The governor is encouraging every resident to take a moment and reflect on the "beauty, greatness and promise" of Michigan.
LANSING (AP) -- Michigan is celebrating its 175th birthday.
It was on this day, January 26 in 1837, that President Andrew Jackson signed the bill admitting Michigan as the nation's 26th state. Michigan first became a territory in 1805, but it was a long-awaited journey to statehood. Gov. Rick Snyder has declared today Michigan Statehood Day, and organizations around the state are celebrating.
Governor Snyder says in a release that "Michigan has a great past, but its best days are yet to come." The governor is encouraging every resident to take a moment and reflect on the "beauty, greatness and promise" of Michigan.
The State Theatre in Traverse City is handing out free birthday cake from 1-8:30pm for everyone who comes to the movies. You can even get free admission to the movies if you answer a Michigan trivia question correctly.
The Pure Michigan blog website is a place where you can find tweets and pictures from around the state.
Here are just a few facts on our Great Lakes State provided by the Michigan Humanities Council:
Detroit was the first capital of Michigan, not Lansing
Michigan has more lighthouses than any other U.S. state
The first soda pop manufactured in the U.S., Vernor's ginger ale, was created by accident in 1866 in Detroit
Michigan is the only place in the world with a floating post office - the J.W. Westcott II is the only boat in the world that delivers mail to ships while they are still underway
In 1879, Detroit phone customers were the first in the nation to be assigned phone numbers
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