Mississippi derived its name from the Mississippi River, which flows along the western boundary. The term "mississippi", an old form of Native American language Ojibwe, means something like "big waters." Indeed, the Mississippi River is the largest in the country and is the nation's chief waterway.

The most well-known nickname for Mississippi is 'The Magnolia State' in appreciation of the splendor of the Magnolia Tree. The Magnolia tree blossom is the official State Flower.

Flowers were also instrumental when Mississippi started the now famous Memorial Day celebration. It began in 1866, a year after the Civil War. Despite suffering the largest percentage of people who died in the war of any Confederate State, Mississippi ladies trooped to Friendship Cemetery in Columbus and laid both Confederate and Union soldiers' graves with wreaths. The gesture was greatly valued and the cemetery has since been called 'Where Flowers Healed a Nation'.

Another good Mississippian deed remembered is the act of Captain Isaac Ross. In 1834, the Captain freed his slaves and arranged for them to be sent to Africa, where they founded the country of Liberia. The Captain's gravesite in Lorman bears a memorial in honor of his kindness.

It is also 'an act of kindness' that resulted to the creation of the world-famous 'teddy bear' when in 1902, while on a hunting expedition in Sharkey County, President Theodore 'Teddy' Roosevelt refused to shoot a captured bear.

The world's first human heart and human lung transplants – in 1963 and 1964 respectively, were both performed in the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and praised as modern Mississippi's great service to humanity.

• The Official State Web Site of Mississippi