Cleveland can be a pretty crazy place. A big city that still retains that cozy Ohio vibe, a busy metropolis that somehow doesn’t feel as congested as other major American cities, and a city packed with history that still manages to be fresh and modern, Cleveland is a town of contradictions.

It’s also a town with a fascinating history and a lot of interesting stories behind it. Here are six of our favorites:

A newspaper named the city (sort of)

The city of Cleveland was named after Moses Cleaveland, a soldier in the American Revolution, prominent politician of the period, and founder of the city. That’s what the city was called, too – Cleaveland – until 1830, when a newspaper purposely dropped the “a” in order to get the word to fit into a headline that was too big for the page. The purposeful misspelling stuck … and now you know the rest of the story.

The city was the focus of an award-winning graphic novel

When writer Brian Michael Bendis won an Eisner Award and was nominated for three International Horror Guild awards for his graphic novel, Torso, he was not just winning acclaim for his work, he was putting an obscure part of Cleveland’s history on the map. Torso is about the Cleveland Torso Murders, a grim series of killings that claimed 12 lives in the 1930s. Despite the famed Eliot Ness joining the case, the serial killer was never caught. The murders remain a mystery to this day.

You have Cleveland to thank for traffic lights

The first ever electric traffic light was installed in Cleveland in 1914. Installed at Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street, it helped paved the way for traffic lights in American cities, which most drivers would agree are both a blessing and a curse.

You can also thank Cleveland for your bag of chips

Potato chips have been around since at least the 1820s, when recipes began appearing in popular cookbooks in England and the U.S., but it was Cleveland’s own William Tappenden who turned chips into a booming business. He actually delivered chips directly to people, which helped spread their popularity. Many more followed. You can still see the results today, as Ohio is the second biggest manufacturer of potato chips in the U.S.

The term “rock and roll” originated in Cleveland

Thank Cleveland DJ Alan Freed for coming up with the term “rock and roll.” Known as Moondog, this popular DJ worked on a number of Ohio radio stations and was an early proponent of rock music when the genre was first starting. In the early 1950s, he coined the term “rock and roll,” and history was made.

Superman was born in Cleveland (sort of)

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster are the legendary creators of Superman, hailed as the world’s first superhero and still one of the most popular. Though Siegel and Shuster ended up working for big New York publishers, both were Cleveland boys. They went to high school here, their experiences growing up in the area had a big impact on their iconic creation, and they came up with the Superman concept here.

Know any other quirky Cleveland facts? Let us know in the comments and maybe we can use them in a future article!

Do you actually know your dentist? Your accountant? Your hairdresser?

Shouldn’t you know your insurance agent, too…?

At Virgil E. Brown Insurance, we live and work on the East Side of Cleveland, which means we can serve and understand your needs in ways that the bigger companies can’t. (Or won’t.)

Call Stan right now at 216-851-3304 or email him at info@virgilbrownins.com to learn exactly how we can help.