With the repeal of prohibition, Governor William Comstock bought a bottle of Old Taylor, the first bottle of whiskey sold in the state.
Sources :
Historical Society of Michigan
Ken Coleman, “On this day in 1933: Michigan governor buys booze after Prohibition era ends“, Michigan Advance, December 30, 2021.
Born in Battle Creek but raised in Coopersville near Grand Rapids, Chuck Weeden Westover achieved fame in 1961 with the song “Runaway”, co-written with Max Crook. Boosted by Shannon’s appearance on American Bandstand, the song charged up the Billboard charts, selling as many as 80,000 copies a day. It hit No. 1 in late April and stayed there for a month. Two months later, it also reached number one in the UK. On the R&B charts, “Runaway” peaked at number three. Billboard later named it the Song of the Year. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after his death.
For the full story, see Richard Bak, “Del Shannon’s ‘Runaway’ Success Led to His Downfall”, Hour Detroit, July 2011.
Del Shannon Biography from Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
On December 30, 1936, Fisher Body workers struck this plant in Flint, Michigan, as the sit-down strikes against General Motors continued. Their primary objective was union recognition.
Violence erupted on January 11, 1937, as an attempt was made to halt food deliveries to the strikers. The street became a battlefield as gunfire, flying debris, tear gas and high pressure water hoses became assault weapons. Sixteen strikers and eleven police officers were wounded. Governor Frank Murphy ordered the National Guard into Flint on January 12.
On February 11, 1937, the strike ended when General Motors accepted the United Auto Workers as bargaining agent for all UAW members. A new era in American labor relations was born as the old open-shop policy of industry gave way to a more modern labor-industry relationship designed to promote justice, stability and mutual interests.
Sources :
The Flint Sit-Down Strike, Michigan Historical Markers website.
December 30, 1936 by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Sit-down strike begins in Flint. History.com
Remembering the Flint Sit-Down Strike, Walter P. Reuther Library Blog, December 17, 2010.
Jeremy Brecher, “The Flint sit-down strike, 1936-1937, Jeremy Brecher”, Libcom.org, September 4, 2013.
Ron Fonger, “75 years ago today, UAW made contract demands of GM as workers occupied Flint plants”, Flint Journal via MLive, January 3, 2012.
Photos from the Detroit News.
Michigan State Wildflower: Dwarf Lake Iris
In 1996, the Wildflower Association of Michigan sponsored an informal wildflower preference poll in newspapers throughout the state. The Association invited citizens to vote for one of six native plants for nomination as the state’s official wildflower.
The large-flowered white trillium garnered 1,733 votes to secure first place in the poll. The dwarf lake iris came in second with 1,479 votes. Following the dwarf lake iris were the Michigan lily, with 475 votes, wild lupine, with 386 votes, bloodroot, with 259 votes, and hepatica with 120 votes.
While the large-flowered white trillium grows throughout eastern North America, the dwarf lake iris grows only in the Great Lakes area and most of the world’s population of this iris is found within the borders of Michigan. The dwarf lake iris is considered threatened on the state and federal levels.
On June 12, 1997, House Bill No. 4923 was introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives. It proposed that the second-place dwarf lake iris be declared the state wildflower.
With the support of the Michigan Botanical Club, the Michigan Nature Association, the Michigan Natural Areas Council, the Michigan Environmental Council, and the University of Michigan Herbarium, State Representative Liz Brater of Ann Arbor introduced House Bill No. 4923 nominating the threatened dwarf lake iris (Iris lacustris) as the official state wildflower of Michigan.
No doubt one of the purposes of this bill was to draw attention to the causes of protecting the dwarf lake iris and conservation in general. Development of Michigan lake shorelines was threatening the habitat of this plant.
Bill sponsor Rep. Liz Brater was considered a leader on environmental issues and is the past Land Use Director of the Ecology Center. She served as the Vice Chair of Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs and the Agriculture, Forestry and Tourism Committees. In recognition of her leadership in protection of the environment, she was named the Sierra Club Environmentalist of the Year in 1996.
The Wildflower Association of Michigan did not react kindly to House Bill No. 4923 and called it “an outrageous power play by select environmental interests over the interests of the people of Michigan.”
The efforts of the Wildflower Association of Michigan may have been doomed from the beginning however. Promoted as a symbol of the state’s efforts to balance growth and conservation, the dwarf lake iris gained majority support because it was so unique to the State of Michigan.
House Bill No. 4923 was passed in both the House and Senate and signed, although not enthusiastically, by Governor John M. Engler on December 29, 1998 with an effective date of December 30, 1998. Evidently the governor was not a fan of “official state anythings.”
Michigan Law
The following information was excerpted from the Michigan Compiled Laws, Chapter 2, Section 2.81.
Chapter 2 STATE
STATE WILDFLOWER (2.81 – 2.81)
2.81 State wildflower.
Sec. 1.
The dwarf lake iris (Iris lacustris) is designated as an official wildflower of this state.
History: 1998, Act 454, Imd. Eff. Dec. 30, 1998
Source: Michigan State Wildflower
Michigan has told its biggest boosters that a deal for Jim Harbaugh to become its next head coach is done and that a news conference is scheduled for Tuesday, a source close to Michigan told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.
Even though the agreement is expected to be announced Tuesday, NFL teams such as the Bears, Jets and Raiders have continued making overtures to see if they can change Harbaugh’s mind, NFL sources told Schefter.
Michigan interim athletic director Jim Hackett and other officials from the school met with Harbaugh in California on Sunday night after he officially parted ways with the San Francisco 49ers. The agreement reached ended a nearly monthlong coaching search in which virtually any conclusion other than landing Harbaugh would have been deemed a disappointment in Ann Arbor.
Details about Harbaugh’s contract weren’t immediately available, but reports earlier this month suggested Michigan offered a six-year contract worth at least $48 million.
Harbaugh came close to taking the Michigan job in 2011 but decided to jump to the NFL, and the Wolverines hired Brady Hoke. Hoke’s record went steadily downhill during his four seasons at Michigan. He was fired after a Nov. 29 loss to Ohio State that guaranteed the program would not play in a bowl game.
Harbaugh played quarterback at Michigan from 1983 to 1986 before a long NFL career. The Palo Alto, California, native, who spent part of his childhood in Ann Arbor, has remained on the West Coast since becoming a full-time coach. He worked with the Raiders as a quarterbacks coach in 2002 and 2003 before taking head-coaching jobs at the University of San Diego, Stanford and then the 49ers.
Source : “Michigan to announce Harbaugh hire”, ESPN.com, December 29, 2014.
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, may be one of the most affable, easygoing politicians you’ll ever meet but when it comes to enemies, he sure can pick them.
Over the years, he has taken fire from both sides.
The late Rush Limbaugh savaged him on his radio show more than a decade ago for embracing more efficient lightbulbs and being too willing to work with Democrats. Glenn Beck called him “all socialist.” The conservative Club for Growth took out TV ads against him. And when he appeared to swing to the right after the Tea Party takeover of the U.S. House in 2011 and led efforts as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to curb greenhouse gas regulations, the American Lung Association went after him and the L.A. Times called him Earth’s biggest enemy, even though Upton has always maintained he has tried to balance environmental concerns with the economy.
Then there’s former President Donald Trump, who has labeled Upton as a RINO (Republican in name only) so many times, you’d think he has a horn.
Despite all of that, Upton — who on Jan. 3 will officially leave Congress after 36 years of representing southwestern Michigan and spending nearly a half-century in Washington — has staked out a remarkable career. It’s in no small part due to a genial nature, close relationships and a willingness to cross the political aisle, even if it meant a Democrat might score points, too — a fact he readily concedes, even if it’s a quality that has alienated Trump and other Republicans whom he says too often seek political “pelts” over accomplishments.
“Isn’t the country more important than this? That’s who I am,” he said. “(But) I’ve never been a rubber stamp.”
Legislatively, Upton can point to several significant achievements, writing legislation that increased reporting requirements after hundreds died in accidents linked to Firestone tires mostly in Ford vehicles in the late 1990s and passing tougher pipeline safety standards alongside the late Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, after a catastrophic oil line break in Marshall in 2010.
He also led countless efforts to help west Michigan — including spending decades on a project linking US-31 to Interstate 94 in Berrien County, which was finally completed this year. And as a key member of the Problem Solvers Caucus, comprised of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, he helped put forward and pass Biden’s signature bill to rebuild roads, bridges and other infrastructure that most House Republicans voted against. For that achievement — worth billions to Michigan — he received death threats.
As chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee from 2010-16, he led dozens of efforts and since then has continued to serve as a mentor and force for bipartisanship. “He’s one of the all-time greats,” said U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., who will take over as chairman of the committee in the new Congress and is a close friend of Upton’s. “He’s been an extraordinary leader.”
Perhaps most importantly, however, he wrote — along with U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., and with help from then-Vice President Joe Biden — the 21st Century Cures Act, a sweeping effort to accelerate medical advances. One of the last acts signed into law by President Barack Obama, it would help pave the way for a COVID-19 vaccine to be speedily brought to the public beginning in late 2020.
“Ultimately, it saved hundreds of thousands of Americans,” Upton said. “They were able to roll it out eight to 10 months earlier than it would have happened. We changed the law allowing the process.”
A descendant of the family that founded Whirlpool, the appliance company, Upton also is the uncle of model Kate Upton, who is married to former Detroit Tiger Justin Verlander. Before running for Congress in 1986, Upton worked at the Office for Management and Budget — and for former U.S. Rep. David Stockman, who was its director — during President Ronald Reagan’s tenure.
Source: Todd Spangler, “Easygoing Fred Upton departs Congress with many friends and a few well-known enemies“, Detroit Free Press, December 30, 2022; updated January 2, 2023.
Albert Sleeper was born on December 31, 1862, in Bradford, Vermont and was educated at the Bradford Academy.
In 1884, he moved to Lexington, Michigan, where he was a successful businessman owning several banks and extensive real estate. Sleeper also worked in mercantile industries.
Sleeper served in the Michigan State Senate, 1901–1904. The following year, he became a member of the Republican State Committee until 1907. Then he served as State Treasurer of Michigan from 1909 to 1913 under Governors, Fred M. Warner and Chase Osborn.
Sleeper was elected Governor of Michigan by a popular vote on November 7, 1916, defeating Democrat Edwin F. Sweet. He was re-elected to a second term in 1918. He served during most of World War I and started measures to supply men, provisions, and arms for the war effort. Also during his four years in office, a department of animal husbandry, a department of labor, and a public utilities commission were established. A county road system was advanced, a permanent state police department was founded, and the first driver’s license was issued. Sleeper signed the State Parks Act creating the State Park system and an epidemic of the Spanish influenza was dealt with. On April 19, 1917, Governor Sleeper created the Michigan State Troops Permanent Force (Michigan State Police).
In 1928, Sleeper served as a presidential elector for Michigan to elect Herbert Hoover as U.S. President. He died on May 13, 1934, in Lexington, Michigan, at the age of seventy-one and is interred at Lexington Municipal Cemetery.
In 1944, Huron State Park in Caseville, Michigan, was renamed Albert E. Sleeper State Park.
On this day, a three-day battle began east of Nashville, Tennessee, one of the bloodiest of the Civil War. 71 Michigan soldiers would lose their lives.
Source : Michigan Every Day.
For more information, visit Stones River National Battlefield
The 306-foot paddle-wheeler steamship SS Tashmoo was launched Dec. 31, 1899, and was one of the most beloved pleasure boats to cruise the Great Lakes.
She was built for the White Star Steamship Co. of Detroit and regularly took Detroit area residents on a two-hour cruise to St. Clair Flats, about 20 miles north of Detroit near Harsens Island The flats was home of Tashmoo Park, featuring a dance pavilion, amusement rides, bathhouse and swimming beach. (The park closed in 1951.)
One of the more humorous stories from the Tashmoo’s time on the Detroit River came when she ran away from home. The night of Dec. 8, 1927, saw a nasty winter storm with winds of 60 m.p.h. When White Star employees arrived for work the next day, they found that the steamer had vanished. Turns out, the gale had snapped the 14 heavy cables securing the steamer at the dock. The vessel had run away from home. It turns out she had drifted upstream, where she collided with the Douglas MacArthur Bridge to Belle Isle.
The Tashmoo was chartered for an evening cruise by a Hamtramck social group June 18, 1936, and was on her way home when she struck a submerged rock near Sugar Island, off Grosse Ile. The crew were able to proceed to Amherstburg, Ontario, and dock before the ship sank in 18 feed of water. All the passengers were safely off the boat before she sank, though legend has it that the band was so good that people did not want to leave.
Initially, it was reported that the Tashmoo’s wounds were minor and could be patched up. Unfortunately, the damage proved to be far worse than originally feared. When a salvage crew came and tried to lift the Tashmoo from the riverbed, it “broke the steamer’s back,” likely a combination of the hull damage, the weight of the amount of water aboard the vessel and improper bracing and salvage strategy. The Tashmoo was dead.
“The Doomed Steamer SS Tashmoo Photo Gallery”, Detroit News, July 13, 2014.
Dan Austin, Tashmoo, HistoricDetroit.org
On December 31, 1956 St. Martin’s notified John Voelker that they had accepted Anatomy of a Murder for publication. Coincidentally, Governor G. Mennen Williams telephoned that same day to offer John a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court to fill the remainder of a vacant term. Justice Voelker was sworn in as an associate justice several days later. At that time Michigan law required justices to stand for election at the next statewide election following their appointment to an unexpired term, so in addition to his court work and making revisions and corrections to the novel, he had to campaign for his court seat. He was elected by a resounding majority.
Publication of Anatomy of a Murder was scheduled for mid-September, 1957. However, the Book-of-the-Month Club chose the novel for one of its alternate selections and requested that publication be postponed until January 1958. St. Martin’s acquiesced, and the book was published in early January 1958. It was an instant success and quickly climbed the best-seller lists, staying there for over a year. St. Martin’s planned to have the book turned into a Broadway play and then a motion picture, and asked John Van Druten to write the play. Van Druten completed a rough draft of the script before he died in December 1957. Eventually Elihu Winer wrote his version of the play, which had its premiere at the Mill Run Theater in the Chicago suburbs in 1963. Meanwhile, St. Martin’s had made the film rights available, and they were finally acquired by Otto Preminger. All of the filming was done in Marquette County, and the film was very successful.
Now assured of an adequate income, Voelker resigned from the Michigan Supreme Court in January 1960 to devote his time to fishing and writing. He was quoted as saying, “Others can write my opinions, but no one else can write my books.” Some people would dispute that as his opinions have been termed the most literate opinions ever to be handed down from the Michigan high court.
Source : Anatomy of a Murder 50th Anniversary, Northern Michigan University website.
Note: Photo o John D. Voelker (right) in the trailer for Anatomy of a Murder, with filmmaker Otto Preminger (left)