20 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Omaha

20 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Omaha

1. Notorious “Goodfellas” gangster Henry Hill was sent to live in Omaha for the rest of his life as an “average schnook” after entering the witness protection program.
2. Since 2010, Omaha has been home to the “Tattoo League,” a fantasy football league that requires the last place finisher to get a tattoo chosen by the league’s winner each year. Past loser tattoos have features unicorns, Care Bears and Justin Bieber.
3. Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning famously loves yelling “Omaha” at the line of scrimmage. The popular sports blog Deadspin determined using “Omaha” almost always signaled the snap was coming on the next “hut,” except a few occasions a game, which frequently led to defenses jumping offsides.
4. Henry Doorly Zoo is also Nebraska’s number one paid tourist destination, having attracted more than 25 million visitors over the years. That’s about the same amount of people that live in all of Texas, and about 14 times the amount of people that live in the state of Nebraska.
5. The Counting Crows’ 1993 album “August and Everything After” features a song titled “Omaha.” According to lead singer Adam Duritz, the song isn’t about the city itself, but “how circular life is, how it turns people over the way the seasons turn over.”
6. There’s a good chance you know that Marlon Brando was born and raised in Omaha. You might not know that his mother, Jocelyn Brando, gave acting lessons to another famous Nebraskan actor, Henry Fonda, at the Omaha Community Playhouse.
7. Johnny Carson also got his start in Omaha. Carson moved to Norfolk, Nebraska at age eight, and started his broadcasting career at Omaha’s WOW radio and television network in 1950.
8. President Gerald Ford was born in Omaha, but his mother moved him to Oak Park, Illinois when he was just sixteen days old.
9. After completing meal at the Alpine Inn, you’re encouraged to toss your leftovers and bones out back for feral cats and raccoons to munch on out back.
10. Omaha also claims the “TV Dinner” as its own. Swanson popularized the concept in the early 1950s.
11. Brother Sebastian’s Steakhouse and Winery is designed to look like a monastery. A Gregorian chant plays as you enter, waiters dress like monks and the restaurant features a chapel and a library.
12. Not to be confused with John Goodman of “The Big Lebowski” fame, Omahan Johnny Goodman was the last amateur to win the PGA Tour’s US Open all the way back in 1933.
13. According to local legend, the corned beef, Swiss cheese, Russian dressing, and sauerkraut sandwich known as the Reuben was invented in Omaha by a Lithuanian-born grocer named Reuben Kulakofsky.
14. Nebraska, alongside Maine, is one of two states that splits electoral votes for congressional districts.
15. Buffett is famously the owner of the conglomerate company Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. Berkshire Hathaway probably owns a product you’ve used today, considering the company has whole or significant ownership of Heinz, Fruit of the Loom, Dairy Queen, Mars Inc., GEICO, Coca-Cola, and IBM.
16. Omaha boasts two football players who went on to win the Heisman Trophy: University of Nebraska RB/WR Johnny Rodgers, who won the trophy in 1972, and University of Nebraska option QB Eric Crouch, who home the trophy in 2001.
17. Actor Nick Nolte grew up in Omaha, where he was the kicker for Westside High School’s football team.
18. According to the Weather Channel, Omaha is the fifth coldest major city in America.
19. Creighton alumni and current Atlanta Hawks sharpshooter Kyle Korver holds the NBA record for most consecutive games with a three pointer. His amazing 127 game streak ended in March 2014.
20. With the Sapp Brothers water tower, Omaha is home to the world’s largest coffee pot—although we’re pretty sure there’s no actual coffee in it.