1972
Fred Bear is the first person inducted into the Archery Hall of Fame. Born in Pennsylvania in 1902, Fred Bear arrived in Detroit at the age of twenty-one to work for the Packard Motor Car Company. In 1929, Bear went bow hunting. Four years later, he founded Bear Products Company, which produced, among other things, archery equipment. Over the next several decades, Bear promoted his business and the sport of archery around the world. Bear passed away in April 1988.
Source: Michigan History
1887
Michigan hired the nation’s first salaried fish and game warden, William Allen Smith of Grand Rapids.
1867
University of Michigan became the first university in the nation to be supported by a direct property tax.
1861
Almost a month before Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter, the Michigan legislature gave Governor Blair power to supply men to the federal army in case of a southern rebellion.
Source: Historical Society of Michigan