Minnesota Fun Facts Quiz

1. What famous phrase (“_?_ Cow!”) was born at a Minnesota baseball game? Minnesotan baseball commentator Halsey Hal was the first to say ‘Holy Cow’ during a baseball broadcast.

2. What Minnesota building is the size of 78 football fields? The Mall of America in Bloomington is the size of 78 football fields — 9.5 million square feet.

3. St. Paul’s original name was ___? 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.

4. Minnesota has 90,000 miles of _?_. Minnesota has 90,000 miles of shoreline, more than California, Florida and Hawaii combined.

5. Minnesota is home of what famous inventions? (It springs, pops, skies, and rolls!)

  • The stapler was invented in Spring City.
  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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.

6. Minnesota’s Hormel Company introduced which famous food product. Spam! Hormel Company of Austin marketed the first canned ham in 1926. Hormel introduced Spam in 1937.

7. In what direction do Minnesota’s water flow? (North, South, East or West?) 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.

8. What famous children’s author lived on Plum Creek? Author Laura Ingalls Wilder lived on Plum Creek near Walnut Grove.

9. Why is the “Kensington Rune stone” of such historical importance? 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.