1. A Cleveland DJ, Alan Freed, coined the phrase “Rock and Roll” on his radio station in the early 1950’s.
2. And in 1952, Cleveland held the very first rock and roll concert, the Moondog Coronation Ball.
3. Superman was created by two Cleveland high school students, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
4. Cleveland was founded and named after General Moses Cleaveland. Why the misspelling? The name was changed after a local newspaper discovered that the name was one character too long for the masthead.
5. Potato chips were first mass produced in Cleveland.
6. Ian Hunter’s song, “Cleveland Rocks,” is often seen as the city’s anthem. However, the tune was originally released under title “England Rocks.”
7. Despite the widespread popularity of Hunter’s song, “Hang On Sloopy” by The McCoys is the official song of the Cleveland Indians.
8. NASA has a large research facility in Cleveland.
9. Euclid Avenue used to be called Millionaires Row and was home to nothing but elaborate mansions and wealthy residents.
10. Cleveland was the first city in the world to be fully lit by electricity.
11. Jesse Owens, a renowned track and field athlete and four-time Olympic gold medalist, grew up in Cleveland from the age of 9.
12. Dorothy Dandridge, the first black actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, was from Cleveland.
13. American Greetings, the company responsible for Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears, is headquartered in Cleveland.
14. The first electric traffic light signal was installed on the corner of Euclid Avenue and East 10th Street in Cleveland.
15. Cleveland’s Willard Park is home to the world’s largest rubber stamp.
16. Cleveland’s I-X Center boasts a 125-foot tall Ferris wheel. When built, it was the tallest indoor Ferris wheel in the world.
17. Cleveland inventor Coburn Haskell is credited with inventing the modern golf ball.
18. Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West in “The Wizard of Oz,” was born in Cleveland.
19. The Cleveland Metroparks system, unofficially called the “Emerald Necklace,” spans almost 23,000 acres.
20. Eliot Ness, the special agent who helped bring down Chicago crime boss, Al Capone, was a Public Safety director in Cleveland before moving to Chicago.
21. Cleveland’s Playhouse Square is the second largest theatre complex in the US.
22. The Cuyahoga River, which runs through Cleveland, is known as “the river that caught fire.” Since 1868, at least 13 fires have been reported on the river.
23. The Chalet Toboggan Chutes in Cleveland are the only public ice chutes in Ohio.
24. Cleveland’s Lakeview Cemetery is home to many famous graves, including Civil War generals and members of President Lincoln’s cabinet.
25. The Cleveland Arcade was one of the first indoor shopping malls in the nation.
26. Famous oil businessman John D. Rockefeller lived in Cleveland and is still buried there today.
27. The Cleveland Spiders hold the record for worst season in the history of Major League Baseball.
28. While it may not be enforced, in Cleveland, it’s illegal for women to wear patent leather shoes in public for fear that a man might catch a glimpse of her underwear in the reflection.
29. Life Savers candies were invented in Cleveland by Clarence A. Crane.
30. Dating back to 1840, the West Side Market is the oldest publicly owned market in Cleveland.
31. The Cleveland Orchestra consistently ranks as one of top 10 orchestras in the world.
32. Italian born chef Ettore Boiardi, famous for creating the Chef Boyardee line of canned pastas, opened an Italian restaurant in Cleveland 1924. It was customers who asked for his recipes that gave him the idea for the canned pasta company.
33. The painting of whales on the Cleveland Public Power Plant is more than just a pretty picture. The mural is one of the many “Whaling Walls” that artist Robert Wyland has painted across the country.
34. The Karamu House in Cleveland is the oldest African-American theatre in the US.
35. Lake Erie may be the shallowest of all the Great Lakes, but it has more consumable fish than all of them combined.
36. Bill Watterson, the artist and author of the comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes,” grew up in Cleveland.
37. Cleveland’s Merry-Go-Round Museum is rumored to be haunted by ghosts.
38. Cleveland has over 20 sister cities, including Alexandria in Egypt, Lima in Peru and Brasov in Romania.
39. Cleveland had the first free home delivery of mail and the first mailman’s uniform.
40. American poet Langston Hughes attended high school in Cleveland where he began to write his first short stories, poetry and dramatic plays.
41. Cleveland was the site of the country’s first pedestrian button to control traffic lights.
42. Cleveland inventor Alexander Winton invented the world’s first semi-truck in 1898.
43. A suburban home in Cleveland was the setting for the popular holiday movie, “A Christmas Story.”
44. Comedian Drew Carey hails from Cleveland. “The Drew Carey Show” is also set in the city.
45. At 771 feet, Cleveland’s Terminal Tower was the 4th tallest building in the world when officially dedicated in 1930.
What's your favorite Cleveland fun fact? Tell us in the comments below!
