One of the most important pieces of legislation ever enacted in the United States, the Northwest Ordinance, provided for the orderly division and governance of what would eventually become the states of the Upper Midwest: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. It laid out the steps to be followed in the progression from territory to statehood, beginning with a territorial period of limited self-government. When the population of free adult males reached 5,000, voters were to elect a territorial legislature, and once the population of free inhabitants reached 60,000 the territory could enact its own constitution and petition for statehood. The Ordinance also guaranteed basic political rights such as trial by jury and freedom of religion, and prohibited slavery (although this last was not always strictly enforced).
Source : Michigan Historical Calendar, courtesy of the Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University.
Digital copy of the original document from the National Archvies. A copy from Archiving Early America. Another copy with commentary. A short video clip from Encyclopedia Britannica. More information about the History of the Northwest Territory from the American Memory Project.
On this day, Colonel John Francis Hamtramck arrives in Detroit to command the American garrison. Only 5 foot 4 inches, he was known as a disciplinarian and for his hot temper. In 1962, he would be reburied for the 4th time in the city named for him.
Source : Detroit Almanac
Papers of the War Department, 1784 to 1800 Regarding Colonel John Hamtramck
The people of Grand Rapids are invited to check out the first store in Grand Rapids featuring Chinese goods exclusively.
Source : “First Chinese Store”, Grand Rapids Evening Leader, July 13, 1889, p. 1. Courtesy of the Grand Rapids Historical Commission.
On July 13, 1936, the temperature reached 112 degrees fahrenheit in Mio, the hottest day recorded in Michigan.
Source : Michigan History, July/August 2012.
Five died when a 10-foot wave hit Holland State Park on July 13, 1938. It was a calm day. In the past, researchers have said that water pushed toward Wisconsin after two days of powerful east winds barreled back westward, sweeping people off the Holland beach, pier and boats.
Seiches, or inland tsunamis, can slosh back and forth across the Great Lakes for hours, depending on weather conditions. For that reason, the National Weather Service recommends that people use caution when swimming in the Great Lakes or venturing out onto piers before or after a squall line passes through.
Sources:
Researchers find tsunamis on the Great Lakes“, MLive, April 27, 2016.
Geoffrey Reynolds, Fatal Wave, Michigan History, March/April 2014.
In September 1948, 104-year-old Joseph Clovese moved without fanfare from his native Louisiana to Pontiac to live with friends. Born a slave in 1844, Clovese had run away from his owner to join the Union army. He served as a drummer boy during the siege of Vicksburg before enlisting in the 63rd Colored Infantry. The Grand Army of the Republic, unlike most fraternal groups of the era, officially had no color bar, so Clovese was a longtime member of one of the New Orleans posts.
A few weeks after moving to Michigan, Clovese called the local newspaper to inquire about the nearest GAR post. The following day, readers were surprised to learn that Michigan had a new “last man standing” in Civil War circles. “Uncle Joe” Clovese became a minor celebrity, enjoying press coverage and birthday parties. When the GAR’s 83rd — and final — National Encampment was held in Indianapolis in 1949, its roster had dwindled to a dozen members. Six, including Clovese, were healthy enough to attend the reunion.
Clovese spent less than three years in Michigan. He was 107 and the last surviving black veteran of the Civil War when he died at the veterans hospital in Dearborn on July 13, 1951.
Source : Richard Bak, “Last Man Standing”, Hour Detroit, August 2012.
I think this would have to be the longest one I’ve ever hit.”
-Reggie Jackson, 1971
On July 13, 1971, Reggie Jackson nearly turned out the lights at Tiger Stadium by blasting a homer off a Dock Ellis pitch during the Midsummer Classic and hitting a transformer way above the nosebleed section in the outer right field.
Ernie Harwell said it was the hardest hit ball he’d ever seen.
Al Kaline said, “It was the hardest hit ball I’ve ever seen in my life, here or anywhere else.”
Do you know why this could only have happened during that era?
SIDEBURNS. IN DETROIT.
The ball hit the light tower in right field, where presumably, it exploded into tiny bits like a meteor re-entering the atmosphere.
“I think it would have gone 600 feet… He crushed it,” said Frank Howard.
Originally posted by Will “Sideburn Power” Jackson, “Today in Michigan History: Reggie Jackson hits the light tower in Detroit”, The Mitten State Blog, July 13, 2018.
On July 13, 1978, Lee Iacocca, who had developed the Mustang, was fired as president of the Ford Motor Company by chairman Henry Ford II.
(The next year, he was hired as president of Chrysler Corporation.)
Source: Michigan History, July/August 2015, p. 6
On July 13, 2012 the Elijah J. McCoy Regional Patent Office in Detroit, the first satellite patent office outside Washington, D.C., was opened, honoring an early African American inventor from Michigan.
Elijah J. McCoy, raised in Ypsilanti, patented the first automatic lubricator for locomotives and other machinery in 1872. His device was so effective “the real McCoy” became synonymous with anything genuine or authentic.
For the full article, see “Detroit Patent and Trademark office opens”, Detroit News, July 14, 2012.
What was the only #1 song recorded in a Michigan home?
“96 Tears” by Question Mark & The Mysterians back in 1966!
According to John Robinson, WFMK Disc Jockey:
As for what city Question Mark & The Mysterians were from, some sources mistakenly claim it’s Bay City, but Question Mark himself told me it was Saginaw; the band recorded the song on the back porch of the home of the band’s manager, Lillie Gonzalez. It’s been said that Gonzalez told people the song was recorded in Bay City at an unnamed house to avoid sight-seers.
96 TEARS was a #1 hit in 1966 for Question Mark & The Mysterians, originally written by Question Mark (Rudy Martinez) as a poem in 1962 titled “Too Many Teardrops.”
He later put the poem to music, re-titling it “69 Tears”…but fearing a song with that title would get no airplay, he re-named it yet again, this time as 96 TEARS. It’s been said to be one of the first Garage Band hits and was given credit for starting Punk Rock.
Mark still stands by his claim that he never takes his sunglasses off, even while sleeping or bathing. He also claims he was named “Question Mark” at birth!
Listen to 96 tears:
Source: John Robinson, “MICHIGAN HISTORY: What #1 Song Came From This Michigan House?“, 99.1 WFMK website, July 13, 2018.
By the way, John Robinson has just released a new book of rock and roll trivia:
