Can you guess which state is the nation’s 46th? What if we gave you a hint and wished all the Sooners out there a happy birthday. Still no luck? It’s Oklahoma’s birthday!

So why do we call Oklahoma the Sooner State? We went to netstate.com to find out!

“Unassigned Lands” in Oklahoma were offered to settlers through a series of “Land Openings” where newcomers initially competed for the land in horse races. The Land Run of 1889 began the process of disposing of these Unassigned Lands. The Homestead Act of 1862 provided that a legal settler could claim 160 acres of public land, and those who lived on and improved the claim for five years could receive title.

People who entered the district illegally to lay claim to lands, before the designated entry time, were called “Sooners.” The name came from a section in the Indian Appropriations Act of March 2, 1889, that said that nobody would be permitted to enter upon and occupy the land before the time designated in the President’s opening proclamation and that those that did would be denied rights to the land. This section became known as the “sooner clause.”

You learn something new everyday!