Happy 313th Birthday to the 313

Detroit turns 313 years old today.  The Detroit Free Press relates the details in A short history on the founding of Detroit.

Why are we celebrating Detroit’s 313th birthday on Thursday?

Well, because it was 313 years ago that French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and his band of merry hommes arrived on the banks of the Detroit River and established the settlement that would one day become the Motor City.
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[O]n July 23, the crew rows across Lake St. Clair and passes by Belle Isle. As the “Detroit Almanac” tells it, “Stopping on the island might be foreboding: The sight of swarms of mosquitoes and the occasional threatening rattle of massasauga rattlesnakes may convince them to keep rowing.” They make their way south, past where Detroit is today, and camp on what is now Grosse Ile. Cadillac takes things in and re-evaluates his options a bit.

The next day, he has his crew backtrack north a bit to a rather strategic spot with great views up and down the river. Cadillac orders his men to bust out their axes and get to choppin’. This is where he will build the fort that would one day give rise to one of the greatest cities in the world. It is July 24, 1701. Detroit is born.

Happy birthday, Detroit!  I'm celebrating by following the advice of another Free Press article.

Show your Detroit pride on the 313’s 313th birthday by downloading your very own Detroit flag.

I particularly like the motto: Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus" -- "We hope for better things; it will rise from the ashes."  It's just as appropriate today as it was in 1805, when the city burned down, only to be rebuilt.