Minnesota Fun Facts

Minnesota Inventions And Inventors

• Scotchgard brand fabric protectant: Invented by Minneapolis native Patsy Sherman in the mid-1950s. A lab assistant spilled a synthetic latex Patsy had made on a pair of canvas shoes. Not only did the substance not come off, but it resisted soiling.
• Wheaties brand cereal: Invented accidentally in 1921 by a clinician who spilled wheat bran gruel on a hot stove. The dried flakes tasted great. Millers at a Minneapolis grain company perfected the recipe, and General Mills first sold them as the "Breakfast of Champions" in the 1930s.
• Bundt cake pan: Designed in 1950 by aluminum manufacturer H. David Dalquist at the request of a Minneapolis Jewish women's group. Dalquist went on to found Minneapolis-based Nordic Ware, which has since sold more than 50 million Bundt pans.
• Waterskiing: Invented in 1922 by 18-year-old Ralph Samuelson. He first attempted waterskiing on Lake Pepin in Lake City, Minnesota, and three years later made the first recorded water ski jump. Samuelson experimented with a variety of skis, yet never patented any of his equipment.
• Kitty litter: Invented in 1947 by Edward Lowe of St. Paul, upon the request of a neighbor. Up until its invention, indoor cats were given fireplace ashes or sand to use, neither of which were as clean or absorbent as Lowe's clay.

State Statistics

Minnesota:

• Celebrates its 150th anniversary of statehood in 2008
• Has 90,000 miles of shoreline, more than California, Florida, and Hawaii combined
• Has a population of approximately 5 million
• Is home to a 1-million-acre preserve called the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, with more than 1,500 miles of canoe routes
• Is home to the largest shopping mall in the United States: The Mall of America, which is the size of 78 football fields