wildlife programme from 1963?

Wild Kingdom, hosted by Marlin Perkins with Jim Fowler, ran from 1963 to 1988 under Mutual of Omaha's sponsorship; the insurer itself was founded in 1909.

Who starred in the 1938 film that made Father Flanagan's Boys Town near Omaha famous?

Spencer Tracy won the Best Actor Oscar for playing Father Edward Flanagan in Boys Town (1938), opposite Mickey Rooney; the village is a separate municipality and a National Historic Landmark.

Boys Town was established on 12 December of which year?

Father Edward Flanagan opened his home for boys in downtown Omaha on 12 December 1917 and moved it to the Overlook Farm site in 1921; the village has its own post office and fire station.

Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha was the Cold War headquarters of which organisation?

Strategic Air Command moved its headquarters to Offutt in 1948 and ran the bomber and missile force from there until 1992; the wartime Martin plant on the base built the Enola Gay and Bockscar.

Which president held a strategy session in the bunker at Offutt Air Force Base on 11 September 2001?

George W. Bush flew from Sarasota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana and then to Offutt, where he held a video conference with his National Security Council before returning to Washington that evening.

Offutt Air Force Base was originally called what?

Fort Crook, an Army post built in the 1890s and named for General George Crook, gained Offutt Field in 1924 in memory of Jarvis Offutt, an Omaha-born First World War pilot; the base took his name in 1948.

The D-Day beach code-named Omaha was probably named by General Omar Bradley after what?

The accepted story is 'The hometown of a private on his staff': a carpenter at Bradley's headquarters came from Omaha, Nebraska, and Utah was likewise named for a colleague from Provo.

Creighton University in Omaha was founded in 1878 by which religious order?

The Jesuits took charge of Creighton when it opened on 2 September 1878 with 120 students, funded by Mary Lucretia Creighton's bequest in memory of her husband Edward, a telegraph pioneer.

Which political party adopted its founding platform at an Omaha convention in July 1892?

The Populist Party adopted the Omaha Platform at its first national convention in the city on 4 July 1892, nominating James B. Weaver and demanding free silver, a graduated income tax and popular voting for US senators.

Omaha's Old Market district was created by converting what kind of buildings?

Fruit warehouses of the old wholesale produce district, built around 1900, were converted into shops, restaurants and flats from the late 1960s; the district was listed on the National Register in 1979.

The Durham Museum occupies Omaha's former Union Station, a 1931 landmark built in which architectural style?

Designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood, it was Union Pacific's first Art Deco station and is clad in cream glazed terracotta.

The name of Omaha's civic society, the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben, is derived how?

Ak-Sar-Ben is 'Nebraska spelled backwards'; the Knights were founded in 1895 to stage a civic festival and ran Omaha's Ak-Sar-Ben horse-racing track from 1920 to 1995.

Which 634-foot building, completed in 2002, overtook Woodmen Tower as Nebraska's tallest?

First National Bank Tower, 634 feet and 45 storeys, was completed in 2002 and replaced the 1969 Woodmen Tower as Nebraska's tallest building.

In 1919, during the Red Summer, an Omaha mob burned which building while lynching Will Brown?

The county courthouse, a nearly new building, was set ablaze by a mob of thousands on 28 September 1919; Will Brown was lynched outside it, and Army troops under Leonard Wood restored order.

Which South Omaha immigrant neighbourhood was destroyed by a 1909 riot that drove its people from the city?

Greek Town in South Omaha was sacked on 21 February 1909 by a mob enraged after a Greek immigrant shot a policeman; most of its residents fled the city within days.

Roughly what was Omaha's population at the 2020 census?

Omaha's population was about 486,000 (486,051) in the 2020 census, up from roughly 409,000 in 2010; the wider metro area held close to a million.

Omaha's airport and a Nebraska cancer institute are both named for which Omahan?

Eugene Eppley, an Omaha hotel magnate who died in 1958, left a foundation whose gifts funded both Eppley Airfield and the University of Nebraska's Eppley Institute for cancer research.

Under what name did the Simon family found Omaha Steaks?

Table Supply Meat Company was the name J.J. and B.A. Simon chose for the Omaha butcher business they opened during the First World War; it became Omaha Steaks in 1966 after its mail-order trade took off.

Which Omaha retailer, founded by Rose Blumkin in 1937, did Berkshire Hathaway buy in 1983?

Nebraska Furniture Mart was started in 1937 by Russian-born Rose Blumkin, 'Mrs. B', in an Omaha basement; Warren Buffett bought 90 percent of it in 1983 in a deal sealed with a handshake.

Which Omaha theatre, founded in 1924, gave Henry Fonda his first stage role?

Omaha Community Playhouse opened in 1924; Henry Fonda made his stage debut there in 1925, Dorothy McGuire acted there as a teenager, and its building on Cass Street opened in 1959.

Which composer visited Omaha's Czech community in September 1893?

Antonin Dvorak stopped in Omaha in September 1893 on his way back to New York from a summer in the Czech settlement of Spillville; his 'New World' Symphony had already been completed that May.

Which Omaha record label gave rise to the 'Omaha Sound' in the late 1990s?

Saddle Creek Records grew out of the Lumberjack label started in 1993 and took its name from an Omaha street; The Faint and Cursive were among its 'Omaha Sound' bands.

In what year did Omaha's Union Stockyards overtake Chicago's as the US meat-packing center?

1955 was the year Omaha's Union Stockyards overtook Chicago's as the busiest livestock market and meatpacking center in the United States; the yards finally closed in 1999.

The Omaha Supernovas, inaugural 2024 champions, play which professional sport?

Volleyball is the Supernovas' sport: they beat the Grand Rapids Rise to win the Pro Volleyball Federation's first championship in May 2024, playing home matches at Omaha's CHI Health Center arena.

Which NBA franchise split its home games between Kansas City and Omaha in the 1970s?

The Kings, formerly the Cincinnati Royals, played as the Kansas City-Omaha Kings from 1972 with home games at Omaha's Civic Auditorium; the franchise moved to Sacramento in 1985.