Can You Answer These 20 Michigan Trivia Questions?

Hello, there fellow Michiganders! How well do you know your state? Let’s test your knowledge with some Michigan trivia questions! The answers are below but don’t cheat! We hope you find this quiz fun, and we’d love to hear how you do. Leave us a comment below!

Michigan Trivia Questions

1. What is Michigan’s state motto?

2. Which one of the five Great Lakes does not connect to Michigan?

3. What is the only state that has more shoreline than Michigan?

4. What famous Michigan entrepreneur changed the American way of life when he invented the Model T automobile in Detroit?

5. What city was Michigan’s first capital?

6. What is the state bird?

7. Which US president was from Michigan?

8. What is the Michigan state stone?

9. What percent of the earth’s fresh surface water is in the Great Lakes?

10. How did Michigan acquire the Upper Peninsula?

11. What does the word Michigan mean?

12. When you’re in Michigan, you are never more than how many miles from a Great Lake?

13. What is the common nickname for people from the Upper Peninsula?

14. No point in Michigan is more than 6 miles from what?

15. Name the four major professional sports teams and in Michigan.

16. Name the second largest city in Michigan.

17. What famous record label originated in Detroit?

18. Michigan is home to what well-known cereal company?

19. Name the first university established in Michigan.

20. Name the Michigan-made beverage created in Detroit that was the first soda pop in the United States.

Answers

1. The Michigan state Motto is, If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you. The motto is incorporated into the state seal, where it’s written in Latin.

2. Lake Ontario is the only Great Lake that doesn’t touch Michigan. It is over the border in Canada. Portions of Lakes Michigan, Erie, Superior, and Huron all lie within Michigan’s boundaries.

3. Alaska is the only state with more coastline than Michigan. Michigan has 3,126 miles of shoreline, the most freshwater shoreline of any state.

4. Henry Ford invented the Model T. You can learn more about Ford and Michigan’s automobile industry at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, outside of Detroit.

5. Michigan’s first capital was Detroit. It was moved to Lansing in 1848 to encourage the development of the western part of the state and make it more secure from British soldiers over Canada’s border.

6. The robin is the Michigan state bird. It was designated as the state bird in 1931 after an election held by the Michigan Audubon Society.

7. President Gerald R. Ford was from Michigan. After Spiro Agnew resigned from office because of his involvement in the Watergate scandal, he was appointed vice president. Eventually, President Nixon was forced to resign as well, and Ford became president in 1974. His presidential library and museum are located in his hometown of Grand Rapids.

8. The Michigan state stone is the Petoskey stone. Petoskey stones are smooth, rounded rocks made of fossilized coral, which gives the stones their unique hexagon pattern. Glaciers during the ice age created the stones. They can be found along the shore of Lake Michigan in Northern Michigan, particularly near Petoskey, named for the stone.

9. The Great Lakes hold 20 percent of the earth’s fresh surface water. Michiganders are passionate about protecting this abundant yet precious natural resource. Michigan and the other states and Canadian provinces that share the Great Lakes work together to protect the waters.

10. Michigan acquired the U.P. after a dispute with Ohio. Michigan and Ohio both wanted a 468 square mile strip of land along their borders near Toledo. The two states mustered militias, but no battle was ever fought. Eventually, Congress devised a compromise that gave the disputed land to Ohio. To make up for the lost property, Congress gave Michigan the Upper Peninsula, originally part of a U.S. territory. At first, it seemed like a bad deal for Michigan until copper and iron were discovered in the U.P. Some of the animosity between Michigan and Ohio seems to continue today. Still, now the states duke it out in university stadiums. The rivalry between the U of M and Ohio State is like no other.

11. Michigan is a Native American word meaning Great Water.

12. You’re never more than 85 miles from the shores of a Great Lake. Anyone can drive to the beach for the day.

13. People who live in the Upper Peninsula are known as Yoopers. The name is derived from the region’s abbreviation. The U.P. People who live in the Lower Peninsula are called Trolls because they live below the Mackinac Bridge, which connects the peninsulas over the Straits of Mackinac.

14. No place in Michigan is more than six miles from one of the 64,980 inland lakes. So if you don’t want to drive 85 miles to a Big Lake, go to the one down the road.

15. Michigan is home to The Detroit Lions (Football), The Detroit Pistons (Basketball), The Detroit Tigers (Baseball), and The Detroit Red Wings (Hockey).

16. Grand Rapids is Michigan’s second-largest city and is known as The Furniture City. It was once a large producer of furniture and still has ties to the industry.

17. Motown Records originated in Detroit. It was instrumental in helping to integrate African-American musicians into the mainstream, popular music scene. The Temptations, The Supremes, and Diana Ross are just a few of Motown’s many famous acts that helped create.

18. Kellogg’s cereal is located in Battle Creek. Kelloggs first produced corn flakes as a health food associated with a wellness program developed by John Kellogg at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. The movie The Road to Wellville chronicles the story. Still producing Corn Flakes and a variety of other cereals today and other foods, it’s the second-largest snack food company in the world.

19. The University of Michigan was the state’s first. Originally it was named Cathelepistemian and located in Detroit. The name was changed in 1821, and the university moved to Ann Arbor in 1841. The U of M was also the first state-established university in the country. Today’s alumni are grateful they don’t have to shout, “Go Cathelepistemian” at football games.

20. Vernors Ginger Ale was created in Detroit shortly after the Civil War. It’s still manufactured today and considered by many to be a cure-all for an upset stomach. Ginger has been shown to help with nausea, so that Michiganders may be on to something.

Thanks for taking our fun Michigan trivia quiz! Leave us a comment below and tell us how you did!