The invention of the ice-cream soda has been credited to Detroit native Fred Sanders, who was the owner of "The Pavilion of Sweets" on Boston Boulevard in 1876. Sweet cream sodas were popular at the time. The story goes that Sanders' fresh cream went sour after an ice delivery didn't materialize so, in desperation, he added ice cream to the soda instead. The result was a hit and, by the 1880s, the "Boston cooler"--a mixture of ginger ale and ice cream, named for the Boulevard rather than the city in Massachusetts--had become one of Detroit's signature refreshments.
The Belle Isle Park in the Detroit River was Detroit's first major park. It was opened in 1884 and consists of 987 acres of grassy meadows, woodland areas, a golf course, museum, tennis and basketball courts. Many small animals and birds also make their home on the island and lucky visitors may even spot one of the European fallow deer that roam the island. Originally known by the Chippewa and Ottawa Native Americans as "Wah-be-zee," or "Swan Island," Belle Isle was colonized by the French before being purchased in 1768 by British lieutenant George McDougall for eight barrels of rum, three rolls of tobacco, six lbs. of vermilion and a wampum belt.
While Chicago has become synonymous with the illegal liquor trade during the Prohibition era, 75% of this alcohol actually came from Detroit. Its proximity to Canada made it a prime location for smuggling barrels from that country into the city and, when the Detroit River froze over in winter, it provided a slippery highway for everyone from small-time smugglers to gangsters to transport the liquor into the city. At one point, a pipeline was built between a distillery in Windsor, Ontario and a bottler in Detroit. The city's unlicensed bars, known as "blind pigs," were well-stocked. In 1929, the illegal liquor trade was worth $215 million per year, second only in revenue to the auto industry.
Famous for being the birthplace of Motown, a less well-known fact about Detroit is that it is considered the birthplace of techno music. Originally a 1980s underground movement, Detroit's techno scene was pioneered by three high-school friends-- Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Sanderson--who succeeded in securing worldwide appeal for the genre. Nowadays, successful techno-influenced acts such as the Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers owe a debt to these Motor City pioneers.
