February 9, 1934 was the coldest day ever recorded in Michigan history, according to the National Weather Service. It was 51 degrees below in Vanderbilt in Otsego County.
For the full article, see Zlati Meyer, “You haven’t lived here until… you complain about Michigan’s winters”, Detroit Free Press, February 9, 2014.
Pictured here is the last pre-war Packard to come off the line.
On February 9, 1942, production of civilian automobiles was halted across all manufacturers in Detroit, as the city shifted to wartime production and making Detroit the “Arsenal of Democracy.”
Sources :
Detroit Historical Society Facebook Page
Zlati Meyer, “Car manufacturing stopped for WWII munitions production”, Detroit Free Press, Feb. 7, 2015.
On February 10, 1763, England and France formally ended the French and Indian War with the Treaty of Paris, which officially transferred Michigan from French to British rule. By that time, English troops had already overtaken French forts at Detroit, Michilimackinac and St. Joseph and begun the shift from fur trades and forestlands to agricultural settlements.
Sources:
Michigan Every Day
Treaty of Paris, 1763, U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian.
The Detroit Symphony became the first orchestra to have a concert broadcast on the radio on this day in 1922. From 1934 to 1942, the orchestra performed for millions across the country as the official orchestra of The Ford Sunday Evening Hour (later the Ford Symphony Hour) national radio show..
Sources :
Michigan History, January/February 2013.
On February 10, 1923, the first annual meeting of the Detroit Historical Society was held, featuring a discussion of the Underground Railroad. Today, the Detroit Historical Museum features a permanent exhibit on the same topic.
Sources :
Detroit Historical Society Facebook Page
See the Detroit Historical Museum’s Doorway to Freedom – Detroit and the Underground Railroad exhibit.
In 1962, who announced his ultimately successful candidacy for governor of Michigan? Republican George Romney, father of Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney.
Source : Today’s Test, Detroit Free Press, February 10, 2012.
President Barack Obama held up the city of Marquette and Northern Michigan University (NMU) today as examples of how the United States can meet his State of the Union goal of having wireless Internet available to 98 percent of the country.
For more information, visit Obama Plugs Wired Marquette, Inside MIRS Today, February 10, 2011. Access restricted to the MSU community and other MIRS subscribers.
They pulled out all the stops tonight in tiny Frankfort, about 40 miles west of Traverse City, with native son Andrew Dost up for six Grammys with his band Fun.
About 200 townsfolk — one-sixth of the Frankfort populace — gathered at the Garden Theatre, where the red carpet was rolled out for the night’s big watching party and musical performances by the Frankfort High choir and brass ensemble.
“It’s just a big party,” said dad Mark Dost, minutes before the 8 p.m. telecast. “People are really supportive, and just want to celebrate the good news of Andrew and Fun being successful and having a chance to pick up a Grammy.”
Musicians Nate Ruess, Andrew Dost and Jack Antonoff of Fun — whose nominations include all “big four” Grammys, including album of the year — snared two key wins, including best new artist and song of the year, for the anthemic “We Are Young”.
Source : “Frankfort musician and friends have Fun. at Grammys; Band takes home two awards”, Traverse City Record Eagle, February 11, 2013.
Belle Isle became Michigan’s 102nd state park Monday as the state Department of Natural Resources began running the island park in a move that is expected to save the city up to $6 million a year and infuse tens of millions of dollars in clean-up and upgrades.
Access to the 982-acre island has been free and will remain so for pedestrians. But the state plans to begin phasing in a requirement that vehicle drivers have an annual recreation passport indication on their license plate to enter the park.
The passport costs $11 for vehicles and $5 for motorcycles and can be bought when drivers renew their license plate registration through the Secretary of State or at the park, according to the state Department of Natural Resources. The passport also allows drivers to enter any state park or recreation area.
The fee will help finance upgrades on the island, where conditions have deteriorated in recent decades when the park was run by the city.
For the full article, see George Hunter, “Michigan officially takes over operation of Belle Isle”, Detroit News, Febraury 10, 2014.
For another, see “Belle Isle becomes a state park today, improvements continue”, Michigan Newswire, February 10, 2014.
Craig Fahle, “The ‘New’ Belle Isle? : As the state eases into its transition game, some improvements are already underway — including more law enforcement”, Hour Detroit, June 2014.
A Winter World Record Trifecta
In what we believe is something akin to the spirit of the whole “when life gives you lemons” sentiment, the hardy folks of Michigan Technological University capitalized on the Keweenaw Peninsula’s famously cold, snowy winters by icing not just one but three world records on the same day.
On February 10, 2006, some 3,784 students, faculty, staffers and community residents gathered at Michigan Tech’s Sherman Field to clobber each other with snowballs, in what became the world’s biggest snowball fight; after which they all simultaneously flopped down in the snow to set the world record for most people making snow angels at the same time, in the same place.
And all this was done in the shadow of the world’s largest snowball—with a circumference of 21 feet, 3 inches—which a group of the burliest snowballers had rolled up earlier that same day. (The way we see it, that’s one record for every month they don’t have snow on the ground in Houghton.)
In 2009, though, one of Michigan Tech’s records came under siege when students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison attempted to best MTU’s snowball-fight record—but didn’t even come close. To this day, all three of Michigan Tech’s winter feats remain frozen in the record books.
For the full article, see “The World’s Longest Turd and Other Michigan Record Breakers”, Found Michigan, October 4, 2012.