Minnesota

Recently developed in the great state of Minnesota is the Honeycrisp apple. We want this fantastic apple to stick around for eating, baking and making applesauce. We are counting on you to solve the Minnesota Breakout in 45 minutes or all these crisp and juicy apples will be shipped out of the country forever. Don't let this happen, get to it!

Minnesota is in the Great Lakes and northern region of the U.S.A. It became a state on May 11, 1858, making it the 32nd state of the United States. The state capital is St. Paul and the largest city is Minneapolis. These two cities are nicknamed the Twin Cities.

This state has a large number of lakes, and is known by the slogan "Land of 10,000 Lakes." Minnesota has 11,842 lakes of 10 acres or more in size.

The state's official motto is L'Étoile du Nord. The motto is in the French language. Can you translate the motto to English?

Minnesota has 3 state nicknames: North Star State, Land of 10,000 Lakes, Gopher State

Frank C. Mars was a chocolate bar inventor. He was born in Hancock, Michigan in 1883, but grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota. When he was a young boy he contracted polio. Frank spent much of his youth in the kitchen with his mother, who taught him how to make several types of candies.

In 1902, he started selling butter cream candies made in his own kitchen. By 1911, Frank started the Mars Candy Factory. He went on to invent three delicious candy bars that we still enjoy today.

Milky Way in 1923

Snickers in 1930

3 Musketeers in 1932

Minnesota's Official State Photograph

Minnesota is the only state to have a photograph as a state symbol.

The 1918 well-known photo, "Grace" is of an elderly man bowing his head to give thanks. This photo was taken in Bovey, Minnesota by Swedish immigrant Eric Enstrom.

Minnesota is home to a several large U.S. companies: Target, Best Buy, 3M, General Mills, Medtronic, Hormel Foods, Ameriprise Financial, Ecolab and St. Jude Medical.

Laura Ingalls Wilder is the author of the Little House on the Prairie series. Her books were released from 1932 to 1943, but are still read by many children today. These books tell of her life growing up in a settler and pioneer family in the late 1860's to the 1880's.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, the television series, Little House on the Prairie, was loosely based on her books. The setting of the tv series was in Walnut Grove, Minnesota.

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

The first automatic pop-up toaster was marketed in June 1926 by the McGraw Electric Co. in Minneapolis. The name of this appliance was the Toastmaster. The retail price was $13.50.

Tonka Trucks were developed and are still manufactured in Minnetonka.

Tonka makes trucks in many different colors and shapes.


In 1946, Lynn Everett Baker, Avery F. Crounse, and Alvin F. Tesch created a business in Mound, Minnesota. They called their company Mound Metalcraft. They wanted to manufacture garden implements.

But certain circumstances changed their business path. Their building was owned by the Streater Company, which built toys. This company no longer wanted to build toys, so they asked the three men if they were interested. Lynn, Avery and Alvin decided they would make toys along with their gardening tools.

Alvin made a few design changes to the toys. The three men also branded their toys with a new name. The new name came from a Dakota Sioux word "Tanka" or Tonka, which means "great" or "big",

The company began selling metal toys which soon became their main business. Tonka makes bulldozers, trenchers, fire ladder trucks, and of course, the durable, dependable dump truck.

Famous Minnesotans

Lindsey Vonn was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She is the only American woman to win a gold medal in downhill skiing. She won her grand, glistening gold medal at the 2010 Olympics. The 2010 Winter Olympics were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Prince was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was quite the singer, songwriter, and spectacular musical innovator. He also acted in his movie, "Purple Rain." Prince could play 27 instruments.

Charles Schultz was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was a cartoonist who created the Peanuts series. Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy, and Woodstock were some of his main characters. The Peanuts comic strip ran for fifty years in over 2,000 newspapers.

Judy Garland was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. She was a singer and an actress. Perhaps she is best remembered for her performance as Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz". The Scarecrow, Tin man, the Cowardly Lion and Dorothy followed the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City.