The Petoskey Stone is fossilized coral that existed in the northern Lower Peninsula about 350 million years ago.

Found in every Michigan county, the White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) was designated the state game mammal in 1997, thanks to the lobbying efforts of some Zeeland fourth graders.

In 1995, the Painted Turtle was chosen as the state reptile after a group of children from Niles discovered that Michigan did not have a state reptile.

In 1955, the towering White Pine was designated the state tree, as a symbol of Michigan’s lumber industry. From 1870 to the early 1900s Michigan led the nation in lumber production.

The Dwarf Lake Iris, Michigan's official wildflower, is endangered and grows along the northern shorelines of Lakes Michigan and Huron.

Known as the Isle Royale greenstone, Chlorastrolite, the official state gem, ranges in color from yellowish green to almost black and is primarily found in the Upper Peninsula.

Unique to Michigan, Kalkaska sand covers nearly a million acres in 29 Upper and Lower Peninsula counties.

Fossils of mastodons, a prehistoric mammal, have been found in more than 250 locations in Michigan.

The red-breasted American Robin is not only a great sign that spring has arrived, it is also Michigan's official state bird.

The Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) is the state fish and can be found throughout Michigan.

Since 1897, Michigan's official flower has been the lovely & fragrant Apple Blossom, which is native to the state.

Michigan has had three different flags since becoming a state in 1837.

You can hit the links on more than 800 golf courses throughout Michigan.

Michigan's name comes from the Ojibwa (Chippewa) word for “large lake”.

No matter where you stand in Michigan you are within 85 miles of a Great Lake.

Martin Luther King Jr gave his now famous "I Have a Dream" speech for the first time in Detroit on June 23, 1963, months before delivering it at the Lincoln Memorial.

There are 125 bars and restaurants within the one square mile of downtown Detroit.

Detroit is the 27th Best City for Singles in America according to Forbes magazine.

EA Sports asked college football fans to vote and determine which college mascot would have the honor of being on the cover of NCAA Football 09 for the Nintendo Wii. MSU's beloved Sparty came out victorious!

The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel is the only vehicular international subaqueous border crossing in the world. It has been recognized as one of the great engineering wonders of the world and remains one of the busiest crossings between the United States and Canada.

Kalamazoo is the North American birthplace of celery. In fact, nearby Portage boasts the nation's only celery museum--Celery Flats Interpretive Center.

Marquette's U.P. 200 sled dog race is approximately 240 miles in length and is a qualifying race for the Iditarod.

Encompassing more than 94,000 square miles, the Great Lakes are the largest surface of fresh water anywhere on earth.

Michigan's shoreline stretches 3,288 miles, making it the largest in the U.S.

Complimentary assistance is available for drivers too afraid to cross Mighty Mac, the largest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere.

The nation's first 4-way traffic signal was installed at the intersection of Fort and Woodward in Detroit.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore hugs the Lake Superior shoreline for more than 40 miles and features sandstone cliffs, beaches, sand dunes, waterfalls, and abundant forest.

Beginning in early May nearly six million tulips bloom throughout the Holland area signaling the start of the world-renowned Tulip Time Festival.

Ishpeming is the birthplace of organized skiing in America and home to the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame and Museum.

Compared to other states in the nation, Michigan is ranked 1st in campground revenue generation.

Michigan has a land mass of 56,809 square miles, which is divided into 83 distinct counties.

Michigan became the 26th U.S. state on January 26, 1837.

Michigan is the boating capital of the U.S. with more registered boats than any other state.

Detroit was designated 2007's Best Sports City in America by Sporting News and second only to Boston in 2008.

U of M and General Motors plan to establish an advanced automotive battery development and testing lab with a 5-year, $5 million grant from GM.

Auburn Hills-based Digital Dialogue hired 137 new staff members and doubled its office space in just the three months.

The aggressive expansion of Accretive Health LLC in Detroit and Kalamazoo is expected to create 650 jobs over the next five to seven years.

Cookie and cracker manufacturer, Consolidated Biscuit Company plans to invest $12 million in a new manufacturing center in Tecumseh, and the project is expected to create 1,058 new jobs.

Generic drug maker Caraco is planning a $22 million expansion of its New Center manufacturing plant in Detroit to the tune of 600 jobs by 2012.

Bissell, Inc. plans to invest approximately $9 million in an expansion and the opening of an innovation center at its facility in Walker, which is expected to result in 214 new jobs.

Dowding Industries is investing $7.1 million to build a new manufacturing facility in Eaton Rapids to focus on components used in the assembly of wind turbines.

Dow Corning opened a $3 million Solar Solutions Application Center in Freeland to develop, evaluate and pilot materials solutions used to manufacture solar panels.

Tourism contributes an estimated $18.1 billion To Michigan's economy annually, generating $874 million in state taxes and accounting for 192,000 jobs statewide.

Gibbs Technologies, which bills itself as the world’s leading developer of high-speed amphibious vehicles, will open a new North American headquarters and product development center in southeastern Michigan this fall.

Frankenmuth's famous Bronner's Christmas Wonderland is said to be the largest Christmas store in the world. Open 361 days a year, Bronner's has become an attraction, welcoming over two million people annually, including 2,000 group tours.

The 2007 Orbitz Food & Wine Index highlighted the Kalamazoo area as one of the Top Ten Fastest Growing Wine Regions in America, based on hotel and package bookings on the popular travel site.

The 2008 Chevy Malibu was named Car of the Year at the North American International Auto Show. The current GM victory builds on their 2007 successes when the Chevrolet Silverado took top truck honors and the Saturn Aura was the top car selection.

Netlink, a leading information technology provider, opened a new global headquarters in Madison Heights in 2007. The company added 150 new jobs, primarily in the Detroit area, with plans to add 200 more in 2008.

Michigan is among the top five states in the production of over 30 different types of crops, and ranks first in the production of tart cherries, blueberries, navy beans, cranberry beans, and black turtle beans.

Google Ann Arbor is the headquarters for AdWords, the company's advertising system and its largest revenue source.

More than 75% of America's cherries are grown in Michigan, most in the northwest, earning Traverse City the nickname, Cherry Capital of the World.

Michigan's tourism website, www.michigan.org, is the most popular state tourism site in America, according to Hitwise, an online measurement company.

The Detroit and Grand Rapids areas have both been named among the best metro areas in America to relocate a family.

Mid-Michigan's Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation is the world's largest producer of hyper-pure polycrystalline, a silicon product used in the solar industry. Due to high demand, the company is in the process of a one billion dollar expansion.

In 2007, Michigan wineries won 2 Platinum, 108 Gold (or equivalent), 313 Silver, and 346 Bronze medals in national and international competitions.

General Dynamics, a Sterling Heights-based designer and builder of vehicles for the U.S. military, has announced a $10 million expansion project that is expected to create approximately 500 new engineering jobs.

Michigan breweries won 1 Gold, 5 Silver, and 3 Bronze medals at the 2007 Great American Beer Festival.

Benton Harbor's Whirlpool Corporation was named an Innovations 2008 Design and Engineering Award Honoree by the Consumer Electronics Association. The company's refrigerator with centralpark connection, an interchangeable plug-and-play platform, earned them the acclaim.

The U.S. Department of Commerce noted a $2.9 billion increase in exports from the Detroit area in 2006, ranking it 5th highest in the nation.

The Kern Family Foundation has awarded a 5-year, $1,154,500 grant to Lawrence Tech to integrate more entrepreneurial education into their College of Engineering.

Starfish Family Services of Inkster received a $1 million grant from the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation to support a program to help families and children transition out of poverty.

U of M raised just over $3.2 billion in its "Michigan difference" capital campaign.

MSU won the 2008 Presidential Award for General Community Service, the highest federal recognition bestowed upon a higher education institution for community service.

Alum, Richard Henes and his wife, Elizabeth, are donating $1 million to endow the Richard and Elizabeth Henes Professorship in Mathematical Sciences at Michigan Technological University.

Coca-Cola Co. has awarded $400,000 to Michigan State University's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources to help establish a new Center for Packaging Innovation and Sustainability.

Michigan was the first state to require online learning as a requirement for high school graduation, and is now being recognized by the Center for Digital Education as having the nation's 2nd best online learning policy and practice.

U of M's Solar Car Team won the North American Solar Challenge, defending the school's title, and finishing 1st for the fifth time in this competition.

MSU Turf Grass professor Trey Rogers is responsible for making sure the track & field playing surface is ready for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Eastern Michigan University recently received a $2.2 million dollar gift, the largest in its history, to create the Jean Noble Parsons Center for the study of art & science.

The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, in Grand Rapids, features a replicated Oval Office and includes a dramatic narration detailing activities in America's best known room. Newsweek honored Bloomfield Hills' International Academy as the 7th best public high school in the country for 2007.

The Detroit Institute of Arts has just undergone a six-year, $150 million renovation, and has reopened to raves.

Northern Michigan University is the site of the United States Olympic Education Center (USOEC), one of only four Olympic training centers in the nation and the only one designated as an education center.

Both the 1961 Lincoln that President Kennedy was in when he was shot, and President Lincoln's last theater seat are exhibited at The Henry Ford in Dearborn.

2009 U.S. News and World Report annual survey ranked MSU's elementary and secondary education graduate programs as the best in the nation for the fourteenth consecutive year!

The Historical Society of Michigan is the state's oldest cultural institution. Founded in 1828, it provides an abundance of education to the public and support services to over 800 local historical organizations.

Since its inception in 1989, the Michigan Aids Fund has awarded nearly $12 million to a variety of innovative and often hard to fund programs, and is focused on ending the epidemic by preventing new HIV infections.

If you could hold a giant magnifying glass in space and focus all the sunlight shining toward Earth onto one grain of sand, that concentrated ray would approach the intensity of a new laser beam made in a University of Michigan laboratory.

The Volunteer Centers of Michigan is a statewide network of 27 operational, and 4 start-up, volunteer centers serving 60 Michigan counties. These volunteer centers mobilize people and resources to deliver creative solutions to community problems.

Kalamazoo College has been named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, for exemplary service efforts and service to disadvantaged youth. The Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement.

The Detroit Zoo was the first zoo in America to feature cageless, open-exhibits that allowed the animals more freedom to roam. Today the zoo continues to be a leader in the humane treatment of animals and is actively involved in conservation projects with both local and global impact.

The Council of Michigan Foundations offers staff and trustees of Michigan foundations and corporate giving programs more than 60 learning opportunities each year through on-site programs, teleconferences, publications, resources and their annual conference.