Minnesota became the 32nd state on May 11, 1858 and was originally
settled by a lost tribe of Norwegians seeking refuge from the
soaring heat of Wisconsin's winters.
The state flag of Minnesota consists of a blue background upon
which sits a design best described as "how a 7-year- old city girl would
draw a picture titled 'life on the farm'".
Minnesota gets it's name from the Sioux Indian word
"mah-nee-soo-tah",meaning "no, really... They eat
fish soaked in lye".
The state song of Minnesota is "someday the Vikings
will... Aw, never mind".
The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota covers
9.5 million square feet and has enough space to hold 185,000
idiot teenagers yapping away on cell phones.
Madison, Minnesota is known as "the lutefisk capital of the world"......
Avoid this city at all costs.
"The Mary Tyler Moore show" was set in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
and was Mary's first real acting job since leaving the
"Dick Van Dyke show".
The show about a single woman's struggle to find happiness in the
big city, was originally titled "Life without Dick", but that was
changed for some reason.
The state motto of Minnesota is, "Where Even
A Man Who Wears A Feather Boa Can Be Governor."
Downtown Minneapolis has an enclosed skyway system
covering 52 blocks, allowing people to live, work, eat, and
sleep without ever going outside. The only downside to this
is that a Norwegian occasionally turns up missing.
Cartoonist Charles M. Shultz was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
and grew up in St. Paul. He was the only artist to accurately
depict the perfectly circular heads of Minnesota natives.
The Hormel company of Austin, Minnesota produces 6
million cans of Spam a year, even though no one actually eats that crap.
Water skis were invented in 1922 in Lake City, Minnesota by
Ralph Samuelson. Sadly, he drowned shortly afterwards, as the
motorboat hadn't been invented yet.
St. Paul, Minnesota was originally named " Pig's Eye", after French
Canadian whis key trader Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant. Its "twin city",
Minneapolis, was known as "pig's colon".
The stapler was invented in Swingline, Minnesota by a chubby,
mumbling man named Milton in 1899. The city was mysteriously
destroyed by fire later that year.
Pelican Rapids is home to a 16-foot-tall concrete
pelican, which subsists on a diet of 4-foot-long concret e fish.
In 1973, Olivia, Minnesota, erected a 25-foot tall fiberglass corn cob
to celebrate its rich, agricultural heritage. Then in 1974, it was
eaten by a 50-foot statue of Babe the Blue Ox.
Yes, Minnesota has a lot of problems with statue cannibalism.
Minnesota license plates are blue & white
and contain the phrase
"Blizzards On Independence Day - You Get Used To It."
Frank C. Mars, founder of the Mars Candy Co. was born in
Newport, Minnesota. His 3 Musketeers candy bar originally contained three
bars in one wrapper, each filled with a different flavor nougat; chocolate,
spam and lutefisk.
The first fully automatic pop-up toaster was
invented in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1926. Minnesota's stringent
bread-control laws currently only allow residents to own
semi-automatic toasters.
Tonka trucks continue to be manufactured in Minnetonka,
Minnesota, despite the thousands of GI Joe dolls killed by them annually
in rollover accidents. No airbags, no seat belts. These things
are deathtraps, I tell ya!
Author Laura Ingalls Wilder was raised at Walnut Grove, Minnesota
and was famous for writing the "Little House" series of books, as
well as inventing the "Spam Diet" - which consists of looking at
a plate of spam until you lose your appetite. Much like the "Lutefisk
Diet".
The snowmobile was invented in Roseau, Minnesota so as to
allow families a means of attending independence day picnics.
Minnesotans are almost indistinguishable from Wisconsinites. The
only way to tell them apart is to ask if they voted for Mondale in '84