Cleveland Misc

Fun Facts and Trivia

• Cleveland once had the tallest building in the United States West of New York in the Terminal Tower--52 stories! (Built in 1929)
• A pair of Glendale High School students (Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster) while still students developed the super hero "Superman" in the 1930's!
• Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz movie, was from Cleveland. Her sister Dorothy was married to the son of Cleveland inventor Charles Brush, who created electric traffic light.

Inventors

From the extraordinary to the commonplace, many innovations recognized around the world had their genesis in Cleveland. Here are just a few of the inventions created by Clevelanders:

• U.S. newspaper for African-American (The Aliened American) – William Howard Day – 1853
• Free home delivery of mail and first mailman’s uniform – Joseph Briggs - 1862
• Electric Streetlight and electric streetcar – Charles F. Brush – 1879
• Indoor shopping center (The Arcade) – 1890
• LifeSavers candy is created by chocolate maker Clarence Crane - 1891
• Padded bicycle seat - Arthur Lovett Garford - 1892
• Whole-body scanner and x-ray machine – Dayton C. Miller (Case School of Applied Science) – 1896
• Modern golf ball – Cobuern Haskell, Joseph Mitchell, Bertram Work – 1899
• Cleveland Indians – Charter team of MLB’s American League - 1901
• American-made standard gasoline automobile – 1898 and American Diesel engine – 1913 – Alexander Winston
• Ongoing forum for free speech (The City Club of Cleveland) – 1912
• African-American Cultural Center (Karamu House) - 1915
• Gas Mask – Garret A. Morgan – 1916
• Automatic windshield wiper - Fred & William H. Folberth - 1921
• Shaker Square - 2nd oldest outdoor shopping center in the country - 1925
• Municipal airport (Cleveland Hopkins International Airport) –1925 and air-traffic control tower – 1927
• Superman – Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster – 1933
• Health museum (The Health Museum of Cleveland) - 1936
• Public housing – Earnest Bohn – 1960s
• U.S. college to admit students regardless of race, sex, creed or color (Oberlin College)
• The phrase “Rock ‘n’ Roll” – Alan Freed - 1952
• The Moondog Coronation Ball, the first “Rock ‘n’ Roll” concert - 1952
• African-American mayor of a major city (Carl Stokes) - 1967
• Rapid-transit rail service from airport to downtown – Greater Cleveland Rapid Transit Authority – 1968
• The first NFL "Monday Night Footbal" game was played at Cleveland Municipal Stadium with the Cleveland Browns defeating the New York Jets, 31-20 - 1970
• The first city to be awarded five All-American City Awards (1949, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1994)
  

's Sister Cities

• Alexandria, Egypt
• Bangalore, India
• Brasov, Romania
• Bratislava, Slovak Republic
• Cleveland County, England
• Conarky, Guinea
• Gdansk, Poland
• Ibadan, Nigeria
• Klaipeda, Lithuania
• Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Segundo Montes, El Salvador
• Taipei City, Taiwan
• Volgograd, Russia