Fact: The first four-way three-color traffic light was installed on the corner of Woodward and Michigan in 1919. (Photo via Flickr user Meesh)
Fact: Detroit is the only city in the contiguous United States where you can look south and see Canada. (Photo via Flickr user Tony Faiola)
Fact: During prohibition, smugglers would drive across the frozen Detroit River, bringing in tons of liquor from Canada. (Photo via Flickr user Timothy Fenn)
Fact: Richard Davis came up with the idea for the bulletproof vest after being held up while delivering pizzas in Detroit. (Photo via Flickr user BeezCombatSystems)
Fact: Nelson House, a plumber from Ferndale, started the Woodward Dream Cruise is 1995 as a fundraiser for a children’s soccer field. (Photo via Flickr user Pardee Ave.)
Fact: In 1909, Woodward Avenue between McNichols and 7 Mile became the first mile of concrete highway in the world. (Photo via Flickr user Ken Lund)
Fact: Detroit’s original Vernors is the oldest surviving ginger ale sold in the United States. (Photo via Flickr user Ben Dominguez-Benner)
Fact: The first depressed urban expressway in the U.S. (The Davison) opened to the public in Detroit in 1942. (Photo via Flickr user Doug Kerr)
Fact: Detroit radio station 8MK (still operating now as WWJ 950) was the first to broadcast regular news reports as well as the first play-by-play sports broadcast.(Photo via Instagram user @ciudadcitrica)
Fact: Aviator Charles Lindbergh was born in Detroit in 1902 before soon moving with his family to Minnesota. (Photo via Instagram user @hello142857)
Fact: In 1879, Detroit became the first city to assign its residents phone numbers, disregarding the old system of an operator directing calls to individuals. (Photo via Flickr user Jon Russell)
Fact: The J.W. Westcott II, a mail boat in stationed in the Detroit River, is the country’s only floating ZIP Code (48222). (Photo via Instagram user @O_M_S)
Fact: In 1924, Hudson’s in Detroit became the first department store in the U.S. to have air conditioning (it was also the tallest department store in the world until the ’60s. (Photo via Flickr user JasonParis)
Fact: The “Nain Rouge,” a small, devilish creature has often been spotted by Detroiters just before destructive or tragic events in the city. (Photo via Instagram user @pop_phenom)
Fact: Radio heroes The Green Hornet and The Lone Ranger both premiered on WXYZ (now AM 1270) in Detroit. (Photo via Flickr user Insomnia Cured Here)
Fact: Though it’s set in Detroit, the original “RoboCop” was actually filmed in Dallas, Texas. Recently, though, movies like “8 Mile,” “Gran Torino,” and the upcoming “Batman v. Superman” have all been filmed in The Motor City. (Photo via Flickr user GabboT)
Fact: Detroit presented the key to the city to Saddam Hussein in 1980. (Photo via Flickr user Amir Farshad Ebrahimi)
Fact: Gil Hill, who portrayed Axel Foley’s boss Inspector Todd in “Beverly Hills Cop,” was an actual Detroit homicide inspector who eventually served on City Council and unsuccessfully ran for mayor. (Photo via Instagram user @kris7stylez)
Fact: The Detroit Lions were originally known as the Spartans and played in Portsmouth, Ohio. The team moved to Detroit in 1934. (Photo via Instagram user @thisdayinsport)
Fact: The first number-one Motown single was The Marvelettes’ “Please Mr. Postman” in 1961. Motown’s first number-one album was Stevie Wonder’s 12 Year Old Genius. (Photo via Instagram user @sdjackson360)
Fact: Detroiters eat more potato chips than any other city in the world. (Photo via Instagram user @eliza3258)
Fact: Belle Isle is larger than Central Park, and the ice rink at Campus Martius is bigger than Rockefeller Center’s. (Photo via Flickr user Ayana T. Miller)
Fact: You could fit San Francisco, Boston, and Manhattan all into Detroit’s 139 square miles. (Photo via Flickr user Ken Lund)
Fact: Detroit has more bowlers than any city in the country. (Photo via Flickr user Anthony Easton)
Fact: Detroit’s theater district is second in size only to New York City’s. (Photo via Flickr user DDohler)
Fact: The Detroit Jazz Festival is the largest free jazz festival in the world. (Photo via Flickr user Knight Foundation)
Fact: Martin Luther King Jr. originally gave his “I Have a Dream” speech in Detroit at Cobo Hall, two months before he made the phrase iconic in Washington D.C. (Photo via Flickr user Andrew McFarlane)
