Illustration of a Native American man crossing a lake in a canoe and making  giving smoke signals

Essentials: Miami

Five facts about Miami that will surprise you

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2 min read
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1) Miami is famous for being one of the places where suntan lotion was invented. Pharmacist Benjamin Green began experimenting with a type of vaseline in 1944 that he mixed with coconut oil and cocoa butter. He later marketed the product under the name Coppertone. 

Illustration on the left: a woman sunbathing in the shade of a large tube of sun cream, on the right an open control panel showing the Miami skyline

2) Miami has served as the backdrop for more than 6,000 films, including the classics “Scarface” and “The Godfather II” as well as blockbusters such as “Iron Man 3”, “2 Fast 2 Furious” and “Bad Boys”. One of the most influential television series of the 1980s, “Miami Vice”, was also set here. 

3) Approximately 70 percent of Miami’s population is of Hispanic descent. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, tens of thousands of Cubans emigrated to Miami after Fidel Castro came to power. Later, people from Central and South America followed.  

Left: Illustration of a message in a bottle floating in the sea towards an island with palm trees, on the right a woman in a long skirt digging into the earth with a spade and building a wall

4) Miami is the only major U.S. city in the foundation of which a woman was directly involved. In 1891, Ohio businesswoman Julia DeForest Tuttle purchased large tracts of land at the mouth of the Miami River and pushed for the construction of a railroad. Five years later, the town was incorporated. 

5) The name Miami goes back to the indigenous term “Mayaimi”, which means “big water”. The word was used to refer to the local lake (now Lake Okee-chobee) and the Native Americans living in the region. At 1,890 square kilometers, Lake Okeechobee is the largest lake in Florida. 

Illustration of a Native American man crossing a lake in a canoe and making  giving smoke signals
(all illustrations © Sylvia Neuner)

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