Berry Gordy and guest
Detroit Trivia
Detroit located in Wayne County, is the hub of a 5-million person metro area and nearly 1 million African Americans.
At one time, Detroit had more former Tuskegee Airmen residents than any other city.
The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks, has been a long time resident of Detroit.
Everyone knows Detroit is America’s automotive center, but did you know Detroit metro area also ranks as a leader in the production of paints, non-electrical machinery and automation equipment in pharmaceutical, rubber products, synthetic resins and garden seed.
A driver’s haven, Detroit has one of the highest percentages of freeway lane miles per resident. Fittingly, it compares well to its kin cites of Los Angeles and Houston in its priority for the automobile.
Metro Detroit, thanks to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Wayne State University, is one of the nation’s leaders in electrical and mechanical R&D and Health Care.
Sandwiched between Chicago and Toronto, Detroit-Metropolitan Airport is one of the 10 busiest airports in the North America.
Metro Detroit is headquarters to these Fortune 500 companies: General Motors, Ford, Daimler-Chrysler, Volkswagen of America, Compuware, Kmart, Budd Company, Stroh’s Brewery, American National Resources and Federal Mogul.
General Motors invested $500 million in its headquarters at the five-tower Renaissance Center and Compuware built a huge new headquarters. Both increased the profile of downtown.
About 18 million visitors come to Detroit each year.
Famous Residents
Notable residents born or made their mark here include:
Joe Louis – Heavyweight boxing champ and patriot during WWII
Elijah McCoy – Inventor of more than 75 patents, which spawned the phrase, “The Real McCoy”
Coleman Young – 1st Black mayor of Detroit
Kwame Kilpatrick – Detroit’s Hip-Hop mayor
Berry Gordy – Founder of Motown Records
Smokey Robinson – Motown singer and composer
Dr. Ralph Bunche – 1st Black Nobel Prize Winner
Diana Ross & The Supremes – Famous Motown female artists
W. Fard Muhammad – Founder of the Nation of Islam
Dr. Ossian Sweet – Physician who won a famous civil rights case permitting Black Detroiters to live anywhere they could afford
Jackie Wilson – R&B singer
Dr. Ben Carson – Famous neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital
George DeBaptist – Famous abolitionist
Anita Baker – Grammy winning R&B singer
Aretha Franklin – Queen of Soul singer
Thomas Hearns – Welterweight boxing champ
Blair Underwood – TV and movie actor
Stevie Wonder – Famous composer, singer & musician
Elvin Jones – Jazz drummer
Donald Byrd – Jazz trumpeter
Barry Sanders – Hall of Fame NFL Running Back
Isaiah Thomas – Hall of Fame NBA Guard
