Five Mind Blowing Historical Facts You May Not Know About Minnesota

Minnesota has an interesting story to tell in terms of its history.  I'm embarrassed to say that as a lifelong Minnesota resident, I know very little of our beautiful state's story.  I've discovered a few more facts that I think will surprise you.

WCCO published an article back in September with some fascinating facts about Minnesota's history and I'm positive I didn't know any of these.

One of the things this article talks about is that there were 6,000 Japanese Americans trained in Minnesota and they helped shorten WW II by at least two years.  These men and women graduated from the Military Service Language Intelligence School at Fort Snelling.  Yep, never had a clue about that.

I also had no idea the Minnesota State Fair had a controversial history, with Minneapolis and St. Paul battling to be the home of it.  I found out Minnesota was home to the first bridge to span the Mississippi River.

If that isn't enough the Jame J. Hill mansion in St. Paul cost more than the Stone Arch bridge and a Minnesota college president was part of a landmark divorce case in the late 1800's.

Check out the full article from WCCO.

I get that many of these facts are trivial but at the same time, I think we should have a grasp of our state's history.  I honestly think it's something they should teach in high school.  Students have to meet all kinds of different requirements to graduate, why not walk out with a good understanding of our state?

Did you know any of these?