Ohio is a Midwestern state of the United States. Part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads.
Columbus is the capital of Ohio, near the geographic center of the state. Other Ohio cities functioning as centers of United States metropolitan areas include Akron (home of University of Akron and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company), Canton (home of Pro Football Hall of Fame, Malone College, and The Timken Company), Cincinnati (home of University of Cincinnati), Cleveland (home of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame), Dayton (home of University of Dayton), Lima (home of University of Northwestern Ohio), Mansfield (home of Mansfield Motorsports Park), Sandusky (home of Cedar Point), Springfield (home of Wittenberg University), Toledo (home of University of Toledo), and Youngstown (home of Youngstown State University).
On August 7, 1953 (the year of Ohio's 150th anniversary), President Eisenhower signed an act that officially declared March 1, 1803 the date of Ohio's admittance into the Union.
Under the Northwest Ordinance, any of the states to be formed out of the Northwest Territory would be admitted as a state once the population exceeded 60,000. Although Ohio's population numbered only 45,000 in December 1801, Congress determined that the population was growing rapidly and Ohio could begin the path to statehood with the assumption that it would exceed 60,000 residents by the time it would become a state.