Minnesota and Wisconsin Trivia
Home to everything from Paul Bunyan to Spam to Bob Dylan, Minnesota is a treasure trove of trivia. Wisconsin has seen the invention of the Barbie, Harley Davidson motorcycles, and the first American kindergarten. Here are a few Minnesota and Wisconsin facts you might not have heard. If you’ve got a favorite tidbit of Minnesota or Wisconsin trivia that we haven’t covered, send it to us at letters@duluthsuperiormagazine.com, and we may publish it next month!
Invented in Minnesota: Scotch tape, Wheaties cereal, Bisquick, HMOs, the bundt pan, Aveda beauty products, and the Jolly Green Giant.
Monroe, Wisconsin is the Swiss Cheese Capital of the World. Better than Switzerland? Well, according to Monroe, yes.
The St. Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959, allowing oceangoing ships to reach Duluth.
The first Aerial Ferry in the country opened on April 9, 1905, over the ship canal between Duluth to Minnesota Point. It had room enough to accommodate six cars. Round trip took 10 min.
Minneapolis is home to the oldest continuously running theater (Old Log Theater) and the largest dinner theater (Chanhassen Dinner Theater) in the country.
Wisconsin’s Mount Horeb’s internationally known Mustard Museum holds the world’s largest mustard collection. The museum contains more than 2,300 varieties of mustard. The museum celebrates National Mustard Day each August.
The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is the largest urban sculpture garden in the country.
Minnesota has 90,000 miles of shoreline, more than California, Florida and Hawaii combined.
The nation’s first kindergarten was established in Watertown in 1856. Its first students were local German-speaking youngsters.
The Metrodome is the only facility in the country to host a Super Bowl, a World Series and a NCAA Final Four Basketball Championship.
Famous Wisconsinites include: Harry Houdini, famous magician and escape artist. Douglas MacArthur, well known World War II and Korean War general. Frank Lloyd Wright, America’s most famous architect. William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Don Ameche, actor and winner of an academy award for his performance in “Cocoon.”
In 1956, Southdale, in Edina, opened. It was the first indoor shopping mall in the country.
The first Super Computer debuted in 1963, designed by Control Data Corp. of Chippewa Falls.
Candy maker Frank C. Mars was from Minnesota. He created introduced the Milky Way candy bar in 1923, the Snickers bar in 1930 and introduced the 5 cent Three Musketeers bar in 1937.
The falls in Niagara, Wisconsin has the same geological feature as Niagara Falls, New York.
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.
Source: www.50states.com
