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North Carolina boasts many first achievements in its rich history, among them the first public university in the U.S. (the University of North Carolina)- opened in 1789, Babe Ruth’s first home run in Fayetteville in 1914, the first Pepsi-Cola created in New Bern in 1898, the first miniature golf course in Fayetteville, the first gold nugget found in the country from Reed Gold Mine in Cabarrus County in 1799, and the Wright Brothers’ first flight in Kitty Hawk in 1903.
North Carolina was inhabited by approximately 30 Native American tribes, including the Cherokee, Catawba, Tuscarora and Croatans, prior to Spanish exploration in the mid-1500s and British settlement on Roanoke Island in the 1580s. Permanent settlers from Virginia moved into the North and South Carolina areas, known as "Carolina," in the 1600s. The Tuscarora War between Native Americans and European settlers occurred in the early 1700s, marking the east coast Indians’ last big stand against white settlement. In 1776 North Carolina became the first colony to vote in favor of independence from Great Britain, followed by the signing of the Declaration of Independence a few months later. North Carolina became the 12th state of the Union in 1789 and its capital was moved to Raleigh, from New Bern, in 1794.
In the late 1830s most of the Cherokee tribe was forcibly moved to Oklahoma by the U.S. government in the "Trail of Tears." North Carolina seceded from the Union in 1861 to join the Confederacy in the Civil War, and was brought back into it, following the war, in 1868. In the late 1800s textile and furniture industries grew rapidly in the state and by the 1920s tobacco had become an important crop. Military Fort Bragg was established in the state in 1918 during WWI. In 1943 the state opened Pembroke State College for Indians (now UNC-Pembroke), the nation's first public four-year college for Native Americans. The first ever sit-in of the Civil Rights movement occurred in Greensboro in 1960.
Anchored by three major research universities (Duke University in Durham, North Carolina State University in Raleigh, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) Research Triangle Park, a unique complex for organizations engaged in institutional, governmental, and industrial research, was established in 1959 to enhance North Carolina's economic growth. Along with this high tech expansion, today the state enjoys many noteworthy successes in the fields of education, industry and agricultural technology. Areas in North Carolina are routinely ranked as one of the best places to live in the U.S.
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