20 Useless Cleveland Facts to Impress Out of Towners

Chef Boyardee Was Created Here

Chef Boyardee started here. Before Beefaroni went global, Italian chef Hector Boiardi moved to Cleveland and in 1924, opened a restaurant here called Giardino d'Italia at the corner of East Ninth Street and Woodland. People began asking for the recipe and that led to the brand becoming one of the most recognized in the world.

Photo via Mike Mozart/Flickr

Cleveland Was Home To The First Indoor Shopping Mall In North America

The Arcade, which opened in 1890, is believed to be the first indoor shopping mall in North America. Modeled after the Galleria Vitorrio Emanuelle in Milan, Italy, the Arcade was financed by some of the richest men in Cleveland at the time like Louis Severance, John D. Rockefeller, Charles Brush and Marcus Hanna.

Photo via MK Feeney/Flickr

Eddie Vedder, John Cusack and Bill Murray Once Walked Into A Downtown Bar After A World Series Game and Sang Karaoke

When the Indians battled the Chicago Cubs in the 2016 World Series, they attracted celebrity fans like Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder and actors Bill Murray and John Cusack. If you happened to go to Victory Alley, a bar/restaurant right outside the gates of Progressive Field one night, you’d have seen all three celebrities enter the bar. Murray was spotted singing karaoke. For the record, the bar doesn’t even have a karaoke machine.

Photo via Wikipedia

Cleveland Was The First City Lit With Electricity

Let there be light! Cleveland was the first city to be lit electrically. In 1879, inventor Charles Brush lit up Public Square. It’s also the first to use an electric traffic signal, installed on Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street.

Photo via Erik Drost/Flickr

The Modern Golf Ball Was Invented in Northeast Ohio

In 1899, Coburn Haskell, an avid golfer and employee and close friend of the presitigous Hanna family, reinvented the golf ball. Prior to 1899, the golf ball was something called the gutta-percha, which consisted of hardened juice from trees located in South America and the Pacific Islands. Haskell and Bertram G. Work of Akron and employee of BF Goodrich decided to patent a new ball, which consisted of rubber thread wrapped around a solid rubber core, which made the ball much easier to hit far distances and greatly helped the sport rise in popularity.

Photo via Wikimedia

Ohio is One of Two States With an Official Rock Song

Being the state that invented the term Rock 'n' Roll means that we get to be one of the only states with an official State Rock Song. "Hang On Sloopy," by The McCoys, originally from Dayton, is not only the song sung by Buckeye fans across the country, it also became the only official rock song. Oklahoma is the only other state with an official rock song.

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Lake Erie Is The Most Biologically Productive Of The Great Lakes

Lake Erie is the most biologically productive of the Great Lakes and considered one of the best hotspots to reel in a walleye. So that’s why the Cleveland streets smell like a fish sometimes. It’s also the warmest and most shallow.

Photo via Wikimedia

Mace Spray Is Headquartered Here

Located on Carnegie, Mace Security International is the worldwide manufacturer of Mace Spray, the original brand of personal defense spray. The spray was created in 1970.

Photo via wikimedia

The Semi-Truck Was Invented Here

Alexander Winton and his brother started the Winton Bicycle Company in 1891. The bicycle company gave way to a automobile company called the Winton Motor Carriage Company of Cleveland. Winton needed a way to deliver his automobiles, so he attached a cart to the back of the car and the rest is history.

Photo via Detroit Metro Times

Lifesavers Were Invented In Cleveland

In 1912, Clarence Crane, a local Cleveland candy maker invented the Life Saver. Crane is the father of poet Hart Crane. He didn’t have the space to manufacture the candy so he partnered with a pill company to manufacture the sweet.

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