Yahoo Finance

The 94 greatest, quirkiest things about America

Aarthi Swaminathan · Reporter

In This Article:

A new Yahoo Finance survey confirmed that Americans are split about the direction of the country. Similarly, a recent Gallup poll found that only 47% of Americans are extremely proud to be an American — a record low.

Although Americans may not be feeling particularly patriotic this Fourth of July, they nevertheless can identify lots of things that make the country unique and desirable. With additional contributions from the editorial team at Yahoo Finance, below is a list of things that make America both great and one-of-a-kind.

The greatest and quirkiest things about America

  1. American cheese

  2. American Cornhole League

  3. Backyard gardens

  4. American barbecue sauce competition

    Behold, the barbecue sauces of Kansas City. (Image: Flickr/bk1bennett)
    Behold, the barbecue sauces of Kansas City. (Image: Flickr/bk1bennett)

  5. Black and white cookies

  6. Breakfast buffets

  7. Chicago deep dish pizza

  8. Cookie cake

    Mrs. Field’s makes a mean cookie cake.
    Mrs. Field’s makes a mean cookie cake.

  9. Cream soda

  10. Domino’s filling your potholes

  11. Double cheeseburger

  12. Electric scooters

  13. Girl Scout cookies

  14. Krispy Kreme Challenge

  15. Lacrosse

  16. Las Vegas food buffets

    The Carnival World Buffet at the Rio had just so much shrimp.
    The Carnival World Buffet at the Rio had just so much shrimp.

  17. Mad River Glen ski mountain in Vermont (owned by skiers and still has a single chairlift)

  18. March Madness

  19. Pro-wrestling

  20. Red cream soda

  21. Rent Is Too Damn High Political Party

    Candidate Jimmy McMillan want you to know about the Rent is Too Damn High party. (Image: Flickr/David Shankbone)
    Candidate Jimmy McMillan want you to know about the Rent is Too Damn High party. (Image: Flickr/David Shankbone)

  22. Shark Week

  23. Summertime cookouts

  24. Super Soakers

  25. Triple cheeseburger

  26. TV show reboots

  27. Waffle House that never closes

    Diners eat at a Waffle House restaurant decorated for Valentine’s Day in Atlanta, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
    Diners eat at a Waffle House restaurant decorated for Valentine’s Day in Atlanta, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

  28. World Cup 2026

  29. American music and movies

  30. Amazon

  31. Apple’s iPhone

  32. Baseball

  33. Beyoncé

  34. Broadway theatres

    Broadway! (Image: Flickr/Broadway Tour)
    Broadway! (Image: Flickr/Broadway Tour)

  35. Bruce Springsteen

  36. Capitalism

  37. Cheesesteaks

  38. Endless appeals system

  39. Entrepreneurs, especially immigrant ones

  40. First Amendment

    The Bill of Rights (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
    The Bill of Rights (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

  41. Foodies

  42. Ford F150 pickup truck

  43. Ford Mustang

  44. Freedom of speech

  45. Freedom to pursue your dreams

  46. French quarter in New Orleans

  47. ‘Friends‘ (TV show)

    “I’ll be there for you.” (Image: IMDB)
    “I’ll be there for you.” (Image: IMDB)

  48. Gay marriage

  49. Hot dogs and cheeseburgers

  50. Inverse and leveraged ETFs

  51. Kid sports (when the parents aren’t shouting)

  52. Kids helping each other out

  53. Levi’s

  54. Long Island

  55. Marvel Movies (Black Panther, Spiderman, Wonder Woman, X-Men)

  56. Monster trucks

    Who doesn’t love monster trucks? (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
    Who doesn’t love monster trucks? (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

  57. NASA and SpaceX

  58. National parks

  59. NBA games

  60. New Jersey beaches

  61. New York City

  62. On-demand apps (food delivery, wine, laundry – you name it!)

  63. Oprah Winfrey

    Billionaire media mogul Oprah Winfrey came from nothing. (John Phillips/John Phillips/Getty Images)
    Billionaire media mogul Oprah Winfrey came from nothing. (John Phillips/John Phillips/Getty Images)

  64. Regional foods (Maine lobster, Maryland crab cakes, North Carolina biscuits and gravy)

  65. Resiliency

  66. Road trips

  67. Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

  68. San Francisco restaurants

  69. ‘Saturday Night Live’

    It’s Wayne’s World. Party time. Excellent. (Image: IMDB)
    It’s Wayne’s World. Party time. Excellent. (Image: IMDB)

  70. Serena Williams

  71. Silicon Valley

  72. Snoop Dogg

  73. Sparklers

  74. ‘Star Trek’

  75. ‘Star Wars’

  76. Statue of Liberty

  77. Streaming services for “cutting the cord”

  78. Super Bowl

  79. Tina Fey

  80. That anyone can become an American no matter where they’re from

    Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Austria. Then he became governor of California. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
    Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Austria. Then he became governor of California. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

  81. The Atlantic Ocean

  82. The chance for anybody to become somebody

  83. The Grand Canyon

  84. The great American comeback story

  85. The Mooch

  86. The Pacific Ocean

  87. The Phillie Phanatic

    Phillie Phanatic is trouble. (Image: Pixabay)
    Phillie Phanatic is trouble. (Image: Pixabay)

  88. The Rio Grande

  89. Voting rights

  90. Warren Buffett

  91. Whoopi Goldberg

  92. William Faulkner

  93. Young women with big plans

  94. YouTube stars who rose from obscurity on their merit

and

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