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Lake Michigan was discovered by the French Explore Jean Nicolet in 1634. nearly 400 years ago.

Lake Michigan is the only one of the Great Lakes located entirely within the United States.

Lake Michigan contains the world’s largest collection of freshwater sand dunes.

Over 43 percent of all Great Lakes fishing is done in Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan is the largest freshwater lake in the United States.

The deepest point in Lake Michigan is 925 feet.

Lake Michigan covers over 23,000 miles and the Straits of Mackinac is its' only natural outlet. Lake Michigan discharges into Lake Huron through the Straits of Mackinac at a rate that allows for a complete change of water about every 100 years.

Technically Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are one Lake.

Lake Michigan is the 5th largest lake in the world. It's the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area.

Every inch Lake Michigan rises or drops equals 390 billion gallons more or less water in the lake

The lake forms a link in a waterway system that reaches east to the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence Seaway and south through the Chicago River locks, to the Mississippi River and on to the Gulf of Mexico.

Over 500 planes have crashed in the frigid waters of Lake Michigan. 300 of those planes went down in training accidents during world war two (WW II).

Another interesting fact is that an estimated 3,000 ships have gone down in Lake Michigan. One of the most famous of these ships was the Carl D. Bradley which sank in 1958 with 33 crew members aboard.

Due to Lake Michigan's frigid temperatures and it's relatively small amount of marine life, this lake has some of the most interesting and well preserved ship wrecks in the world. There are 100 year old ship wrecks in these waters that have not only preserved the ship, furniture, and books, but human remains as well.

The Sleeping Bear Plateau is a 4 square-mile field of dunes, crowned by Sleeping Bear Dune, the highest dune in the state, rising to more than 440 feet above Lake Michigan.

The word "Michigan" was originally used to refer to the lake itself, and is believed to come from the Ojibwa Indian word mishigami, meaning "great water."

The Petoskey stone, Michigan's state stone, is composed of a fossilized coral, and the only place in the world it is found is on Lake Michigan beaches in northern Michigan.

Lake Michigan was formed during the last Ice Age as glaciers advanced and then retreated across the region, creating large glacial lakes.

The sand on Lake Michigan beaches in southwestern Michigan is often called "sugar sand" because it resembles grains of sugar in size and purity. The sand is also referred to as "singing sands" because of the squeaking noise, caused by high quartz content, made when walking across it.

In 2008, a Man by the name of Jim Dryer swam the entire length of Lake Michigan - all 307 miles of it.

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