January 26: Michigan Admission Day

Today is Michigan Admission Day. Michigan became the 26th state on this day in 1837. Here are ten things you might know about the US state of Michigan.

Lake Michigan

1. The name of the state comes from an Algonquian Chippewa Indian word "meicigama" which means "big water", referring to the Great Lakes.
2. 40% of Michigan is covered in Water - more than any other state. Michigan isn't by the sea but has the longest freshwater shoreline in the world and more shoreline than any other state apart from Alaska. No point in the state is more than 6 miles from a lake, or more than 85 miles of one of the great lakes.
3. 40 feet below the surface of Lake Michigan is a stone formation thought to have been parallel to an ancient shoreline. One of the stones is said to have a carving of a mastodon on it. The stones were discovered in 2007 by Mark Holley, professor of underwater archaeology at Northwestern Michigan College, although they have yet to be authenticated.
4. The state motto is "Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam, circum spice" which translates as "If you are seeking a amenable (pleasant) peninsula, look around you." The state consists of two peninsulas, the Lower and the Upper.
5. Michagan is sometimes called "The Wolverine State" despite the fact there are no longer any wolverines there. The state mammal is actually the White-tailed deer.
6. The capital is Lansing, and the largest city is Detroit, which is known as the car capital of the world, or Motor City. It's also the home of Motown music. Other towns have claims to fame in other fields, such as Battle Creek, the Cereal Capital of the World, and Colon, home to the world's largest manufacturer of magic supplies. There is even a town called Hell, which sometimes freezes over.
7. The state is also home to the world's largest cement plant, the world's largest limestone quarry, the world's largest registered Holstein dairy herd and the world’s largest weathervane. It is 48 feet tall with an arrow 26 feet long.
8. In 1835, Michigan went to war with neighbouring state Ohio, over which of them owned the city of Toledo.
9. Famous people from Michigan include basketball player Magic Johnson, singers Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, Alice Cooper, Madonna, Suzi Quatro and Diana Ross, Rapper Eminem, actors Lily Tomlin, Gillian Anderson and Burt Reynolds, and former President Gerald Ford.
10. Some of the state's wacky laws include: Dogs cannot go out alone after sunset; A woman must not cut her Hair without her husband’s permission; It is illegal in Harper Woods to paint Sparrows to sell them as parakeets; only one-armed people can own automatic (switchblade, etc.) knives; and there is a 10 cent bounty for every Rat’s head brought into a town office.

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