Cleveland Vintage Blog

Did You Know Larry Bird's NBA Career Ended in Cleveland?

Basketball Sports

Did You Know Larry Bird's NBA Career Ended in Cleveland?

Larry Bird dominated the NBA landscape in the 1980s, but his reign came to an end in the early '90s, perhaps a few years earlier than planned due to a bad back (though he was 35 at this point too). But Bird made one last run to the playoffs with the Boston Celtics in the 1991-92 season, meeting up with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round. Bird was limited to 45 games that season and had to sit out the Celtics' first-round victory against Indiana, but he was still an All-Star that season, averaging 20.2 points, 9.6 rebounds, and...

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Looking for Bigfoot in Ohio? Here Are Some of the State's Most Famous Cryptids

Culture History

Looking for Bigfoot in Ohio? Here Are Some of the State's Most Famous Cryptids

Cleveland - and the rest of Ohio - is a cryptid hotbed, with recorded sightings that date back as far as the 18th century. From the watery depths of Lake Erie to the dense, forested depths of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and throughout the rest of the state, many types of cryptids have stalked this area and called it home. Here are some of the most popular cryptids you could find in Ohio. South Bay Bessie You might know South Bay Bessie by her other name - the Lake Erie Monster - but however you know her, she's been stalking...

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Cleveland, Ohio Was the First City to Install Traffic Lights

History

Cleveland, Ohio Was the First City to Install Traffic Lights

You read that headline correctly: The first red-and-green traffic signals installed in North America were indeed again a Cleveland first in 1914 (Cleveland is the City of Light, after all). The road to get to that point began in London as far back as 1868, and the entire story brings to mind one of our favorite sayings that “necessity is indeed the mother of all invention." So what brought about the need for an electronically colored, bright, traffic signaling system you are wondering? Well, the simple answer is speed. When traffic consisted primarily of horses, horse-drawn carriages, foot traffic and...

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Here Is What Larry Bird Once Said About Playing at the Richfield Coliseum

Basketball Sports

Here Is What Larry Bird Once Said About Playing at the Richfield Coliseum

"If you were constructing the ideal arena from my experience, I'd say, 'Duplicate the Richfield Coliseum.'" - Larry Bird Larry Bird is one of the best basketball players of all time, essentially dominating the 1980s along with Magic Johnson. But you won't really get too many interesting insights from Bird in his 1989 memoir Drive, co-written with sportswriter Bob Ryan.  It's pretty much a book full of hollow athlete speak that glosses over any really juicy details; however, Bird does provide some valuable tidbits at the end of the book with a full section on his opinions of every single NBA...

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When Was Cleveland Known as the City of Light?

History

When Was Cleveland Known as the City of Light?

In a recent conversation, I was asked exactly when Cleveland became known as “The City of Light” and I had to answer honestly that I had no idea. But since I’m rarely caught that off-guard on topics Cleveland-related, I set out to track down the answer. It led me to one Charles F. Brush, the inventor born in Ohio who brought us the arc light. If the name “Brush" and the word “arc” sound familiar, your instincts are correct. Brush High School, which serves the South Euclid-Lyndhurst School District, is indeed named after Brush. And their team nickname - the “Arcs” -...

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