Celebrating all things North Carolina on this special day

September 28th is National North Carolina Day, a day to celebrate all things NC. And along those lines, here are eleven things you may not have known about "The Old North State."

• North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the US Constitution on November 21, 1789
• North Carolina was the first state to establish a state symphony and state museum of art
• Population of NC: estimated at 10,146,788 as of July 1, 2016
• Ft. Bragg, NC, is the largest military installation in the nation in terms of population, housing more than 50,000 active duty personnel
• North Carolina is the number one producer of sweet potatoes in the US, producing more than half the sweet potatoes grown in the country
• In 1893, "Brad's Drink," a mixture of water, sugar, caramel, and other natural ingredients, became an overnight sensation in New Bern, NC. Five years later, inventor Caleb Bradham renamed his drink "Pepsi-Cola."
• Seven coastal lighthouses line the NC coast, including the nation's tallest lighthouse, Cape Hatteras
• The majority of the land now known as the State of Tennessee was originally part of North Carolina
• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is the nation's first public university, opening its doors to students in 1795
• North Carolina has the nation's second largest system of state-maintained roads, and became known as the "Good Roads State" in the 1920s
• The first official NASCAR stock car race took place in North Carolina -- the Charlotte Speedway, June 14, 1949