1. In 1803, Ohio was admitted to the Union as the 17th state. December 1 is celebrated as Ohio Statehood Day, marking the anniversary of this momentous occasion.

2. The Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur, were born in Dayton, Ohio, on December 17, 1867, and August 19, 1871, respectively. Their groundbreaking work in aviation would change the world forever.

3. Ohio played a significant role in the Underground Railroad, which helped slaves escape to freedom before the Civil War. In 1851, the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue occurred, in which anti-slavery activists freed a runaway slave who had been captured by slave hunters.

4. The Ohio State Buckeyes football team won the very first College Football Playoff National Championship on January 12, 2015, by defeating the Oregon Ducks 42-20 in Arlington, Texas.

5. On December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed, killing 46 people. The bridge, which spanned the Ohio River between Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Gallipolis, Ohio, had been constructed in 1928 and was an important transportation link in the region. The disaster led to significant changes in bridge inspection and safety regulations.