1. Two words: Bob Dylan. The legendary poet/song writer/singer/guitar player/musical genius was born in Duluth in 1941. Okay, that was more than two words, but Dylan deserves the dramatic entrance.
2. Scotch Tape was invented by the
Minnesota-based company 3M in 1925. “Scotch” was a word used to describe “stingy.” Legend has it that during the testing phase, an auto painter asked “Why so scotch with the adhesive?” More adhesive was added, and the name stuck.
3. The stapler was invented in Spring Valley by Charles Henderson. He also invented a silent shutter for the Conley Camera and creative bag tiers, earning him the moniker in town as “the man who can make anything we need.”
4. Before he was Prince, The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, and then Prince again, singer/songwriter and music legend Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis on June 7, 1958. He has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time.
5. The first truly usable water skis were invented by Ralph W. Samuelson in 1922 using two eight-foot pine boards. He took his first ride behind a motorboat in Lake City.
6. It’s against the law to sleep naked in Minnesota. But don’t worry, birthday suit lovers, it’s an old, unenforceable law.
7. Minnesota has one recreational boat per every six people, more than any other state.
8. It is also illegal for anyone from Minnesota to enter the state of Wisconsin wearing a chicken on your head. There go my plans for the weekend.
9. The world’s largest ball of twine built by a single person sits in Darwin, weighing 17,400 pounds and twelve feet in diameter.
10. Minnesota might be known as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” but it actually has 11, 842 lakes. Ten thousand just rolls off the tongue a little better.
11. You’ll also be surprised to discover that Minnesota has 90,000 miles of shoreline. That’s more than California, Florida and Hawaii combined.
12. Tonka Trucks have been manufactured in Mound since 1946, and were named to honor Lake Minnetonka.
13. Author Laura Ingalls Wilder lived in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, which she wrote about in her books. It became the filming site for the TV Show "Little House On The Prairie."
14. The first Target opened in Roseville in 1962, thereby making it impossible for women everywhere to ever “run in for just one thing” ever again.
15. Eat your Wheaties! They were first made in 1922 by accident when a technician for Washburn Crosby Company spilled wheat germ on a hot stove.
16. Minnesota students Scott and Brennan Olson first invented Rollerblades in 1980 while looking for a way to practice hockey during the off-season. They designed an ice hockey boot complete with three inline wheels instead of a blade, and the rest was history.
17. The first intercollegiate basketball game was played on February 9, 1895 in Minnesota.
18. The first official hit in the (sadly demolished) Metrodome in Minneapolis was made by Pete Rose playing for the Cincinnati Reds in a preseason game.
19. Bloomington and Minneapolis are the two most northern U.S. cities to ever host a World Series game.
20. Madison is the Lutefisk Capital of the U.S. So, if you like lutefisk (or even know what a lutefisk is), you’ll love it here.
21. Canned meat had to come from somewhere: Austin, Minnesota. The Hormel Company marketed the first canned ham here in 1926 and the first can of Spam in 1937.
22. The most iconic piece in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is the Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture created by a husband and wife duo Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, who were also responsible for creating the Batcolumn in New York City. The spoon weighs 5,800 pounds and the cherry 1,200, redefining a “heavy dessert.”
23. Beef lovers can relax. A long-standing belief that hamburgers are outlawed in Minnesota (mainly St. Cloud) on Sundays is untrue. Let them eat beef!
24. While it’s hard to remember a time when smoking on airplanes was allowed, it wasn’t all that long ago. Twin Cities-based Northwest Airlines was the first major airline to ban smoking on international flights.
25. Thought of as the world’s largest pelican, Pelican Pete is a concrete statue that stands at the base of the Mill Pond dam on the Pelican River in downtown Pelican Rapids. At 15.5 feet tall, it has been referred to as “The Mother of All Pelicans.”
26. Another one of Minnesota’s popular roadside statue attractions is Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. Located in Bemidji, this attraction has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1988. They have been named by the Kodak Company as the “second most photographed statues in the Unites States,” only second to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
27. Akeley is the birthplace and home of another Paul Bunyan Statue – but this one is the world’s largest. While kneeling, Paul Bunyan is 20 feet tall, but if he were standing, it is thought he might reach 33 feet tall. It’s also the home of Paul Bunyan’s cradle.
28. More roadside attraction love, this time with corn. The single half-husked corn on the cob in Olivia has stood tall over top a roadside gazebo at 25 feet tall since 1973.
29. The snowmobile was invented by Polaris Industries in Roseau.
30. Minnesota’s waters flow in three different directions: north to the Hudson Bay in Canada, east towards the Atlantic Ocean, and south to the Gulf of Mexico.
31. Alexander Anderson of Red Wing, Minnesota discovered the process of how to puff wheat and rice, creating rice cakes.
32. The Minnesota Valley Canning Company was founded in 1903 in Le Sueur, using the name Le Sueur Z for its canned veggies. Eventually, the brand “Green Giant Great Big Tender Peas” was create in 1925 and the Jolly Green Giant, the company’s mascot was create. He stands, tall and green, in Blue Earth at 55.5 feet tall.
33. Rochester is home of the world famous Mayo Clinic. The clinic is a major teaching and working facility. It is known worldwide for its doctor's expertise and the newest methods of treatments.
34. The first open-heart surgery and the first bone-marrow transplant performed in the United States were done at the University of Minnesota.
35. The first person to receive a transfusion of artificial blood was a Jehovah’s Witness in 1979 at the University of Minnesota Hospital. He refused a traditional transfusion because of his religious beliefs.
36. The SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium features a new exhibit of Japanese Spider Crabs which have an impression reach of 12 feet across if they’re fully grown.
37. The Kensington Rune stone was found on a farm belonging to Olaf Ohman near Alexandria in 1898. The carvings on the stone are reported to tell the story of the journey of a band of Vikings in the 1300’s.
What's your favorite fun fact about Minnesota? Tell us in the comments below!
