|
 Facts About Minnesota
 
Before
European colonization, the area now known as Minnesota was inhabited by
Native Americans, in particular the Ojibwe (Chippewa, Anishinaabe) and
Dakota, although the Winnebago also had a presence in the southeastern
part of the state. According to local tradition, the first European
visitors were Swedish and Norwegian Vikings in the 14th century. Part of
what would become Minnesota was granted to the United States by the Second
Treaty of Paris at the end of the American Revolution in 1783. Upon
statehood of Iowa and Wisconsin the Minnesota Territory was carved out of
the remaining land and established on March 3, 1849, but unlike the
boundaries of modern day Minnesota, the areas western border extended far
into present day North Dakota and South Dakota; all the way to the
Missouri River. The eastern half of the Minnesota Territory became the
country's 32nd state –
after California –
on May 11, 1858. The remaining western part fell unorganized until its
incorporation into the Dakota Territory on March 2, 1861.
 Capital:
St. Paul
Population: 5,025,000
Entered the Union: May 11, 1858
As the: 32nd State
Motto: "The Star of the North"
Nickname: North Star State - Land of
10,000 Lakes
Flower: Lady's Slipper
Bird: Common Loon
Song: "Hail! Minnesota"
Origin of Name: Based on the Dakota
Sioux Indian word for "sky-tinted water," referring to the Minnesota River
or the state's many lakes.
Points of Interest: Minnesota
Zoological Gardens and the state's more than 10,000 lakes
Bordering States: North Dakota, South
Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Also the Canadian Provinces of Manitoba and
Ontario.
Numerous Facts & Trivia:
Minnesotan baseball commentator Halsey Hal was the first to say 'Holy Cow'
during a baseball broadcast.
The Mall of America in Bloomington is the size of 78 football fields ---
9.5 million square feet.
Minnesota Inventions: Masking and Scotch tape, Wheaties cereal, Bisquick,
HMOs, the bundt pan, Aveda beauty products, and Green Giant vegetables
The St. Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959 allowing oceangoing ships to reach
Duluth.
Minneapolis is home to the oldest continuously running theater (Old Log
Theater) and the largest dinner theater (Chanhassan Dinner Theater) in the
country.
The original name of the settlement that became St. Paul was Pig's Eye.
Named for the French-Canadian whiskey trader, Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant,
who had led squatters to the settlement.
The world's largest pelican stands at the base of the Mill Pond dam on the
Pelican River, right in downtown Pelican Rapids. The 15 1/2 feet tall
concrete statue was built in 1957.
The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is the largest urban sculpture garden in
the country.
The Guthrie Theater is the largest regional playhouse in the country.
Minneapolis’ famed skyway system connecting 52 blocks (nearly five miles)
of downtown makes it possible to live, eat, work and shop without going
outside.
Minneapolis has more golfers per capita than any other city in the
country.
The climate-controlled Metrodome is the only facility in the country to
host a Super Bowl, a World Series and a NCAA Final Four Basketball
Championship.
Minnesota has 90,000 miles of shoreline, more than California, Florida and
Hawaii combined.
The nation’s first Better Business Bureau was founded in Minneapolis in
1912.
The first open heart surgery and the first bone marrow transplant in the
United States were done at the University of Minnesota.
Bloomington and Minneapolis are the two farthest north latitude cities to
ever host a World Series game.
Madison is the "Lutefisk capital of the United States".
Rochester is home of the world famous Mayo Clinic. The clinic is a major
teaching and working facility. It is known world wide for its doctor's
expertise and the newest methods of treatments.
The Bergquist cabin, built in 1870 by John Bergquist, a Swedish immigrant,
is the oldest house in Moorhead still on its original site.
For many years, the world's largest twine ball has sat in Darwin. It
weighs 17,400 pounds, is twelve feet in diameter, and was the creation of
Francis A. Johnson.
The stapler was invented in Spring Valley.
In 1956, Southdale, in the Minneapolis suburb of Edina, was the first
enclosed climate-controlled suburban Shop50states.
Private Milburn Henke of Hutchinson was the first enlisted man to land
with the first American Expeditionary Force in Europe in WWII on January
26, 1942.
The first practical water skis were invented in 1922 by Ralph W.
Samuelson, who steam-bent 2 eight-foot-long pine boards into skies. He
took his first ride behind a motorboat on a lake in Lake City.
In Olivia a single half-husked cob towers over a roadside gazebo. It is 25
feet tall, made of fiberglass, and has been up since 1973.
The first Children's department in a Library is said to be that of the
Minneapolis Public Library, which separated children's books from the rest
of the collection in Dec. 1889.
The first Automatic Pop-up toaster was marketed in June 1926 by McGraw
Electric Co. in Minneapolis under the name Toastmaster. The retail price
was $13.50.
On September 2, 1952, a 5 year old girl was the first patient to under go
a heart operation in which the deep freezing technique was employed. Her
body temperature, except for her head, was reduced to 79 degrees
Fahrenheit. Dr. Floyd Lewis at the Medical School of the University of
Minnesota performed the operation.
The first Aerial Ferry was put into Operation on April 9, 1905, over the
ship canal between Duluth to Minnesota Point. It had room enough to
accommodate 6 automobiles. Round trip took 10 min.
Rollerblades were the first commercially successful in-line Roller Skates.
Minnesota students Scott and Brennan Olson invented them in 1980, when
they were looking for a way to practice Hockey during the off-season.
Their design was an ice hockey boot with 3 inline wheels instead of a
blade.
The first Intercollegiate Basketball game was played in Minnesota on
February 9,1895.
In 1919 a Minneapolis factory turned out the nations first armored cars.
Tonka Trucks were developed and are continued to be manufactured in
Minnetonka.
Hormel Company of Austin marketed the first canned ham in 1926. Hormel
introduced Spam in 1937.
Introduced in August 1963, The Control Data 6600, designed by Control Data
Corp. of Chippewa Falls, was the first Super Computer. It was used by the
military to simulate nuclear explosions and break Soviet codes. These
computers also were used to model complex phenomena such as hurricanes and
galaxies.
Candy maker Frank C. Mars of Minnesota introduced the Milky Way candy bar
in 1923. Mars marketed the Snickers bar in 1930 and introduced the 5 cent
Three Musketeers bar in 1937. The original 3 Musketeers bar contained 3
bars in one wrapper. Each with different flavor nougat.
A Jehovah's Witness was the first patient to receive a transfusion of
artificial blood in 1979 at the University of Minnesota Hospital. He had
refused a transfusion of real blood because of his religious beliefs.
Minnesota has one recreational boat per every six people, more than any
other state.
There are 201 Mud Lakes, 154 Long Lakes, and 123 Rice Lakes commonly named
in Minnesota.
The Hull-Rust mine in Hibbing became the largest open-pit mine in the
world.
Minnesota's waters flow outward in three directions: north to Hudson Bay
in Canada, east to the Atlantic Ocean, and south to the Gulf of Mexico.
At the confluence of the Big Fork and Rainy Rivers on the Canadian border
near International Falls stands the largest Indian burial mound in the
upper midwest. It is known as the Grand Mound historic site.
Author Laura Ingalls Wilder lived on Plum Creek near Walnut Grove.
Akeley is birthplace and home of world's largest Paul Bunyan Statue. The
kneeling Paul Bunyan is 20 feet tall. He might be the claimed 33 feet
tall, if he were standing.
Hibbing is the birthplace of the American bus industry. It sprang from the
business acumen of Carl Wickman and Andrew "Bus Andy" Anderson - who
opened the first bus line (with one bus) between the towns of Hibbing and
Alice in 1914. The bus line grew to become Greyhound Lines, Inc.
The first official hit in the Metrodome in Minneapolis was made by Pete
Rose playing for the Cincinnati Reds in a preseason game.
Polaris Industries of Roseau invented the snowmobile.
Twin Cities-based Northwest Airlines was the first major airline to ban
smoking on international flights.
Alexander Anderson of Red Wing discovered the processes to puff wheat and
rice giving us the indispensable rice cakes.
In 1898, the Kensington Rune stone was found on the farm of Olaf Ohman,
near Alexandria. The Kensington Rune stone carvings allegedly tell of a
journey of a band of Vikings in 1362.
Learn more at 50states.com
|
|
Paul's Run
|
Media
|
Encourage
|
Contact