The Motor City of Detroit

21 March 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  11 minutes

Oscar Mayer Wienermobile - Henry Ford Museum © Cory Doctorow

Oscar Mayer Wienermobile - Henry Ford Museum © Cory Doctorow

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River connecting the Great Lakes system to the Saint Lawrence Seaway. It was founded on July 24, 1701, by the French explorer, adventurer, and nobleman Antoine de la Mothe, sieur de Cadillac.   read more…

The Great Lakes of North America

28 November 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Downtown Chicago from the lakefront © J. Crocker

Downtown Chicago from the lakefront © J. Crocker

The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume behind Baikal in Russia. The total surface is 208,610 km2 (80,545 sq mi), and the total volume is 22,560 km3 (5,412 cu mi) The lakes are sometimes referred to as the North Coast or “Third Coast” by some citizens of the United States. The Great Lakes hold 21% of the world’s surface fresh water.   read more…

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