Tid Bits
Origin of Name: From Michigama, a Chippewa word meaning "great lake"
Statehood: 26th State, on January 26, 1837
Capital: Lansing (since 1847)
Nicknames: "Wolverine State," "Great Lake State," "Water Wonderland"
Mammal: White Tail Deer
Motto: If You Seek a Pleasant Peninsula, Look About You
Flower: Apple Blossom
Tree: White Pine
Bird: Robin
Hottest Recorded Temperature: 112 degrees F. (at Mio, on July 13, 1936)
Coldest Recorded Temperature: -51 degrees F. (at Vanderbilt, on February 9, 1934)

Why are we Unique? Michigan is unique. Why? Because it is the only state made of two peninsulas. A peninsula is a portion of land nearly surrounded by water. This is the only state on the mainland of the United States which is divided by water. The water of the Straits of Mackinac once kept the people apart. The Mackinac Bridge now connects the Upper and Lower Peninsulas.

Can you name all five Great Lakes?
These huge lakes are tied to our past, present, and future. They cradle Michigan and give it the unique shape of a mitten. Michigan's coastline borders on four of the five Great Lakes. They are Lakes Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. Which Great Lake does not touch Michigan? It is Lake Ontario. An easy way to remember the names of all five Great Lakes is to take the first letter of each and spell HOMES. The Great Lakes are quite important because they hold one-fifth of the world's supply of fresh water.

Did You Know?....
Sometimes called the Water Wonderland, Michigan has more miles of shoreline (3,288 miles/5,292 kilometers) than the distance from Maine to Florida. There's two square miles of water for every three square miles of land.

Before 1848 people who lived in Michigan were called Michiganians. In 1848 Abraham Lincoln (who later became a U.S. president) jokingly referred to Michiganians as Michiganders. Residents of Michigan now use both terms but still argue about which is correct.

Factories in Michigan make about one-fourth of all the cars and trucks produced in the United States.

By inventing and selling cold breakfast cereals, W.K. Kellogg and C.W. Post turned the small town of Battle Creek, Michigan, into the Cereal bowl of the World in early 1900s.

Michigan was once governed by a politician so young he was called the Boy Governor. Stevens T. Mason took over the governorship of the Territory of Michigan in 1831, when he was only 19 years old.

Can you name a Famous Actor, Athlete, Musician and Politician from Michigan?

Here's a few.

Actors & Directors
Francis Ford Coppola (born 1939) is a director, writer, and producer from Detroit. In 1974 Coppola won an Academy Award for directing The Godfather, Part II. Coppola's other films include Apocalypse Now and Peggy Sue Got Married.

Gilda Radner (1946-1989), from Detroit, was one of the original cast members of the late-night comedy show "Saturday Night Live," where she often played the characters Roseanne Roseannadanna and Baba Wawa. Radner played comedic roles in several movies, including Haunted Honeymoon.

Tom Selleck (born 1945) starred in the television series "Magnum, P.I." from 1980 to 1988. Selleck has portrayed handsome and lovable characters in several films, including Her Alibi and Three Men and a Baby. Selleck is originally from Detroit.

Lily Tomlin (born 1939), a native Detroiter, played a telephone switchboard operator and a five-year-old girl on the comedy show "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" in the early 1970s. Tomlin has also starred in several films, including All of Me.

Athletes
Gordie Howe (born in Canada 1928) holds the National Hockey League record for most seasons played (26) and most games played (1,767). Howe began his professional career at the age of 18 and played right wing for the Detroit Red Wing until 1971.

Earvin ("Magic") Johnson, Jr. (born 1959), from Lansing, was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1979 while a student at Michigan State University. Johnson became one of basketball's greatest guards.

Musicians
Madonna Louise Ciccone (born 1959), of Bay City, Michigan, is a singer, dancer and actress. Madonna's musical hits include "Vogue" and "Like a Prayer." The superstar has played leading roles in several films, namely Dick Tracy, A League of Their Own and Evita.

Diana Ross (born 1944), a native of Detroit, soared to fame with the Supremes, a leading pop group of the 1960s, while still a teenager. After leaving the Supremes in 1970, Ross continued to record hit songs, including "Endless Love."

Bob Seger (born 1945) is rock singer and songwriter from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band is credited with seven platinum albums.

Stevie Wonder (born 1950), a Grammy Award winning musician, was born in Saginaw, Michigan, and grew up in Detroit. Blind since infancy, Wonder recorded his first song at age 13. His pop hits include "Ebony and Ivory" and "I Just Called to Say I Love You."

Politicians
Gerald R. Ford (born 1913) was the first person to become president of the United States without being elected to either the vice presidency or the presidency. President Richard Nixon appointed Ford to be vice president after Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973. When Nixon resigned in 1974, Ford became the 38th president. Ford grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Coleman Young (born 1918), mayor of Detroit from 1974 to 1994, served Detroiters longer than any other mayor in the city's history. Young became one of the first blacks to be elected mayor in a city with a population exceeding one million.

Business Leaders
Henry Ford (1863-1947), born in Dearborn, forever changed the American way of life with the development of the affordable Model T, also known as the Tin Lizzie. Ford founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903.

Daniel Gerber (1898-1974), of Fremont, Michigan, began mass producing baby food in 1928 after seeing how long it took his wife to strain peas for their seven-month-old daughter. Less than 20 years later, the Gerber Products Company was selling five million jars of baby food a day.

Berry Gordy, Jr. (born 1929), founded the Motown Record Corporation in 1959. Motown, which became the largest independently owned record company in the world, launched numerous black musicians into successful careers. Gordy, from Detroit, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

Lee Iacocca (born 1924) became president of Ford Motor Company after producing stylish, affordable cars such as the Mustang. In 1978, after 32 years with Ford, Iacocca became president of the Chrysler Corporation, where he helped the failing automobile company survive. He retired in 1992.

Leaders
Malcolm X (Malcolm Little) (1925-1965), a prominent member of the Black Muslims (a black nationalist group) stressed the beauty and value of being black. Malcolm X, who grew up in Lansing, was shot and killed after speaking out against the Black Muslims.

Walter P. Reuther (1907-1970) moved to Detroit in 1926 and helped organize the United Auto Workers (UAW), the automobile industry's first workers' union. As the UAW's president from 1946 to 1970, Reuther helped autoworkers gain pay increases and unemployment benefits.