Minnesota Trivia & Tidbits - Page 10

Looking for Minnesota trivia? Try our list Minnesota little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

The nation’s first professional football player was William “Pudge” Heffelfinger, who received $500 to play for the Allegheny (Pa.) Athletic Association against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club in 1892. Heffelfinger began playing football at Minneapolis Central High School.

first appeared: 8/24/2003

From the early to mid-1900s, researcher Frances Densmore of Red Wing (pop. 16,116) traveled to American Indian reservations and recorded more than 3,500 songs and took hundreds of photographs.

first appeared: 8/17/2003

Covering 154 square miles, Ramsey County is the state’s smallest county geographically.

first appeared: 8/10/2003

James Madison Goodhue published the territory’s first newspaper, the Minnesota Pioneer, in St. Paul in 1849.

first appeared: 8/3/2003

In the 1850s, settlers prepared to abandon Buffalo (pop. 10,097) until a traveling merchant offered cash for their overlooked crop—wild ginseng. They harvested the healing roots and paid debts.

first appeared: 7/27/2003

The state was the first to host all 13 United States Golf Association national championships.

first appeared: 7/20/2003

Missionaries at Lac qui Parle Mission near Montevideo (pop. 5,346) developed the Dakota alphabet and translated the Bible into Dakota in 1879.

first appeared: 7/13/2003

Cartoonist Charles Schulz, who created Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang, was born in 1922 in Minneapolis. The comic debuted in seven newspapers in 1950 and eventually appeared in more than 2,600 papers.

first appeared: 7/6/2003

At North House Folk School in Grand Marais, (pop. 1,353) students learn traditional crafts, such as how to build a birch bark canoe and a Norse pram.

first appeared: 6/29/2003

Grand Rapids’ (pop. 7,764) most famous daughter is actress Judy Garland, who was born Frances Ethel Gumm in 1922. Baby Gumm performed at age 2 at Itasca Mercantile. Garland made 32 movies, including The Wizard of Oz in 1939.

first appeared: 6/22/2003

Melvin Doyle, 90, of Plymouth donated his lifetime stash of spare coins last March to St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. The coins filled three pickup trucks and totaled $75,000.

first appeared: 6/15/2003

The battle for the Little Brown Jug, one of football’s most famous trophies, began in 1903 when undefeated Michigan traveled to Minnesota. Fearing a lack of fresh water, the Michigan trainer brought his own 5-gallon jug. In the frenzy following a 6-6 tie, the jug was left behind. “Come up and win it,” came the challenge.

first appeared: 6/8/2003

The Minnesota State Law Library in St. Paul was created in 1849 by the same act of Congress that created the Territory of Minnesota.

first appeared: 6/1/2003

The Brass Band Music Lending Library in Chatfield (pop. 2,394) shares its collection of band music with the world.

first appeared: 5/25/2003

Fly fisherman Donald Olson of Virginia (pop. 9,157) landed a record 20-pound, 7-ounce northern pike at Lake Ore-Be-Gone in Gilbert (pop. 1,847) in 2001.

first appeared: 5/18/2003

Tomato cans and fishing poles were used instead of holes and flags on the state’s first golf course in 1893 at the St. Paul Town and Country Club.

first appeared: 5/11/2003

The first hybrid popcorn for commercial use, Minhybrid 250, was released in 1934 by the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station.

first appeared: 5/4/2003

Fort Snelling is named for Col. Josiah Snelling, whose troops built the stone fortress overlooking the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers in the early 1820s.

first appeared: 4/27/2003

Initially nicknamed New York Fats for his state of birth, pool hustler Rudolf Wanderone (1913-1996) dubbed himself Minnesota Fats after the 1961 movie The Hustler portrayed a character by the same name who was strikingly similar to himself.

first appeared: 4/20/2003

With 1.6 million licensed fishermen, the state leads the nation in the sale of fishing licenses per capita.

first appeared: 4/13/2003

jump to page: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18

newspaper partner login create account

Recent

Popular

Recipes

Below are the most recent American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile recipes:

Relish

Spry

Below are the most recent articles from our Relish sister site. Click on the "Spry" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.

Below are the most recent articles from our Spry sister site. Click on the "Relish" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.