15 Fun Facts
- The first intercollegiate basketball game was played in Minnesota on February 9, 1895.
- Reports show that Minnesota has one recreational boat per every six people.
- The state has 17 species of snakes of which two are poisonous; but these two species are only found in the southeastern region of the state.
- The territory’s first newspaper, the Minnesota Pioneer, was published by James Madison Goodhue in St. Paul in 1849.
- The country’s first indoor shopping mall in the world was the Southdale mall in Edina which opened its doors in October, 1956.
- Linda Christensen has sculpted 90-pound blocks of butter into busts of dairy princess contestants at the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul since 1972.
- What is considered as the Curling Capital of the United States is located in Bemidji where the men’s and women’s U.S. Olympic curling teams are based.
- The state recorded its coldest day on February 2, 1996 when temperature dipped to minus-60 degrees near the town of Tower.
- Mound is home to Tonka Trucks which were named after nearby neighboring town Lake Minnetonka where the toys have been made since 1946.
- Madison holds the title of being the Lutefish capital of the United States.
- It is believed that the Minneapolis Public Library was the first to offer a children’s library department when they separated the children’s books from the main stacks in December, 1889.
- Minnesota is home to such noteworthy inventions as Bisquick, the bundt pan, and Aveda beauty products.
- Lake Vermillion has 313 miles of shoreline.
- The Jolly Green Giant (of vegetable fame) is said to hail from Le Sueur which is locally known as “Valley of the Jolly Green Giant.”
- The Hormel SPAM Museum is located in Austin, Minnesota.
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