Michigan Trivia & Tidbits - Page 9

Looking for Michigan trivia? Try our list Michigan little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

In 1872, Elijah J. McCoy, an African-American inventor from Ypsilanti (pop. 23,045), invented an automatic lubrication device for machines. It was so effective that imitations were soon considered not “the real McCoy.”

first appeared: 2/15/2004

The state name is from michigama, a Chippewa Indian word meaning “great lake.”

first appeared: 2/8/2004

The University of Michigan’s mascot, the wolverine, is no longer found in the state.

first appeared: 2/1/2004

On Nov. 10, 1975, one of the most profitable iron ore carriers on the Great Lakes, the 13,000-ton Edmund Fitzgerald, disappeared in a snow squall as it neared Whitefish Bay in eastern Lake Superior. It was the largest ship ever lost to the lakes.

first appeared: 1/25/2004

It is said of this state that “if you seek a pleasant peninsula, look around you.”

first appeared: 1/18/2004

Nearly half of Michigan’s territory is water, and the state has more miles of shoreline—3,177—than any other state except Alaska.

first appeared: 1/11/2004

Michigan leads the nation in the production of dry edible navy beans, black beans and cranberry beans.

first appeared: 1/4/2004

From 1930 to 1950, Zeeland (pop. 5,805) was the state’s hatchery capital and shipped 300,000 chicks a day by rail and post across the United States, Mexico and Cuba.

first appeared: 12/28/2003

In 2001, Melvin Hemker of St. Charles (pop. 3,393) grew a world-record sunflower with 837 flowers on a single plant.

first appeared: 12/21/2003

By the 1880s, the Michigan Stove Co. made Detroit the nation’s stove capital and the company built a 25-foot-tall replica of a cast-iron stove for the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.

first appeared: 12/14/2003

In 1894, shoe clerk and woodworker Orville Gibson in Kalamazoo introduced his handcrafted mandolins and guitars with carved tops and backs instead of flat ones. He founded the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Co. in 1902 to manufacture the instruments. The company now is headquartered in Nashville, Tenn.

first appeared: 12/7/2003

The nation’s largest steam-driven pump, the Cornish, began operating in 1893 at Chapin Mine in Iron Mountain (pop. 8,154) and could remove 5 million gallons of water daily.

first appeared: 11/30/2003

In 1883, Edward Warren of Three Oaks (pop. 2,949) patented featherbone, made from turkey quill feathers. It cinched the market as the stiffening material used in corsets.

first appeared: 11/23/2003

More than 50 lakes lie within 10 miles of Brooklyn (pop. 1,176), which dubs itself the “Heart of the Lakes.”

first appeared: 11/16/2003

Platted in 1842, Buchanan (pop. 4,681) is named for U.S. Sen. James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, who sided with Michigan Territory during statehood battles. Buchanan became U.S. president in 1857.

first appeared: 11/9/2003

Platted in 1831, Berrien Springs (pop. 1,862) was named after John Berrien, attorney general for President Andrew Jackson. “Springs” reflects the area’s abundance of natural springs.

first appeared: 11/2/2003

In 1901, Annie Edson Taylor, a teacher from Bay City (pop. 36,817), became the first person to plunge over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

first appeared: 10/26/2003

A 4,300-pound weathervane, the world’s largest, stands 48 feet high in Montague (pop. 2,407) and honors the area’s shipping and lumber industry.

first appeared: 10/19/2003

From 1836 to 1855, stagecoach passengers traveling from Detroit to Chicago stopped for meals and lodging at Walker Tavern at Cambridge Junction, a state historic site.

first appeared: 10/12/2003

Rosie’s Diner in Rockford (pop. 4,626) was featured in 1970s television ads for Bounty paper towels starring Rosie the waitress (Nancy Walker). The 1946 diner was moved from Little Ferry, N.J. (pop. 10,800), and re-opened in 1991.

first appeared: 10/5/2003

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