All eventsConcerts, festivals and markets, tonight and this weekend
Annual festivalsJazz, techno, cars and parades: Michigan’s year, festival by festival
Holidays & seasonsPumpkin season, Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, the Fourth
Sports: games & scoresLions, Red Wings, Pistons, Tigers: live scores and trophies
ItinerariesReady-made day plans, stop by stop
Places to exploreMuseums, parks, neighborhoods and icons
Free museum daysFlip the calendar: when museums let you in for free
Metro Detroit mapWhat Metro Detroit is, and what every town is about
The Henry FordRosa Parks’ bus, Greenfield Village and the Ford Rouge Factory
RenCen: live trackerThe Renaissance Center’s past, present and future, up to the minute
Gordie Howe BridgeThe new bridge to Canada: live waits, tolls, and yes, you can walk it
ToursBy boat, by bike or on foot, with a local guide
Escape roomsOne hour, one lock and your crew
Plan a meetingVenues, hotels and what’s on in town on your dates
Detroit A–ZFrom limos to chambers of commerce: every business and service in one place
ShoppingDetroit-made brands, markets and shopping streets
Detroit with kidsZoo, science center and rainy-day ideas
Motor City cultureFactories, museums and car events
Wellness & rechargeA riverside sauna, spas, yoga and running trails
My tripYour flights, your events, day by day, with an itemized budget in dollars and your own currency
Plan your tripWhen to come, how to get here, where to sleep: all in one place
Weather & seasonsWhat it’s like right now and month by month
Coming from abroad?Entry, money, phones, power, Canada: what you need to know
TransitBuses, trains and ferries with live departures
Driving in MichiganLicenses, rental cars, the rules and the yellow school bus
Lanes and left exitsKeep right? Here people pass on the right and exit on the left
Road work and potholesOrange barrels, detours, 45 mph: driving Michigan’s work zones
Mile roads: mile zero and 8 MileWhere the city counts from, and which Mile you’re standing on
People MoverThe free elevated loop above downtown
QLINE streetcarThe free streetcar on Woodward Avenue
DTW airportRed or blue terminal? We’ll show you.Your license in MichiganRental carsSpeed limitsMiles, gallons, MPGThe Michigan left and the rulesSchool busesTraffic lights, a Detroit inventionPulled over by policeDrinking and drivingWinter drivingWildlife on the roadGas and parking
DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
People who were born here, moved here or built their careers in Detroit: musicians, carmakers, athletes, writers, inventors, civil-rights leaders and a few notorious names. With their dates, their Detroit story and the places where they lived, worked and played, closed ones included.
Hungarian ties 31 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Origin and citizenship
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
35 people
Clear filters
Sports · 1886–1961
Ty Cobbbaseball player, center fielder, player-managerWidely regarded as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, Cobb played 22 of his 24 major-league seasons with the Detroit Tigers and served as the team's player-manager for his last six.
Politics · 1782–1866Lewis Cassterritorial governor, U.S. senator, secretary of stateGovernor of Michigan Territory from Detroit for 18 years and 1848 Democratic presidential nominee; Cass Avenue and Cass Tech bear his name, and he rests at Elmwood.
Press & broadcasting · 1891–1979
Charles CoughlinCatholic priest, radio broadcaster, political agitatorThe Royal Oak 'Radio Priest' whose 1930s broadcasts from the Shrine of the Little Flower reached tens of millions before turning to antisemitism and support for fascism.
City history · 1658–1730Antoine de la Mothe CadillacFrench officer, explorer and founder of DetroitFrench officer who founded Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit on July 24, 1701, the settlement that grew into Detroit, and commanded it until 1710.
Sports · born 1962Chris Cheliosice hockey defensemanHall of Fame defenseman who joined the Red Wings in 1999, won Stanley Cups in 2002 and 2008 and played in Detroit into his late forties.
Sports · born 1983
Miguel Cabrerabaseball player, first baseman, third baseman, designated hitterVenezuelan-born slugger who spent sixteen seasons with the Tigers, won the 2012 Triple Crown, two American League MVP awards, and remains one of only three players with 3,000 hits, 500 home runs and a .300 career average.Derrick Colemanbasketball player, entrepreneurSyracuse star raised in Detroit who returned late in his career to play for the Pistons, then came home for good as a local developer and Flint water crisis volunteer.
Politics · 1813–1879Zachariah Chandlermerchant, mayor of Detroit, U.S. senatorDetroit merchant and abolitionist who backed the Underground Railroad, served as mayor in 1851 and became Michigan's Radical Republican boss in the U.S. Senate.
Film & TV · born 1970Larry Joe Campbellactor, comedianAccording to Jim's Andy, a northern Michigan native who earned a theater master's at Wayne State, performed at The Second City Detroit and co-founded the Detroit Creativity Project.
Science & invention · born 1950Alexa Canadypediatric neurosurgeonThe first African American woman board-certified in neurosurgery in the United States, chief of neurosurgery at Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit from 1987 to 2001.Solanus CaseyCapuchin friar and priest, beatifiedCapuchin friar revered as a healer and counselor at Detroit's St. Bonaventure Monastery, co-founder of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, beatified at Ford Field in 2017.
Business & brands · 1872–1936James CouzensFord Motor Company co-founder and business manager, mayor of Detroit, U.S. senatorCanadian-born railroad clerk who became Ford's hard-driving business manager, then mayor of Detroit and a U.S. senator.
Auto industry · 1880–1936Roy D. Chapinco-founder and president of Hudson Motor Car Company, U.S. Secretary of CommerceOlds test driver who co-founded the Hudson Motor Car Company in Detroit, named it for merchant J. L. Hudson, and later served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce.
Music · 1931–1991James Clevelandgospel singer, composer, arranger, choir directorChicago gospel giant who worked at Detroit's New Bethel Baptist Church under Rev. C. L. Franklin and founded the Gospel Music Workshop of America after a Detroit Sing-A-Rama.
Sports · 1933–1986Norm Cashbaseball player, first basemanFun-loving Tigers first baseman of 1960–1974 who won the 1961 batting title and was the first Tiger to hit a ball over Tiger Stadium's right-field roof.
Civil rights & activism · 1955–1982Vincent Chindraftsman, hate-crime victimChinese American draftsman from Highland Park whose 1982 beating death by two autoworkers, and the killers' lenient sentences, sparked the Asian American civil rights movement.
Law · 1909–1997George W. Crockett Jr.civil rights lawyer, judge, congressmanRadical civil rights lawyer who co-founded one of the first integrated law firms in Detroit, became a storied Recorder's Court judge after the 1969 New Bethel incident and then served in Congress (1980–1991).
Press & broadcasting · 1928–2016Paul Careyradio broadcasterWJR announcer for 36 years and Ernie Harwell's longtime partner on Tigers radio, known for his deep baritone.
Science & invention · 1914–1978Ethelene Crockettphysician, obstetrician-gynecologist, activistMichigan's first African American woman board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology, who practiced in Detroit for decades and led public health and women's rights campaigns.
Civil rights & activism · 1920–2002Lily Chincivil rights activistChinese immigrant mother of Vincent Chin who, after his 1982 killing, became the moral voice of the national campaign for justice that launched the Asian American civil rights movement.
Politics · 1792–1866Levi Cookmerchant, banker, mayor of DetroitDry-goods merchant and banker who held nearly every Detroit civic office of his era, including mayor in 1832 and 1835–1836 and chief of the fire department.C. Howard CranearchitectTheater architect who gave Detroit its movie palaces and concert halls, including the Fox Theatre, Orchestra Hall and the old Olympia Stadium.Mattie Moss Clarkgospel choir director, composer, arrangerDetroit choir director who introduced three-part harmony to gospel choirs, led the Church of God in Christ's music for decades, and launched the Clark Sisters.
Politics · 1798–1838Marshall Chapinphysician, pharmacist, mayor of DetroitDoctor who opened Detroit's first drugstore in 1819, served as mayor in 1831 and 1833 and was city physician during the cholera epidemics of 1832 and 1834.Tom Claydisc jockey, radio personality, recording artistFlamboyant Detroit Top 40 DJ at WJBK and CKLW, caught up in the payola scandal, who scored a 1971 hit on Motown's MoWest label with his What the World Needs Now medley.
Csaba Csereautomotive engineer and journalist, Car and Driver editor-in-chiefHungarian-American MIT engineer who left Ford's advanced engine office for Car and Driver in Ann Arbor and ran the magazine as editor-in-chief from 1993 to 2008.
Business & brands · 1855–1937Hamilton Carharttclothing manufacturer, founder of CarharttFounder of the workwear brand Carhartt, started in Detroit in 1889 to make tough overalls for railroad workers.
Business & brands · 1842–1923Marvin H. Chamberlainliquor and tobacco merchant, inventor, mayor of DetroitMichigan-born schoolteacher turned liquor and tobacco merchant, council president and Democratic mayor (1886–1887), who later ran Detroit's garbage-reduction plant.Mort Crimtelevision news anchor, author, commentatorLongtime anchor of WDIV Channel 4 news (1978–1997), radio commentator and the voice that opens the White Stripes' Little Acorns.Clare Cummingsmagician, television clownDetroit-area magician who became Milky the Clown, the Twin Pines Dairy's TV mascot, on Detroit television from 1950 to 1964.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own. Famous people's places among the sights ↗
