Today in 1697, the European ship Le Griffon docked in Michigan, only to sink in Lake Michigan shortly after. In 1950, Soviet radio claimed Michigan football players were regularly injured, but the U.S. offered Soviet reporters season passes to University of Michigan games to refute the claim.
TRANSCRIPT
The earliest recorded European ship to reach the Mitten state docked on this day in 1697. Historical Documents compiled by Canadian historian Ernest Lajeunesse say that Le Griffon, or The Griffin, built by Robert de La Salle to trace a path through Lake Erie and the Detroit river. The ship also met the same fate of thousands of other in the Great Lakes. A little over a month later it was swallowed by Lake Michigan.
And today in 1950, a bit of Russian propaganda about Michigan hit the Moscow airwaves. In a radio newscast, the Soviets said that Michigan Football games regularly carried the players off the field to quote “The Hospital, or Cemetery.” End quote. However, the US news service, Voice of America offered to any Soviet news correspondent a season pass to University of Michigan games so they could see for themselves.