1

Pizza (Italy)

Image: Kelvin T

Let us get the obvious out of the way first. Pizza and America were a love at first bite. This delicious food was brought to America by Italian immigrants in the late 19th century. In 1905, Gennaro Lombardi applied to the New York City government for the first license to make and sell pizza in this country, at his grocery store on Spring Street in what was then a thriving Italian-American neighborhood.

These days, from New York to Chicago to California, Americans consume more than three billion pizzas a year.

2

Sushi (Japan)

Image: Vinicius Benedit

A Japanese dish that has been a hit for a couple of decades now is, of course, sushi . This elaborate meal arrived in the U.S. somewhere between the 1950s and 1960s, and it was popularized with the opening of Kawafuku Restaurant in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo.

Sushi restaurants began to open outside the confines of Little Tokyo, and the cuisine gained popularity, especially with Hollywood celebrities. Cosmopolitan cities like New York and Chicago soon followed suit with sushi restaurants of their own, and by the late 1980s, sushi was a full-on craze.

3

Burritos (Mexico)

Image: Kashish Lamba

Being a traditional dish from a neighboring country, it is no wonder that burritos are such a popular food in the United States. These Mexican delicacies first appeared on American restaurant menus at the El Cholo Spanish Cafe in Los Angeles during the 1930s.

North of the border, the burrito evolved to include a wider variety of fillings, such as rice, cheese, sour cream, and salsa, and it became a popular and customizable fast-food item.

4

General Tso’s Chicken (China)

Image: Sunday 133

As ubiquitous as Chinese food is in America, General Tso’s Chicken is an ubiquitous item in its menus. The dish as most Americans know it today was invented by Peng Chang-kuei, a chef from the Hunan province.

During the 1950s, Taiwan became a haven for classical Chinese cuisine. Peng opened a restaurant in the capital of Taipei and for years served food inspired by traditional Hunanese cooking, including the now-famous General Tso’s Chicken.

5

Gyros (Greece)

Image: irws

A beloved street food, Greek gyros have always been popular in the Mediterranean countries but gained popularity in the United States in the early 20th century when Greek immigrants began emigrating to the U.S. shortly after World War II.

A traditional Greek gyro is a dish made from thinly sliced meat baked on a vertical spit and served with a tangy sauce called tzatziki. It is most commonly made with lamb, but beef and pork are also available. In Greece, gyros are a popular meal choice.

6

Pad Thai (Thailand)

Image: Alyssa Kowalski

Pad Thai was born in Thailand during the time of World War II. The Prime Minister made this popular dish at the time because he was concerned about the country’s high rice consumption. So, to lower rice consumption, he encouraged citizens to eat more noodles—which Chinese merchants were selling at the time. The combination of Chinese rice noodles and native Thai flavors used for this dish eventually paved the way to creating what we call Pad Thai these days.

However, the delicious Pad Thai you might be familiar with from Thai restaurants in the U.S. is not a traditional Thai dish. Instead, it’s a nod to the American palate, introduced to the United States by Chinese immigrants who used "pad" as a catch-all term for any stir-fried noodle dish.

7

Coq Au Vin (France)

Image: Katherine Chase

Always associated with high cuisine, the iconic coq au vin was featured by Julia Child in her breakthrough 1961 cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. And she must have liked it because it was a recurrent dish on her PBS cooking show The French Chef.

This media exposure helped increase the visibility and popularity of the dish in the United States, and coq au vin was seen as one of Child’s signature dishes.

8

Ceviche (Peru)

Image: Pirata Studio Film

Ceviche is a Peruvian seafood dish that made its way onto American plates in the 1980s when Caribbean flavors came from Florida. In its classic form iced cubes of raw fish, marinated in a lemon or lime juice mixture, react with the citrus juices to cure the fish protein and cause it to become opaque and firm while absorbing flavor.

The essential ingredients of any ceviche are raw fish, citrus juices, and seasonings. So, it could be said that, while not a deal-breaker, being a fish enthusiast will definitely help you enjoy this delicious meal.

9

K-BBQ (Korea)

Image: Daniel Lee

Korean BBQ as we know it today began to develop in the 1940s and 1950s, following the Korean War when the US military introduced new grilling techniques and equipment to Korean food culture. In the following decades, Korean BBQ spread throughout Korea and eventually around the world.

During the past decades, Korean BBQ went from being something consumed by Korean immigrants and their descendants exclusively to something that can be found and is beloved in nearly all American cities.

10

Ropa Vieja (Spain)

Image: Medamedia

A strange name for such a tasty meal, Ropa Vieja is Spanish for "old clothes". The origin of the name comes from the legend of a poor man who shredded his clothes to feed his family, magically transforming the rags into a slice of beef and vegetables. Legends aside, this is a delicious meal that became famous in Cuba but can be traced back to Spain.

Cooking the meat is a labor-intensive process, but it’s very rewarding when done right. The dish is made the night before so the juices really seep into the beef, giving it an amazing flavor and texture. Ropa Vieja made its way through Florida and into the country.

1

Hoosier

Image: Corbin Mathias

Until recently, the United States Government Publishing Office (or USGPO) still recommended Indianian as the demonym for the state of Indiana, but its residents have been calling themselves Hoosiers for nearly two centuries. While no one really knows where the term originated, it was popularized by John Finley’s poem "The Hoosier's Nest", and Indiana has long been known as "The Hoosier State".

2

Bay Stater

Image: Pascal Bernardon

The USGPO might recommend the use of Massachusettsan , but the people of Massachussets strongly disagree. State laws and regulations officially refer to its residents as Bay Staters , after a common nickname for the state. Given that Massachusetts is formally a Commonwealth, the law also uses the phrase Citizen of the Commonwealth , but it's kind of a mouthful for everyday purposes. We’ll stick with Bay Stater.

3

Accidental

Image: Jeff McLain

One of the earliest settlements in Maryland, the town of Accident is not very big, but it makes up for it with its peculiar name. Naturally, the corresponding demonym for its residents is Accidental , though some sources also claim that the citizens of Accident are to be called Accidents .

4

Granite Stater

Image: Mark König

Much like Bay Staters, the residents of New Hampshire tend to disagree with the USGPO when it comes to their demonym. The official version is New Hampshirite (for the Federal Government, at least ), but locals favor the term Granite Stater , derived from New Hampshire’s nickname, "The Granite State".

5

Truth-or-Consequencesan

Image: Lachlan Donald

When the town of Hot Springs, New Mexico, decided to change its name to Truth or Consequences for a radio show contest, they either forgot to consider their new demonym or didn’t really care. While they are technically Truth-or-Consequencesans , they refer to the town as T or C, so they say that they are Residents of T or C .

6

Phoenician

Image: iStrfry , Marcus

Weren’t the Phoenicians an ancient civilization that created the earliest form of our alphabet? Yes, but those lived in ancient Phoenicia. The Phoenicians we are talking about are the residents of Phoenix, Arizona. Some claim that Zoner and Zonan are also common nicknames, but those could be used for any Arizona resident.

7

Nutmegger

Image: julio angel berroa

Connecticut might be officially known as "The Constitution State", but it’s also called "The Nutmeg State". The origin of this nickname varies according to the sources, but most point to a common scam where Connecticut peddlers would sell wooden nutmegs as the real thing. No matter the story, many Connecticut residents favor the demonym Nutmegger over the USGPO-recommended Connecticuter .

8

Yoopers

Image: Brad Switzer

Let’s be frank, some of the less-used variants for Michigan’s demonym sound really funny: think Michiganese , Michigine , and Michigoose (as a female version for Michi_gander_). But official names aside, residents of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula commonly refer to themselves as Yoopers , a derivative of U.P. (Upper Peninsula). Rumor has it that they call those from the Lower Peninsula Trolls , because they live ‘under the bridge’, but we can’t attest to this being true.

9

Jayhawk

Image: Nils Huenerfuerst

Nowadays, Jayhawk is a common way to refer to residents from Kansas, but this term didn’t always have a positive connotation. Its original form, Jayhawker, used to refer to thieves, and was used derogatively by Confederates to talk about the anty-slavery militias from Kansas. After the Civil War, Kansans appropriated the term as a memento of their state’s contributions to the war.

10

Lanstronaut

Image: Mick Haupt

Officially, if you live in Lansing, Michigan, you are a Lansingite . However, many Lansing residents have taken to using the term Lanstronaut in recent years, despite Lansing having more to do with the car industry than with space.

1

A searing summer

Image: Stacey Martin

1936 North American Heat Wave (July 4, 1936)

During one of the worst periods in American history, the Great Depression, a relentless heat wave scorched much of the country, pushing temperatures to unprecedented highs that still haven’t been surpassed in many places.

The heat wave is blamed for more than 5,000 deaths, widespread crop failures, and worsening the environmental disaster already unfolding in the Dust Bowl.

2

Dust blizzard

Image: Bernd Dittrich

Black Sunday Dust Storm (April 14, 1935)

One of the most extreme dust storms in U.S. history, Black Sunday was emblematic of the Dust Bowl era. In April 1935, a massive "blizzard" of dust struck the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and beyond, displacing an estimated 300,000 tons of topsoil and blackening the sky for miles.

The event devastated agriculture, displaced entire communities, and became a defining symbol of the environmental collapse that had been unfolding across the Great Plains for years.

3

The king of tornadoes

Image: Greg Johnson

2013 El Reno tornado (May 31, 2013)

This tornado set a record for width, possibly the widest ever documented in the U.S . On May 31, 2013, it expanded to a staggering 2.6 miles wide as it barreled south of El Reno, Oklahoma.

Doppler radar recorded sub‑vortices with wind speeds near 295 mph—among the highest ever observed—though damage assessments limited its official rating to EF‑3.

4

Straight‑line fury

Image: Moody Potato

2020 Midwest Derecho (Aug 10, 2020)

Beyond the challenges of COVID‑19, the 2020s were marked by an unusually destructive inland windstorm in the Midwest—rare for both its intensity and impact.

This derecho raced 770 miles across multiple states with wind gusts up to 140 mph, causing widespread structural and agricultural damage. To date, it remains the costliest thunderstorm event in U.S. history, with damages totaling more than US $11 billion.

5

Tornado armageddon

Image: Greg Johnson

2011 Super Outbreak (April 25, 2011)

The 2011 Super Outbreak—ominously nicknamed "Tornado Armageddon"—stands as one of the deadliest and most widespread multi-tornado events in U.S. history.

Over four relentless days, nearly 500 tornadoes tore through dozens of states ; April 27 alone claimed 316 lives. Overall damage surpassed $10.2 billion, cementing it as the costliest tornado outbreak ever recorded in the United States.

6

A storm to remember

Image: Patino Jhon

1993 Storm of the Century (March 12, 1993)

The massive nor’easter known as the Storm of the Century blanketed the eastern U.S. from March 12–14, 1993, permanently reshaping how winter storms are understood.

It delivered record snowfall—up to 56 inches in some areas—hurricane‑force winds, and sub‑zero temperatures, an entire arsenal packed into one deadly system. The destruction stretched from Canada to the Caribbean, causing $5.5 billion in damages and cutting power to more than 10 million households.

7

Wrath of the Mississippi

Image: Jonathan Ford

Great Flood of 1993 (April – October, 1993)

One of the most prolonged and costly inland floods in U.S. history, the Great Flood of 1993 resulted from record rainfall—over 40 inches in some areas—falling on already saturated soils from a wet fall and heavy snowmelt, overwhelming the Mississippi and Missouri River basins.

Between April and October, roughly 30,000 square miles were inundated across multiple states . At least 38–50 people died, damages reached $12–16 billion, and entire towns were submerged as levees failed and transportation networks collapsed.

8

Superstorm devastation

Image: NASA

Hurricane Sandy (October 22, 2012)

Also known as "Superstorm Sandy," this vast hybrid hurricane–extratropical storm struck the U.S. East Coast in October 2012, impacting 24 states. Its massive wind field— spanning nearly 1,000 miles —drove catastrophic storm surge into New Jersey and New York, while heavy rain, coastal flooding, and even blizzard conditions affected regions as far inland as the Appalachians.

Sandy claimed 160 lives, left over 8 million customers without power, and destroyed or damaged tens of thousands of homes and businesses. It was one of the costliest storms in American history and prompted major reforms in coastal preparedness and infrastructure.

9

Freshwater fury

Image: Matthew Rumph

Great Lakes Storm of 1913 (November 6, 1913)

From November 6–10, 1913, a massive winter storm swept across the Great Lakes region, bringing hurricane‑force winds and blizzard conditions . Ships capsized and sank, coastal towns were battered, and waves overwhelmed harbors across the lakes.

It remains the deadliest and most destructive natural disaster to strike the Great Lakes, with over 250 fatalities and catastrophic damage to maritime traffic and shoreline communities.

10

Whiteout chaos

Image: Zac Durant

The Great Blizzard of 1888 (March 11, 1888)

One of the most legendary winter storms in U.S. history, the Great Blizzard of 1888 struck the Northeast from March 11–14, dumping up to 55 inches of snow in parts of New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey . Snowdrifts buried homes, streets, and rail lines for days.

The storm killed more than 400 people and brought major cities like New York and Boston to a standstill. Telegraph lines collapsed, rail travel ground to a halt, and entire neighborhoods were cut off, prompting a long-term shift toward underground utilities and the expansion of subway systems in the decades that followed.