Bonnie Spencer, age 10, of Gastonia, North Carolina, for her question:

How did North Carolina get its name?

Your home state was named to honor King Charles I of England. This was when the kings of England thought that most of North America rightfully belonged to them. Way back in the year 1629, Charles I wished to make a friendly gift to his attorney general, Sir Robert Heath. The gift was a stretch of territory in the New World. However, perhaps he did not know much about the size of North America.

The kingly gift included what is now North and South Carolina and stretched westward as far as the Pacific Ocean. This enormous land area was named the Province of Carolana, which meant the Land of Charles. Later, Carolana was changed to Carolina. The eastern area was divided into the states of North Carolina and South Carolina. A number of other states were fitted into the space between their western borders and the Pacific Ocean. What became of King Charles? He was beheaded.