Frog Jump Festival 2010, Ohio, United States

Frog jumping is a competitive pastime in which frogs compete to jump certain distances. Frog jumping contests are held in small communities scattered around the United States, as part of the folk culture. Frog jumping was made famous in a short story by Mark Twain, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." The annual event in Calaveras County continues, with 4,000 contestants entering the 2007 event. Participants entering the longest jumping frog were to win a $750 prize or $5,000 if their frog breaks the 1986 record of 21 feet, 5¾ inches set by Rosie the Ribeter.
"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is an 1865 short story by Mark Twain, his first great success as a writer, bringing him national attention. The story has also been published as "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" (its original title) and "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". In it, the narrator retells a story he heard from a bartender, Simon Wheeler, at the Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California, about the gambler Jim Smiley. Twain describes him: "If he even seen a straddle bug start to go anywheres, he would bet you how long it would take him to get to—to wherever he going to, and if you took him up, he would foller that straddle bug to Mexico but what he would find out where he was bound for and how long he was on the road."