Here are 40 Interesting Michigan facts.
1-5 Michigan Facts
1. Michigan has a bottle deposit of 10 cents, instead of the usual 5 cents. Their recycle rate is 97%, compared to 70% of states with bottle deposits, compared to 33% for states without any deposit laws. – Source
2. After 1250 gallons of mayonnaise went bad at Michigan State University last year, the school’s sustainability officer used an anaerobic digester to turn it into energy and power part of the campus. – Source
3. Automatic (switchblade, etc.) knives are illegal to own in Michigan, except for one-armed people. – Source
4. A Michigan Judge held himself in contempt after smartphone rang in court. – Source
5. A police department in Michigan staged a fake wedding with undercover cops acting as the bride and groom and invited local drug dealers to attend. At the reception, they busted them all at once. – Source
6-10 Michigan Facts
6. Idlewild, Michigan from 1912 until the end of segregation was known as “The Black Eden”, one of the few places where black Americans could fish, hunt, vacation, party and buy land in peace, without interference. – Source
7. A Michigan State University professor has created a transparent solar panel that can be used in building to potentially power the entire building. It can also be retrofitted to older glass buildings to still harness power. – Source
8. A man convicted of violating a century-old Michigan law against swearing near women and children challenged it in court and eventually won with the courts striking down the law. – Source
9. There is a Stonehenge like structure at the bottom of Lake Michigan with a possible Petroglyph of a Mastodon on one of the boulders. – Source
10. In 1934, Gerald Ford threatened to not play for Michigan football team because the school would not let his teammate Willis Ward, who was black, play against Georgia Tech, which refused to share the field with a black player. Ward talked Ford out of it and Michigan won. – Source
11-15 Michigan Facts
11. No point within the state of Michigan is more than 6 miles from a lake. – Source
12. A Michigan rock collector found an impressive 93 lb. Petoskey stone in Lake Michigan in 2015, only to have it promptly confiscated by authorities. The stone violated a Michigan law that states no more than 25 pounds of rocks or minerals can be taken from the Great Lakes per year. – Source
13. An anonymous donor pays for the college education of every student in Kalamazoo, Michigan. – Source
14. The city of Holland, Michigan, has 168 miles of tubing coiled underneath its streets, circulating hot water in order to melt any snow on the ground. – Source
15. In the city of Mackinac Island, Michigan, cars have been banned since 1898. – Source
16-20 Michigan Facts
16. The town of Singapore, Michigan, was eroded into ruins and covered in sand after the area was deforested for lumber to rebuild Chicago following the great fire of 1871. – Source
17. Michigan’s state motto is “Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice”: “If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.” – Source
18. Ypsilanti, Michigan is home to the “Brick d*ck”, a water tower officially recognized as the most phallic building in the world. – Source
19. The state of Michigan will let you permanently ban yourself from casinos for life. They can arrest you for trespassing and confiscate all winnings if you get caught. – Source
20. Michigan was the third jurisdiction in the world, after the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and Liechtenstein, to abolish the death penalty. They did so shortly after entering the Union, in 1846. – Source
21-25 Michigan Facts
21. An unlicensed architect built 31 “Fairy” homes in Charlevoix, Michigan. – Source
22. 70 percent of all potatoes grown in Michigan, become potato chips, making them the No. 1 state for chipping production. – Source
23. There is a private museum in Michigan, generally open only to paying Product Designers, which showcases thousands of failed products. – Source
24. Michigan has a second-tier DUI law, known as the “Super Drunk Law”, for BACs over 0.17. – Source
25. The first NHL outdoor game was held in 1954 at a Michigan maximum-security prison behind barbed wire and was “pros vs. cons” with the Detroit Red Wings playing against a team of convicts. – Source
