Today in 1915, Michigan introduced a bounty of 5 cents per rat to combat rodent infestations, a law that remained in place until its repeal in 2000. In 1969, East Lansing's Victor Jackson made headlines by crossing Lake Michigan to Wisconsin in a bathtub boat made from a bathtub and oil drums, completing the journey in nearly 15 hours.
TRANSCRIPT
On this day in 1915 the state began paying a bounty on dead rats. The Act reads “Every person being an inhabitant of this State who shall kill any black, brown, gray, or Norway rats commonly known as the house rat, barn rat, or wharf rat in any organized township, village, or city in this State, shall be entitled to receive a bounty of 5 cents for each rat thus killed” endquote. After a long time on the Michigan law books and no one noticing, it was repealed in 2000, however.
And in 1969, Victor Jackson, a man from East Lansing completed a nearly 15 hour trip to Wisconsin across lake Michigan, in a bathtub. According to a 1969 article from the Evening News, Jackson’s bathtub boat was made of a bathtub welded to four 30-gallon oil drums and was registered with the state of Michigan as a pleasure vehicle. No word on whether there was an accompanying rubber ducky.