Happy Birthday Cleveland

Cleveland turns 209 years old today!

Did you know that in 1930, Cleveland was the 5th largest city in the US with a population of 900,429?

In 1800, the official population was 7. Ohio joined the United States in 1803.

By 1990, the population had dwindled to 505,616, making Cleveland the 23rd largest US city.

And in the 2000 census, the population continued to decline to only 478,403.

The city was named after General Moses Cleaveland, who developed the plans for public square but never visited again! In 1831, a newspaper removed the extra "a" in order to make the word fit at the top of the front page, so it's been Cleveland ever since.

Ranked as the 9th fattest city in the US in 2004 by Men's Fitness magazine,
BRAGGING RIGHTS AND SOBERING FACTS:

In a measure of pizza places per capita, Cleveland has three times the national average. Doughnut shops number almost three times the national average. More than 58 percent of Ohioans exceed their ideal body weight by a wide enough margin to raise their risk for health problems, according to a study by the CDC. In the same study, more than 8 out of 10 people were so inactive physically that their health is at risk. Clevelanders, unlike much of the nation, have a relatively stress-free and fast commute. According to the Urban Mobility Report from the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University, the average Cleveland commuter spends only 10 percent longer commuting in peak traffic than the same trip would take during off-peak times. That's one of the best scores of any city in our survey.

Famous Clevelanders:
Molly Shannon (Saturday Night Live)
Langston Hughes
Halle Berry
Henry Mancini
Don King
Phil Donahue
Arsenio Hall
Steve Harvey
Bob Hope
Tracy Chapman
Wes Craven and of course, Drew Carey