This time of year often brings some heated college football rivalries, and none more nationally-known than the University of Michigan versus Ohio State University. It seems as though these two colleges, and by extension, these two states, have a deep animosity toward one another. When did this start? How did it happen? Well, readers, I have a theory, and it goes
With this being the month of November, I thought it appropriate to write an article about a hometown veteran. To me, the story of Joseph Beyrle is made for Hollywood. Joe was an American soldier who was given accolades by both the United States and the Soviet Union. He was a hero who deserves to have his
It’s hard to believe that something that happened over ten thousand years ago, could have a significant affect on the economy today, but that is absolutely true in the case of what is now known as the state known as Michigan. While it is difficult to imagine now, Michigan was once buried beneath ice that was nearly a
The 19th century was marked by transportation advancements in and around the Great Lakes, and an unprecedented increase in population. At the start of the century there were less than 5,000 documented residents in the Michigan territory. A hundred years later, the state would be home to a remarkable 2.5 million inhabitants. The completion in 1825 of
The 1900s was an era of remarkable change. It saw the world at war, mankind landing on the moon, and the creation of the Internet. Events like those forever changed the world, and certainly impacted Michigan’s key economic contributors. Lumber, copper, and iron, which were kings in the 1800s, became increasingly less significant. Trains, which were critical
In many ways the 21st century in Michigan has been driven by a need to recover, revitalize, and reinvent. At the start of the millennium the state was plagued with many challenges brought on by the negative biproducts of the industrial era like an aging infrastructure and water pollutants. The nation struggled with an epic financial crisis.
I’d driven by Michigan’s Military and Space Heroes Museum many times on visits to Frankenmuth, but never stopped in, and now that I have, I realize it’s a very special place that many more people need to discover. Having seen the big plane out front, what I expected to find inside was more of the same. Planes,
