Blow out the candles — all 180 of them — and make a wish, because it is your birthday, Wolverine State.

On Thursday, state officials gathered in Lansing to celebrate the 180th anniversary of Michigan’s official entry into the union. The state became an official member of the U.S. on Jan. 26, 1837.

To commemorate, here are a few facts about Michigan you may have never heard before, from 50states.com:

• Although Michigan is often called the “Wolverine State” there are no longer any wolverines in Michigan.

• Forty of the state’s 83 counties adjoin at least one of the Great Lakes. Michigan is the only state that touches four of the five Great Lakes. Standing anywhere in the state, a person is within 85 miles of one of the Great Lakes.

• Michigan has more than 11,000 inland lakes and more than 36,000 miles of streams.

• Michigan ranks first in state boat registrations.

• Michigan has 116 lighthouses and navigational lights.

• The Kellogg Company has made Battle Creek the Cereal Capital of the World. The Kellogg brothers accidentally discovered the process for producing flaked cereal products and sparked the beginning of the dry cereal industry.

• Sault Ste. Marie was founded by Father Jacques Marquette in 1668. It is the third oldest remaining settlement in the U.S., and is the oldest town between the Alleghenies and the Rockies.

• Michigan State University was founded in 1855 as the nation’s first land-grant university and served as the prototype for 69 land-grant institutions later established under the Morrill Act of 1862. It was the first institution of higher learning in the nation to teach scientific agriculture.

• MSU also has the largest single campus student body of any Michigan university. It is the largest institution of higher learning in the state and one of the largest universities in the country.

• Vernors ginger ale was created in Detroit and became the first soda pop made in the United States. In 1862, pharmacist James Vernor was trying to create a new beverage when he was called away to serve our country in the Civil War. When he returned, four years later, the drink he had stored in an oak case had acquired a delicious gingery flavor.

• The painted turtle is Michigan’s state reptile.

• The nation’s first regularly scheduled air passage service began operation between Grand Rapids and Detroit in 1926.

• In 1929, the Michigan State Police established the first state police radio system in the world.

• The Ambassador Bridge was named by Joseph Bower, the person credited with making the bridge a reality, who thought the name “Detroit-Windsor International Bridge” as too long and lacked emotional appeal. Bower wanted to “symbolize the visible expression of friendship of two peoples with like ideas and ideals.”

• The Detroit Zoo was the first zoo in America to feature cageless, open-exhibits that allowed the animals more freedom to roam.

Opinions expressed are those of the editorial board consisting of General Manager Ambrosia Neldon and community editors Ted Yoakum and Scott Novak.