THIS IS
MICHIGAN ...
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Detroit is known
as the car capital of the world.
Alpena is the home
of the world's largest cement plant.
Rogers
City boasts the world's largest limestone quarry.
Elsie is the home of
the world's largest registered Holstein dairy herd.
Michigan is first in the
United States production of peat and magnesium compounds and second in
gypsum and iron ore..
Colon is home to the
world's largest manufacturer of magic supplies..
The state Capitol with its
majestic dome was built in Lansing in l879.
Although Michigan is often
called the Wolverine State ,
there are no longer any wolverines in Michigan . However, one was
spotted in 2007, so there are some.
Michigan ranks first in
state boat registrations.
The Packard Motor Car
Company in Detroit manufactured the first
air-conditioned car in 1939.
The oldest county based on
date of incorporation is Wayne in 1815..
Sault Ste.. Marie was
founded by Father Jacques Marquette in 1668. It is the
third oldest remaining settlement in the United States
In 1817, the University of
Michigan was the first university
established by any of the states. It was founded by priests.
Originally named Cathelepistemian and located in Detroit . The name was
changed in 1821. The university moved to Ann Arbor in 1841.
The city of Novi was named
from its designation as Stagecoach Stop #6 or
No.VI.
Michigan State University
has the largest single campus student body of any Michigan university.
It is the largest institution of higher learning in the state and one of
the largest universities in the country. Michigan State University was
founded in 1855 as the nation's first land-grant university and served
as the prototype for 69 land-grant institutions later established under
the Morrill Act of 1862.
It was the first
institution of higher learning in the nation to teach scientific
agriculture..
The largest village in
Michigan is Caro.
Michigan's state stone,
the Petoskey, is the official state stone. It is found along the shores
of Lake Michigan .
The Mackinac Bridge is one
of the longest suspension bridges in the world connecting the upper and
lower peninsulas of Michigan . It spans five miles
over the Straits of Mackinac, which is where Lake Michigan and Lake
Huron meet. The "Mighty Mac" took three years to complete and was opened
to traffic in 1957.
Gerald R Ford grew up in
Grand Rapids and became the 38th president of the United States . He
attended the University of Michigan where he was a football star. He
served on a World War II aircraft carrier and afterward represented
Michigan in Congress for 24 years. He was also an Eagle Scout, the
highest rank in Boy Scouts.
The Kellogg Company has
made Battle Creek the Cereal Capital of the World. The Kellogg brothers
accidentally discovered the process for producing flaked cereal products
and sparked the beginning of the dry cereal industry.
The painted turtle is
Michigan 's state reptile.
The western shore of
Michigan has many sand dunes.
The Sleeping Bear Dunes rise 460 feet above Lake Michigan .
Living among the dunes is the dwarf lake iris the official state
wildflower.
Vernor's ginger ale was
created in Detroit and became the first soda pop made in the United
States . In 1862, pharmacist James Vernor was trying to create a new
beverage when he was called away to serve our country in the Civil War.
When he returned, four years later,
the drink he had stored in
an oak case had acquired a delicious gingery flavor..
The Detroit Zoo was the
first zoo in America to feature cageless, open-exhibits that allowed the
animals more freedom to roam.
Michigan is the only place
in the world with a floating post office..
The J. W. Westcott II
is the only boat in the world that delivers mail to ships while they are
still underway. They have been operating for 125 years.
Indian River is the home
of the largest crucifix in the world. It is called the Cross in the
Woods.
Michigan has the longest
freshwater shoreline in the world
Michigan has more
shoreline than any other state except Alaska .
The Ambassador Bridge was
named by Joseph Bower, the person credited with making the bridge a
reality, who thought the name, Detroit-Windsor International Bridge , as
too long and lacked emotional appeal. Bower wanted to symbolize
the visible expression of friendship of two peoples with like ideas and
ideals..
Michigan has more than
11,000 inland lakes and more than 36,000 miles of streams.
Michigan has
116 lighthouses and navigational lights. Seul Choix Point
Lighthouse in Gulliver has been guiding ships since 1895.
The working light also functions as a museum, which houses
early 1900's furnishings and maritime artifacts.
Forty of the state's 83
counties adjoin at least one of the Great Lakes .
Michigan is the only state
that touches four of the five Great Lakes .
Standing anywhere in the
state a person is within 85 miles of one of the Great Lakes .
Michigan includes 56,954
square miles of land area, 1,194 square miles of
Inland waters, and 38,575 square miles of Great Lakes water area.
Sault Ste. Marie was
established in 1668 making it the oldest town between the Alleghenies
and the Rockies .
Michigan was the first
state to provide in its Constitution for the establishment of public
libraries.
Michigan was the first
state to guarantee every child the right to tax-paid high school
education.
Four flags have flown over
Michigan - French, English, Spanish and United States .
Isle Royal Park shelters
one of the largest moose herds remaining in the
United States ...
Some of the longest bulk
freight carriers in the world operate on the Great Lakes . Ore carriers
1,000 feet long sail Michigan 's inland seas.
The Upper Michigan Copper
Country is the largest commercial deposit of native copper in the world.
The 19 chandeliers in
the Capitol in Lansing are one of a kind and designed especially for the
building by Tiffany's of New York .. Weighing between 800-900 pounds
apiece, they are composed of copper, iron, and pewter.
The first auto traffic
tunnel built between two nations was the mile-long Detroit-Windsor
tunnel under the Detroit River .
The world's first
international submarine railway tunnel was opened between Port Huron ,
Michigan , and Sarnia , Ontario , Canada in 1891.
The nation's first
regularly scheduled air passage service began operation between Grand
Rapids and Detroit in 1926.
In 1879, Detroit telephone
customers were first in the nation to be assigned phone numbers to
facilitate handling calls.
In 1929, the Michigan
State Police established the first state police radio system in the
world.
Grand Rapids is home
to the 24-foot Leonardo Da Vinci horse, called Il Gavallo. It is the
largest equestrian bronze sculpture in the Western Hemisphere .
The State Motto (written
in Latin) translates to:
"If you seek a pleasant
peninsula, look
about you."
Was that interesting or
what?
With all of the negativity
due to poor economics
and housing markets these days, let us try to remember and say something
positive about our beautiful and interesting Michigan !! We will strive
to thrive once again! It would also be a good thing to keep our
Michigan in our prayers and thoughts, too.
Thank you, and may God
bless our Michigan and her people.
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