• the Great Basin tribes of North America originated the Ghost Dance movement?
• the Endicott Pear Tree, located in Danvers, Massachusetts, is thought to be the oldest living cultivated fruit tree in North America?
• the Dunmore Pineapple was a folly where pineapples were grown in Scotland from 1761 and that it was built by the 4th Earl of Dunmore, John Murray, who later became governor of Virginia Colony in North America?
• the Saffron Parasol is actually a small orange mushroom found throughout temperate regions of Europe and North America?
• the Halloween Pennant is a North American species of dragonfly?
• the Ice Hotel in Québec, Canada, is the first ice hotel in North America?
• the Murat Centre is the only Shrine temple with a French name, and is the largest Shrine temple in North America?
• the Masonic Widows and Orphans Home, founded by the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, is the oldest Masonic Home foundation in North America?
• the Least Killifish is the smallest fish found in North America?
• the Coast Range Arc is the largest continental volcanic arc fossil in the world and the largest granite projection in North America?
• the bloody-red mysid (pictured), a crustacean native to the Ponto-Caspian region, has recently invaded the North American Great Lakes?
• the fossil horse Scaphohippus became extinct when tectonic barriers between the Great Plains and Great Basin of North America disappeared about 13 million years ago?
• the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Labrador was the first ship to circumnavigate North America?
• since its establishment in 1986, the North American Waterfowl Management Plan has spent $4.5 billion to protect wetlands used by migratory birds in North America?
• people of the Sonoran Desert in North America value the fruit of the Ferocactus wislizeni (pictured) as emergency food and also as a basis for confectionery?
• the Poltava Bandurist Capella, directed by Hnat Khotkevych, was the first Soviet ensemble to be invited to tour North America?
• the Texan schooner Zavala was the first steamship-of-war in North America?
• the Alpirod, a defunct 1,000-kilometre (620 mi) European sled dog race, was the longest competition of its kind outside of North America?
• the 2007 Indy Japan 300, an IndyCar Series at Twin Ring Motegi, was the only race in that series held outside North America?
• the VW Beetle's Think Small has been called the best North American advertising campaign of the 20th century?
• the Newfoundland Tricolour (pictured), a popular but unofficial flag of Newfoundland and Labrador, is one of the oldest flags of North America, and the oldest flag in the world to use the color pink?
• the North Pacific Gyre was responsible for depositing hundreds of lost Nike sneakers on the western shores of North America in 1991?
• the legendary Buenaventura River was imagined to parallel the significance of the Mississippi River within the western North America?
• the largest sports research library in North America is located on the grounds of LA's Britt House, a Colonial Revival mansion built in 1910?
• the famous horny toad of North America is not an amphibian but a reptile officially known as the Short-horned Lizard?
• the bright red mushroom Hygrocybe miniata is found in rainforest and eucalypt forest in Australia and meadows in Europe and North America?
• the most popular tourist attraction in Omaha has been voted the best zoo in America, with the largest cat complex in North America?
• the plant Erigenia bulbosa is known as "harbinger of spring" because it is one of the first plants to bloom in the hardwood forests of eastern North America each year?
• when Jester Center was built in 1969, it was the largest dormitory in North America, the largest building in Austin, Texas, and the largest building project by the University of Texas at Austin?
• the valleys of the Minnesota and Upper Mississippi Rivers were carved by Glacial River Warren, an enormous river which drained Glacial Lake Agassiz in central North America?
• the prehistoric badger genus Chamitataxus lived during the Late Miocene and is considered the most primitive badger genus in North America?
• the Phyllodon, a small herbivorous dinosaur from the Late Jurassic found in present-day Portugal, may have been closely related to North American dinosaurs?
• the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner is the farthest north daily newspaper in North America?
• the Rockies Express Pipeline, currently under construction, will be one of the largest natural gas pipelines ever built in North America?
• the railways of Jamaica were the first built outside of Europe and continental North America and the first in a British colony?
• the Pennsylvania Ministerium was the first Lutheran church body in North America?
• the Paragould Meteorite is the third-largest meteorite ever discovered in North America?
• the Stag-moose (Cervalces scotti) went extinct about 11,500 years ago, part of a mass extinction of large North American mammals toward the end of the most recent ice age?
• the Tremont Street Subway in Boston, Massachusetts is the oldest subway tunnel in North America?
• the library system of the University of Toronto is the fourth-largest academic library in North America?
• the University of British Columbia Library (pictured) holds the largest collection of Asian-language materials in North America?
• the Trumpeter Swan is the largest swan native to North American?
• one of the first acts of the Second World War on the continent of North America was the seizure of the German cargo ship Christoph Van Doornum by the Sheriff of Botwood?
• in the National Lacrosse League of North America, the Coach of the Year Award is named after the late Les Bartley?
• Caesars Indiana's The Glory of Rome is the largest riverboat in North America, and the largest riverboat casino in the world?
• Budweiser Bier Bürgerbräu, introduced in 1802, is offered by the Czech brewery in Europe as "Budweiser Bier", while in North America, is called "B. B. Bürgerbräu"?
• Bellot Strait is a 2 km passage of water separating Somerset Island from the northernmost point on mainland North America?
• Annadel State Park (pictured) is considered by some biologists to have some of the best preserved northern oak woodlands in western North America?
• Carl Rungius (pictured) was the most important big game painter and the first career wildlife artist in North America?
• Darwin Falls (pictured) is the tallest waterfall in Death Valley National Park and features a rare example of riparian greenery in the driest place in North America?
• Fort Caroline, near present-day Jacksonville, Florida, was the first permanent French colony in North America?
• Drayton Hall, built 1738–42, near Charleston, South Carolina, is considered one of the most handsome Neo-Palladian houses in North America?
• Daylight Saving Time was first legislated in North America in June 1917 by the former country of Newfoundland?
• Rabbi Avrohom Blumenkrantz's The Laws of Pesach—considered an authoritative text on the observance of Passover by many North American Jews—started as a privately distributed newsletter?
• publisher Gopal Raju, considered a pioneer of ethnic media in the United States, founded India Abroad, which claims to be the oldest Indian American newspaper in North America?
• Canadian scientist Bill Mathews was a pioneer in the study of subglacial eruptions and volcano-ice interactions in North America?
• Canadian police were called to a riot when "County Leitrim's favourite son" Pat Quinn brought The Rolling Stones to North America in 1965?
• aviation historian Randy Acord was awarded the Alaska–Siberian Lend Lease Award for his role in improving Russian–North American relations during World War II?
• "Pink Fairhead" is a common name for Calocybe carnea, a small pink mushroom of grassy areas in Europe and North America?
• France is the only former colonial power still to maintain territory in North America?
• Indian-American teenager Gaurav Raja memorized 10,980 digits of pi in 2006 to break the North American pi memorization record?
• North American helitack crews are airlifted into remote areas to "attack" wildland fires before they get out of control?
• Mount Veniaminof in the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge contains the most extensive crater glacier in North America, at roughly 5.2 miles (8.4 km) in diameter?
• Mayo hurler Adrian Freeman played in England, Scotland, North America and the Middle East before his recent death in an Australia car crash?
• Foundation 9 Entertainment is the largest independent video game developer in North America?
• goat meat (pictured) is becoming a more common food in North America, especially in upscale restaurants?
• Kawkab America was the first Arabic-language newspaper published in North America?
• Dermodactylus was the first pterosaur (flying reptile) named from North America?
• Arundinaria appalachiana is one of only three bamboos native to temperate North America?
• William Weston may have been the first Englishman to have led an expedition to North America?
• a circumferentor was an important tool to surveyors for mapping the North American frontier?
• although the freshwater snail Valvata piscinalis is widely distributed in some parts of North America where it is non-indigenous, it is endangered in some of its native areas?
• in the 17th century Jean Gery, a French deserter, later served as a guide and translator for the Spanish in North America?
• in October 2009 Canadian folk singer Taylor Mitchell became the first adult in North America known to have been killed by coyotes?
• at 2,300 miles (3,700 km) long the Missouri River Valley drains one-sixth of the United States, and is the longest river valley on the North American continent?
• Wayne Boden, a Canadian serial killer and rapist, was the first man to be convicted with the help of forensic odontological evidence in North America?
• The Mather School (pictured) in Dorchester, Massachusetts, is the oldest free public elementary school in North America?
• Mark Catesby published the first account of the flora and fauna of North America?
• John Rut sent the first known letter from North America and that it was from St. John's, Newfoundland on August 3, 1527?
• Interstate 10 in Texas is the longest continuous untolled freeway under a single authority in North America?
• infragravity waves generated along the Pacific coast of North America propagate across the oceans and contribute to the breakup on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica?
• Nathaniel Butler introduced the first potato found by Europeans in North America to Jamestown, Virginia?
• Pierre Abraham Lorillard was the first man to make snuff in North America?
• Shreve, Crump & Low, North America's oldest jeweler, built prestigious trophies such as the Davis Cup and the Cy Young Award?
• Puslinch Lake is the largest kettle lake in North America?
• pre-Columbian savanna once covered much of North America?
• "Gigantour," a six-week heavy metal music festival devised by Megadeth front-man Dave Mustaine, will travel North America in late-July?

Facts on topics related to North America

Americas

• Bartholomew Gilbert is responsible for the failure to establish a colony on Cape Cod in 1602 which would have been the first English colony in the Americas?
• La púrpura de la rosa is the first known opera to be written in and performed in the Americas?
• Partenope was the first opera written by an American-born composer?
• historian Philip D. Curtin challenged widely-used estimates that 20 million African slaves had crossed the Atlantic, estimating that 9.5 million had arrived in the Americas by 1870?
• the 16th-century Castillo de la Real Fuerza in Havana is the oldest stone fortress in the Americas?
• the map (pictured) by Piri Reis, a 16th century Islamic cartographer, is the oldest surviving Turkish map to show the Americas?
• the Academy of San Carlos, founded in 1781, was the first major art academy and the first art museum in the Americas?
• the Dresden Codex is the earliest known book written in the Americas?
• the first printing press in the Americas started operations in 1539 in a house in Mexico City that is still standing?
• the Norte Chico civilization is the oldest known civilization in the Americas?

Europe

• "Pink Fairhead" is a common name for Calocybe carnea, a small pink mushroom of grassy areas in Europe and North America?
• "experienced Euro watcher" Tony Connelly wrote Don't Mention the Wars: A Journey Through European Stereotypes, examining the stereotypical views of Europeans?
• blues singer Jesse Fortune, better known as the "Fortune Tellin' Man," passed on performing in Europe because he did not want to disappoint customers at his Chicago barbershop?
• Brazil has recently opened a commercial fishery targeting the Colares stingray, for export to Europe?
• Canadian-born Jim Koleff spent three decades in Europe as an ice hockey player, coach and manager after telling coach Dave Chambers that he would play in Italy for one year?
• Dorothea Mackellar wrote her patriotic Australian poem "My Country", which contains the line I love a sunburnt country, while she was homesick when travelling in Europe?
• Europe's most powerful supercomputer, MareNostrum, will be used in human genome research, protein research, weather forecasting and the design of new drugs?
• French geography professor Henri Enjalbert theorized that Albania, the Ionian islands and southern Dalmatia were the only European regions with grapevines following the last Ice Age?
• French Army soldiers killed between 15,000 and 45,000 Algerian civilians in the Setif massacre of May 8, 1945, the same day as V-E day in Europe?
• Germany is the European leader in Christmas tree production?

Caribbean

• West Indians Viv Richards and Hallam Moseley top the batting and bowling charts in List A cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club?
• election monitors described the behaviour of the people of Suriname during the 2005 Surinamese legislative election as a good example to the Caribbean?
• Trinidad has more bat species than any other island in the Caribbean?
• aboriginal whaling rights are granted to native populations in Greenland, Canada, the United States, Russia and several Caribbean island communities?
• Espiritismo is the Latin American and Caribbean belief that good and evil spirits can affect health, luck and other elements of human life?
• Ignatz Urban's type collections of Caribbean plants were largely destroyed in the 1943 bombing of the Berlin Herbarium?
• Jewish immigration to Puerto Rico began in the 15th century and that Puerto Rico has the largest and richest Jewish community in the Caribbean?
• Lancelot Blackburne was thought to have spent time in the Caribbean as a buccaneer as a young man, and lived openly with his mistress whilst Archbishop of York?
• Mary Anne Rawson (pictured) helped in the anti-slavery campaign that reduced the sale of sugar from the West Indies in Sheffield?
• Yrausquin Airport in the Caribbean island of Saba has commercial air service despite prohibition for airline airplanes to land there?

Continent

• Polar dinosaurs could have walked to Australia, because during the early Cretaceous the continent of Australia was still linked to Antarctica?
• four different continents host red fox populations?
• the Coast Range Arc is the largest continental volcanic arc fossil in the world and the largest granite projection in North America?
• the design of Notre-Dame-des-Missions-du-cygne d'Enghien in Épinay-sur-Seine, France was inspired by the architectural styles of five continents?
• there are only a handful of true freshwater lakes in Australia because of that continent's minimal amount of glacial and tectonic activity?

British North America

• the Canadian province of Nova Scotia has 11 universities, including the University of King's College, the oldest university in British North America?

Central America

• El Salvador has the highest geothermal energy production in Central America?
• Geoffroy's Spider Monkey (pictured) is the only Central American monkey species that occurs in all seven Central American countries?
• Nicaragua has the lowest electricity generation, the lowest percentage of population with access to electricity, and the highest dependence on oil for electricity generation in Central America?
• Centruroides limbatus (pictured) and Centruroides bicolor are Central American bark scorpions belonging to the same species group?
• all four remaining species of island raccoons (examples pictured), found only on small Central American and Caribbean islands, are considered endangered?
• in 1862, Senator Samuel Pomeroy of Kansas proposed the colony of Linconia to fulfill U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's vision for African-American emigration to Central America?
• in 2002 Nicaragua had 15 times fewer banks than its Central American counterparts with only six compared to the regional average of 107 per country?
• in addition to having Central America's largest roller coaster, Xetulul Theme Park has replicas of Moulin Rouge, the Trevi Fountain, and the Tikal Temple of the Great Jaguar? (replica pictured)
• members of the United States Marine Corps (pictured) that were stationed in Central America in the early 20th century have been credited with bringing the sport of baseball to Nicaragua, and popularizing it in the area?
• the Azure-hooded Jay, though not threatened with extinction, is uncommon in some parts of its Central American range?

America

• botanist Leonard John Brass was born and died in Australia, served in the Canadian Army, became an American citizen and did most of his fieldwork in New Guinea?
• Augustus Dickens, the brother of English novelist Charles Dickens, abandoned his blind wife in London and ran away to America with another woman?
• Dr. John Stevenson, 18th century Scottish merchant and developer of Baltimore, was known as the "American Romulus"?
• actor Frederick Baltimore Calvert toured America lecturing on the English poets and then toured England talking about America?
• the first Navy Minister of Imperial Russia, Nikolay Mordvinov, started his career serving on English ships in America?
• the first pilgrimage made by Christopher Columbus upon discovering America was to the Royal monastery of Santa Maria de Guadalupe, the principal house of the monastic order of the Hieronymites?
• the samurai Hasekura Tsunenaga led the first Japanese Embassy to the Americas and Europe in 1615?