On this day in 2015, divers discovered Michigan’s underwater Stonehenge on the bed of Lake Michigan. The ring of stones, resembling the British Isles' Stonehenge, features carvings of animals like mastodons and is believed to date back to the last ice age, around 14,000 years ago. Also today in 1857, Michigan’s first Black legislator, William Ferguson, was born in Detroit. After winning a racial discrimination case, Ferguson became prominent and was elected as Michigan’s first Black Representative in the 1890s. His portrait was placed in the Michigan State Capitol in 2018.
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It was on this day in 2015 that divers discovered what is sometimes called Michigan’s underwater Stonehenge on the bed of lake Michigan. The lake isn’t well known for archaeological mysteries, so when divers found the ring of stones under the water, it was a huge surprise. The structure looks just like the Stonehenge on the British Isles. Though degraded by the lake, researchers can still make out carvings of animals like mastodons upon them. The leading theory is they were built during the last ice age around 14,000 years ago when most of the worlds surface water was locked up in huge glaciers.
Also today in 1857, Michigan’s first Black legislator, William Ferguson was born in Detroit. After Ferguson sued a restaurant owner for racial discrimination and won the case in front of the Michigan Supreme Court, he became very prominent in Detroit. So much in fact that he was elected as Michigan’s first Black Representative for two terms in the 1890s. In 2018, a portrait of William Ferguson was placed in the Michigan State Capitol and remains there still.