page_title: 1962 in Michigan
section_title: November
hierarchical_section_title: 1962 in Michigan / Chronology of events / November
caption_attribution_description: English: Ford Rotunda Brochure
context_page_description: Events from the year 1962 in Michigan.
  The Associated Press selected the top news stories of 1962 in Michigan as follows:
  George Romney's successful campaign to become Governor of Michigan;
  The end of the Michigan Constitutional Convention;
  The January 30 tragedy in which the Wallenda family, performing a high wire pyramid in front of 7,000 spectators at the Shrine Circus at Detroit's State Fair Coliseum, sustained two deaths and three other injuries when their human pyramid collapsed;
  Record profits and sales in the automobile business;
  Completion of the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge connecting the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario;
  The defeat of proposed tax reform in the Michigan Legislature;
  An order by the Michigan Supreme Court directing reapportionment
  The sinking of the freighter Montrose in the Detroit River after colliding with a barge;
  The dedication of Michigan's first atomic reactor at the Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant; and
  John F. Kennedy leading a Democratic onslaught of Cabinet members and party leaders in September.
context_section_description: November 3 - Employment figures for October were released, showing an unemployment rate of 4.5% in Michigan with 128,000 persons lacking jobs. The unemployment rate was the lowest since 1955 when the rate dipped to 2.8%.
  November 6
  * George W. Romney defeated John Swainson for Governor. Romney's margin of victory was 78,497 votes.
  * The Republican Party retained control in both houses of the Michigan Legislature. The Republicans won the Michigan House of Representatives by a 58-52 margin and the Michigan Senate by a 23-11 margin.
  * In the race for Michigan's at-large Congressional seat, a seat resulting from a new Congressional seat being awarded to the state and the state's inability to adopt a redistricting plan, Democrat Neil Staebler of Ann Arbor defeated Republican Alvin Morell Bentley of Owosso. No Michigan Congressional districts changed parties, as 17 incumbents were reelected, and Republican J. Edward Hutchinson won the District 4 seat previously held for 28 years by Republican Clare Hoffman.
  * Democrats swept the other statewide offices: T. John Lesinski for Lieutenant Governor; James M. Hare for Secretary of State; Frank J. Kelley for Attorney General; Sanford A. Brown for Treasurer; and Billie S. Farnum for Auditor General.
  November 8 - After the best start in team history (8-0-2), the Detroit Red Wings suffered the first loss of their 1962–63 season, falling 4–1 to the Montreal Canadiens.
  November 9 - The Ford Rotunda in Dearborn, the fifth most popular tourist site in the mid-20th century, was destroyed by fire.  The fire began in the early afternoon on the roof and quickly consumed the structure. A maintenance worker, John Riley, remained in the building to turn off gas and electrical lines, suffered smoke inhalation, and was the only person injured.
  November 9 - More than 100 city, state, and federal officers raided the Gotham Hotel in Detroit. The hotel was alleged to be the headquarters of the city's numbers gambling ring. A total of 41 arrests were made.
  November 11 - The $13 million interchange between the Chrysler (I-75) and Ford Freeways (I-94) was partially completed and opened to traffic. It was the first interchange in Michigan between two interstate highways.
  November 15 - American Motors distributed $3.2 million in stock to 27,000 workers as part of the first profit-sharing plan in the automobile industry. Two weeks later, UAW President Walter Reuther warned that the auto industry's Big Three would need in 1964 to provide similar profit-sharing programs or provide the equivalent in wages.
  November 18 - In a move seen as a setback by those seeking to challenge to the authority of Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa, long-distance truckers voted 3,780 to 3,274 to remain with the Teamsters rather than join the AFL-CIO. Six days later, Hoffa loyalists held a rally at Cobo Hall in Detroit. At the rally, Hoffa attacked several U.S. Senators, referred to Robert F. Kennedy as "Bobby Boy", and denounced newspaper stories about him as "a barrage of filth and slime."
  November 22 - The Detroit Lions defeated the Green Bay Packers, 26–14, on Thanksgiving Day in Detroit, snapping the Packers' 19-game unbeaten streak. The Lions sacked Bart Starr for 110 yards in losses.
  November 26 - Detroit Mayor Cavanagh signed into law an ordinance prohibiting realtors from trying to generate sales and rentals by claiming that a neighborhood is about to undergo a racial, religious or ethnic change. Two days later, Cavanagh signed a law providing for fluoridation of Detroit's water.
  November 29 - George Fitzgerald, Teamsters attorney since 1935, was fired after testifying in the bribery trial of Jimmy Hoffa in Nashville. Fitzgerald testified he cashed a $15,000 check at Hoffa's request and delivered the money to Hoffa.  Hoffa claimed Fitzgerald resigned, but Hoffa was quoted as telling Fitzgerald in the hallway outside the courtroom: "You're all through. Turn in your books and records."
caption: Ford Rotunda
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