The Mississippi River is what St. Cloud and surrounding cities are built around. How much do you know about the river? I'm about to blow your mind!

Fact: The Mississippi starts up north at Lake Itasca, Minnesota, and runs into the Gulf of Mexico at the ocean in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Fact: The width ranges between 20 feet and 11 miles in width, with both of these extreme points in Minnesota. (Source: Reference.com)

Fact: At the headwaters of the river, the water moves at an average speed of 1.2 miles per hour, although it speeds up to about 3 miles per hour by the time it gets to New Orleans. (Source: Reference.com)

Fact: If you started at the top and canoed to the end, you'd travel 2,350 miles.

Fact: The deepest point of the Mississippi River is at Governor Nicholls Wharf and Algiers Point in New Orleans, where it's nearly 200 feet deep.

Fact: Radio station call letters (W & K) were determined by which side of the Mississippi River the radio station city of license was located on. (Source: EarlyRadioHistory)

Fact: Sharks can swim far up the river from the ocean and can survive in fresh water and salt water. There have been reports of bull sharks as far up the Mississippi as Illinois. Other sharks generally found in rivers are a species called "Glyphis" sharks, otherwise known as "river sharks".

Don't you feel just that much smarter now?

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