Just a few of many Michigan "firsts"

Pick any subject and you will find that Michigan was always "leading the way" - here is a list to get you started.

1849 - The Michigan State Fair was the first state fair in the United States.

1855 - Michigan State University was founded as the nation's first land-grant university and served as the prototype for 69 land-grant institutions later established under the Morrill Act of 1862. It was the first institution of higher learning in the nation to teach scientific agriculture.

1866 - Vernors ginger ale became the first soda pop made in the United States by James Vernor and Company, Detroit. Mr. Vernor concocted and sold his ginger ale at his drug store.

1872 - Elijah J. McCoy, a black inventor raised in Ypsilanti, patented the first automatic lubrication system for locomotives and other machinery. The device was so effective it was difficult to sell imitations that were not "the real McCoy"; McCoy's name became synonymous with anything genuine or authentic.

1879 - Detroit telephone customers were first in the nation to be assigned phone numbers to facilitate handling calls.

1891 - The world's first international submarine railway tunnel was opened between Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario.

1896 - The nation's first carpet sweeper was invented and patented by Melville R. Bissell of Grand Rapids.

1909 - First rural mile of concrete pavement in the U.S. opened in Wayne County. It was constructed on Woodward Avenue between McNichols Road (Six Mile) and Seven Mile Road at a cost of $13,534.59.

1910 - U.S. Census placed Michigan first in the nation in the manufacture of automobiles.

1913 - The Ford Motor Company introduced the first moving automobile assembly line at Highland Park.

1917 - Michigan was credited with painting the first center line on a state highway-the Marquette to Negaunee Road.

1919 - The legislature granted the Michigan Secretary of State power to discipline careless drivers, leading to today's point system for driving infractions.

1920 - The first four-way traffic signal with red, green and amber lights appeared in Detroit. Designed by William L. Potts of the Detroit Police Department, the light was placed at the intersection of Woodward Avenue and Fort Street.

1920 - GMC became the first company to develop research laboratories under the direction of Charles Kettering.

1920 - WWJ began commercial broadcasting of regular programs. It was the first such radio station in the nation.

1922 - The first practical highway snowplow developed in the United States was designed and built by Edward C. Levy, Munising's public works superintendent. It was mounted on runners and consisted of two wooden wings, each 10 feet high and 20 feet long. The wings were retractable, permitting the plowing of all city streets, county roads or alleyways, but they were obsolete in a few years with the advent of rotary, angle and V-plows mounted on the front of trucks.

1923 - The nation's first intercity superhighway, "an eight-lane divided marvel," was built on an 18-mile stretch of Woodward Avenue between Detroit and Pontiac. It had a 40-foot median for public transit service.

1924 - J. L. Hudson's in Detroit became the first air-conditioned department store.

1925 - The first use of aerial surveys for highway design occurred when the Abrams Aerial Survey Company of Lansing took photos of a planned route between Benzonia and Beulah.

1926 - The nations first regularly scheduled air passenger service began operation between Grand Rapids and Detroit.

1927 - First commercially-prepared baby food was invented by Daniel F. Gerber of Fremont.

1928 - The Ford Motor Company was the first auto manufacturer to use safety glass as standard equipment.

1929 - The Michigan State Police established the first state police radio system in the world.

1930 - The one mile-long Detroit-Windsor Tunnel was the first automobile tunnel built between two nations and cost $23 million to build.

1937 - What Every Driver Must Know: A Summary of the More Important Rules of the Road was published by authority of Secretary of State Leon D. Case. In 1938, a million copies of What Every Driver Must Know were distributed. Michigan was nationally recognized as the first state to place traffic law instructions into driver's hands.

1939 - The Packard Motor Car Company in Detroit manufactured the first air-conditioned car.

1968 - Fisher Body introduced a specially designed child safety seat to protect one- through four-year-olds from interior collision.

1969 - Ford Motor Company introduced rear-wheel antilock brakes.

1971 - Michigan was the first to complete a border-to-border interstate highway, I-94, that runs 205 miles from Detroit to New Buffalo.

1972 - General Motors became the first automaker to establish a biomedical science department to perform and report research addressing the mechanisms of toxic and traumatic injury.

1973 - The State Safety Commission convened the Cycle Safety Conference - the first such symposium held anywhere in the world. The conference was designed to study how bicycles and motorcycles could safely coexist with cars and trucks in Michigan.

1974 - The first mass produced air bags were provided as a $225 option on some Cadillac and Buick models.

1975 - Michigan became the first state in the nation to combine driver licensing and voter registration as part of the same service, later known nationally as "Motor Voter."

1976 - The Jaycettes formed the "Buckle Up Babes" program, which became a national model for child safety seat loan and rental programs.

Sources:
Quick Facts About Michigan, Greater Michigan Foundation, 1973.
Main Library Reference Departments, Detroit Public Library, Michigan firsts : some notable achievements from Michigan's first 150 years, a Michigan sesquicentennial publication, Detroit, Mich.: Detroit Public Library, 1987.
Michigan First's http://www.mi-clm.org/michigan/michfirsts.htm
Michigan "Firsts" http://www.otsego.org/factfinders/october2000.htm
Fast Facts and Trivia http://www.50states.com/facts/michigan.htm