In Battle Creek, the Kellogg brothers invented the first cereal by accident in an attempt to make granola.

[9] One local legend says Battle Creek was named after an encounter between a federal government land survey party led by Colonel John Mullett and two Potawatomi in March 1824.

The two Potawatomi had approached the camp asking for food because they were hungry as the U.S. Army was late delivering supplies promised to them under the 1821 Treaty of Chicago.

[10] Early white settlers called the nearby stream Battle Creek River and the town took its name from that.

The Waupakisco or Waupokisco was supposedly a reference to a battle or fight fought between indigenous tribes before the arrival of Europeans.

However, Virgil J. Vogel, professor emeritus of history and social science at Harry S. Truman College in Chicago, believes the native name has "nothing to do with blood or battle".

[11][14] In about 1774, the Potawatomi and the Ottawa Native American tribes formed a joint village near the future Battle Creek, Michigan.

[15] The first permanent European settlements in Battle Creek Township, after the removal of the Potawatomi to a reservation, began about 1831.

A brick manufacturing plant, called the oldest enterprise in the township, was established in 1840 by Simon Carr and operated until 1903.

[17] In the antebellum era, the city was a major stop on the Underground Railroad, used by fugitive slaves to escape to freedom in Michigan and Canada.

World Heavyweight Champion Jack Johnson was once arrested here for marrying his White wife and transporting her across state lines.

In addition to some of his sometimes bizarre treatments that were featured in the movie The Road to Wellville, Kellogg also funded organizations that promoted eugenics theories at the core of their philosophical agenda, which was seen as a natural complement to euthenics.

He also supported the "separate but equal" philosophy and invited Booker T. Washington to speak at the Battle Creek Sanitarium in order to raise money.

Washington was the author of the speech "The Atlanta Compromise", which solidified his position of being an accommodationist while providing a mechanism for southern Whites (and their sympathizers), to fund his school (the Tuskegee Institute).

Tired of living in the shadow of his brother John Harvey Kellogg, he struck out on his own, going to the boom-towns surrounding the oilfields in Oklahoma as a broom salesman.

It was during this time of going their separate ways for good that Dr. John Harvey Kellogg sued his brother for copyright infringement.

Inspired by Kellogg's innovation, C. W. Post invented Grape-Nuts and founded his own cereal company in the town.

Dr. Martin Luther King spoke here, as did Sen. Hubert Humphrey, President Lyndon B. Johnson, and Heavyweight Champion of the world Muhammad Ali.

African Americans were subjected to "stop and frisk" procedures while walking, and housing covenants were in full force.

[8] There were 20,690 households and 2.40 residents per house, giving Battle Creek a population density (per square mile) of 1,228.6.

"Created in 1989 by brothers Jim and Bill Gray, podiatrists and amateur brass players from Battle Creek, MI, the BBBC has grown to cult status in Battle Creek, where BBBC concerts are regularly sold out and waiting lists are created weeks in advance.

[62] Battle Creek hosts the annual Michigan High School Athletic Association team wrestling, volleyball, baseball, and softball state championships.

[63] Each year, Battle Creek hosts the Sandy Koufax 13S World Series, for 13-year-old baseball players.

In June 2024, the mens 4x800m relay team from Saint Philip Catholic Central High School took third place at the MHSAA Track and Field State Championship.

Actor Tyler Hoechlin, who starred alongside Tom Hanks in the critically acclaimed film Road to Perdition, previously played for the Battle Creek Bombers.

The Battle Creek Crunch were a member of the Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLIFL), that began play in 2006.

The Battle Creek Belles, a member of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, played two seasons, 1951 and 1952, before relocating to Muskegon.

[68] In June 2019, the Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) announced it had added a tenth team for the 2019–20 season and it would be in Michigan.

[69] On July 23, the Battle Creek Rumble Bees were announced[70] with Adam Stio as the general manager after previously serving in the same role with the Southern Professional Hockey League's Evansville Thunderbolts.

[71] The FHL had played multiple neutral site games in Battle Creek over the previous seasons before placing an expansion team there.