Detroit's top 10 facts.

Windsor, Ontario, Canada, is situated south of Detroit. The city's name comes from the French term 'Detroit,' meaning a strait.' Detroit is known for its contributions to music, art, architecture, design, and automotive heritage. Explore Detroit by booking Dtw flights.

1. Belle Isle Park, Detroit's largest urban island park, is a must-see.

Belle Isle Park, a 982-acre island park in the Detroit River, includes Belle Isle, an island with historic, natural, and cultural elements. The park features attractions like the Belle Isle Aquarium, Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory, Dossin Great Lakes Museum, Belle Isle Nature Centre, and James Scott Memorial Fountain. Belle Isle is the third-largest island in the Detroit River and was created by Frederick Olmstead, the creator of New York City's Central Park.

2. "Motor City," Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, known as the "Motor City," is the historic core of the American automobile industry, founded by Henry Ford in 1903. The city's manufacturing, alongside pioneers like Walter Chrysler, William C. Durant, and the Dodge Brothers, solidified its position as the world's automotive center in the early twentieth century. Henry Ford invented the current assembly line, and the Model T revolutionized the industry in 1908. Six years later, Ford introduced the $5 day, ensuring a steady and loyal staff.

Read More: How to book a cheap flight to Detroit

3. Detroit River is not a river in Detroit.

The Detroit River, a strait in the Great Lakes system, runs 24 nautical miles from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie. Named after the French Rivière Détroit, the river connects two oceans or major bodies of water. Originally dubbed the "River of the Strait," it was later modified by the English to refer to the flowing channel as a river. The river's unique status as both an American and Canadian Heritage River highlights its importance in the region.

4. Vernor's Ginger Ale from Detroit

Detroit chemist James Vernor founded Vernors in 1880, the earliest surviving American ginger ale brand in the United States. Diet Vernors, now known as Vernors 1-Calorie, was established in 1962. Vernors is a sweet "golden" ginger ale with a powerful, vanilla-heavy flavor and caramel color. Before Prohibition, "dry" pale, less sweet ginger ale, like Canada Dry Ginger Ale, was popular as a cocktail mixer in the Vernor style.

5. Detroit's Prohibition

The United States faced a constitutional prohibition from 1920 to 1933 on the manufacture, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic drinks. Prohibitionists aimed to address alcohol-related issues like drunkenness, marital violence, and political corruption. Residents of Michigan and Ontario perfected bootlegging skills during the prohibition, with 75% of smuggled alcohol entering the US passing through the Windsor-Detroit Funnel. Rum running became Detroit's second-largest industry by 1929, generating around $215 million per year.

6. Detroit's salt mines

Rock salt was detected in the Detroit region, which now supplies ice melter goods to North America. The mines were created as horizontal salt beds in the Michigan Basin, an arid section of Michigan's lower peninsula protected from the ocean by a natural land bar.

7. The city of Detroit is not alone.

Detroit, including Detroit Lakes, Detroit Beach, and Detroit Township, is a major American city with a population of over 10,000 people. Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, is the most populous, while Detroit Township, South Dakota, has the smallest population of 69 individuals.

8. The Olympic Summer Games in Detroit

Detroit has failed nine times to host the Olympic Summer Games, making it the most unsuccessful city in the world. From 1940 to 1972, Detroit bid for every Summer Games, finishing second to Mexico City in its 1963 application. However, the next Summer Games in the United States will be hosted in Los Angeles in 2028, showcasing the city's resilience and determination to host the event.

9. Windsor Tunnel in Detroit

The Detroit-Windsor tunnel, completed in 1930, connects Detroit, Michigan, with Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It was the first underwater automobile tunnel in the United States and the third in the world beneath the Detroit River.

10. Techno music originated in Detroit.

Detroit techno music, influenced by Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, and Derrick May, blends American funk with European electronic sounds, blending Afro-futurist and science-fiction themes. The Belleville Three, a Detroit-based group, created electronic tracks in their Belleville home. If you want to know more about Detroit then book flights to Detroit.