Many people recall the United States including 51 or 52 states, not 50.

The interesting point is that the memories are fairly consistent, and include Puerto Rico as a state.

One teacher suggested this is a common misunderstanding.

The daughter of another teacher said that she clearly recalls her mother teaching students that the 52 states included Puerto Rico.

So, is this simple confusion or a glimpse into alternate geography in another timestream?

Ben Conroy said:

My experience doesnt involve a memory as much as a strange coincidence. For years I firmly believed there to be 52 states in America. Quite a shock when I found out there was only 50, After this, I must have asked 25-30 people (in Europe, as I’m Irish), literally everbody I met, how many states in America. Every one said 52. After I said there was 50, their reaction remained ‘oh yea. wierd.’ Maybe theres another explanation for it, but occasionally I still ask and hear 52! I encourage anybody reading this to ask people away from America (who wouldn’t know as readily) and see how many times 52 is replied!

Joy replied:

I’m from Portugal, and I thought it was 52 states in America too!

Victor agreed:

What the heck? I always thought there were 52 States in America. I’m from Brazil btw.

Jasper Allen (in the U.K.) said the same:

I was also taught at school that America had 52 states.

Siphakeme said:

i grew studying that the US has 52 states too

Kassia said:

52 States (I am European),etc, etc.

aragami agreed:

52 states in the US

miss_fionna said:

I also remember being taught that there was 52 states with Alaska being number 51 (even though at this point I only remember there being 50, and that was over ten years ago.

Kate said:

I seem to have a fuzzy memory of 52 states as well. And i remembered it was 52, because it was the same as the number of cards in a deck. Suddenly at some point it was 50, and I remember thinking…I ‘know’ it was 52. Suddenly teachers were telling me…’You’re confusing this with the number of cards in a deck” which I thought was weird because that’s how we remembered it as kids.

Pam said:

I can say that I live in the US and for some reason I could swear that 52 states has a familiarity. I know I have a couple times had to really think before I said 52 or 52 because I knew it was off somehow. Or I would reword my phrase to not mention a number because I just was not sure anymore.

David (who has an alternate Mandela memory) confirmed confusion about the states:

I am US History teacher in the US and my American students often mistakenly think there are 51 or 52 states at which I just shake my head and say,”kids today.”

I think it’s because there was a lot of talk about Puerto Rico becoming a state, which would have been the 51st… but it hasn’t happened yet.

L. said:

Also, I remember my mother always saying 52 states instead of 50 when I was growing up and getting annoyed because she was a teacher and thats such common knowledge.

Josh asked:

To the people who remember being taught about 52 States, do you remember the names of the other two?

miss_fiona said:

I remember arguing with our teacher over the number because I had been taught that there was fifty until that point. According to her Hawaii was the 51st state, but I don’t remember what she said was the 52nd.

Hoss listed the 52 states as he recalls them, including Puerto Rico and D.C.:

1. Alabama, 2. Alaska, 3. Arizona, 4. Arkansas 5. Colorado 6. California, 7. Connecticut, 8. Delaware, 9. Florida, 10. Georgia, 11. Hawaii, 12. Illinois, 13. Indiana, 14. Idaho, 15. Iowa, 16. Kentucky, 17. Kansas, 18. Louisiana, 19. Massachusetts, 20. Maryland, 21. Mississippi, 22. Maine, 23. Missouri, 24. Michigan 25. Minnesota, 26. Montana, 27. New Jersey, 28. New York, 29. North Carolina 30. New Hampshire, 31. Nevada, 32. Nebraska, 33. North Dakota 34. New Mexico, 35. Oklahoma, 36. Ohio, 37. Oregon, 38. Pennsylvania, 39. Puerto Rico. 40. Rhode Island 41. South Carolina, 42. South Dakota, 43. Tennessee, 44. Texas, 45. Utah, 46. Virginia, 47. Vermont, 48. Wisconsin, 49. West Virginia, 50. Washington, 51. Wyoming, 52. Washington DC

So, I think the question really is: In an alternate timeline, did Puerto Rico already become a state? Or, did the District of Columbia become one, separately or as well?

Or, is this simply confusion over districts, territories, and states?

Note: Comments that say that there really are 50 states in this timestream, will be deleted. We already know that. That’s exactly why 51 or 52 states seem like an anomaly, and worth discussing at this website.

Illustration credit: Addicted04, at Wikipedia.