Michigan is Amazing

March 31, 1976

Turning right on red was made OK.

A new traffic law went into effect, which allowed drivers to make right turns after stopping at a red light. The law was adopted in part to conserve fuel.

Thank you Michigan Start Pages for this glimpse into our past.  See more here.

March 30, 1815

Detroiters celebrated the war’s end.

The War of 1812 left Detroit impoverished. When word reached Michigan about the Treaty of Ghent, which ended America’s second war with Great Britain, Detroiters gathered at Ben Woodworth’s Hotel and held what is called a Pacification Ball to celebrate the war’s formal end.

Thank you Michigan Start Pages for this glimpse into our past.  See more here.

March 29, 1929

Fireworks were banned in Michigan.

Michigan becomes the first state in the Union to ban fireworks when the legislature adopts a law banning the use of fireworks by the general public. The law only allows displays by licensed operators.

Thank you Michigan Start Pages for this glimpse into our past.  See more here.

March 25, 1680

La Salle and his men left Fort Miami to explore interior Michigan.

French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and five other men left Fort Miami (present-day St. Joseph) to journey across the southern Lower Peninsula. Battling cold temperatures, snow, swamps and Indians, La Salle’s men reached Niagara on April 4, 1680, becoming the first Europeans to see the interior of the Lower Peninsula.

Thank you Michigan Start Pages for this glimpse into our past.  See more here.

March 23, 1984

The state’s first test-tube baby was born.

A woman from Hazel Park gave birth to the 7 pound, 13 ounce baby boy. Doctors had removed four eggs from the woman, fertilized them with her husband’s sperm, and then transferred one fertile egg back into the mother where the baby developed normally.

Thank you Michigan Start Pages for this glimpse into our past.  See more here.

March 19, 1845

Houghton County was created.

Located in the heart of Michigan’s Copper Country, Houghton County received its earliest settlers in the 1840s. After the Civil War, Houghton, named for Douglas Houghton, the state’s first geologist, boomed. During the 1870s, the county’s biggest copper producer, Calumet & Hecla Mining Company, mined 50 percent of the nation’s copper. By the beginning of the twentieth century, Houghton County’s 66,000 people made it the state’s fourth most populous county.

Thank you Michigan Start Pages for this glimpse into our past.  See more here.