How Minnesota Saved Civilization
150 years—and 31 ways that we changed modern life
Written by Tim Brady, Elizabeth Dehn, Joel Hoekstra, David Mahoney, Andrew Putz, and Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl
Photo by Robin Eley (Illustrations)
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THE NORTH STAR ALL-STAR CHAMPIONSHIP
The top five Minnesotans (mostly) in everything that matters
MusiciansBob DylanPrince Judy Garland The Replacements Polka king John Wilfahrt WritersF. Scott FitzgeraldLouise Erdrich Sinclair Lewis Tim O’Brien Charles Baxter InventionsPost-it notesPacemakers Seat belts Staplers Kitty litter Sports HerosBronco NagurskiCharles Albert Bender Verne Gagne Dave Winfield Neil Broten ScientistsThe Mayo BrothersWalter Lillehei Earl Bakken Peter Agre Leonid Hurwicz TycoonsW. W. Cargill & John MacMillanWilliam McKnight Bob Ulrich James J. Hill Richard Schulze AdopteesNorman BorlaugLaura Ingalls Wilder Tyrone Guthrie Alan Page August Wilson Political LeadersLittle CrowHubert H. Humphrey Roy Wilkins Walter Mondale Eugene McCarthy | Fictional CharactersMarge GundersonJay Gatsby Mary Richards Brandon and Brenda Walsh Betty Crocker PioneersAlexander RamseyBrowns Valley Man Father Hennepin Henry Schoolcraft Betty Crocker Hollywood TypesJoel and Ethan CoenJessica Lange Terry Gilliam James Arness Josh Harnett Media MavensCharles SchulzDeWitt Wallace Garrison Keillor Harrison Salisbury Thomas Friedman MascotsSascha, the Hamm’s Beer bearThe Pillsbury Doughboy Betty Crocker Bullseye, the Target dog The Jolly Green Giant LegendsPaul BunyanJudy Garland Tammy Faye Bakker John Madden The one that got away CrittersMosquitoWalleye Loon Lynx Gopher Rogues & Sources of infamyWinterI-35 Bridge Harold Stassen Minnesota Vikings Clem Haskins |
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
We invented Intercollegiate BasketballThe first intercollegiate basketball game was played in Minnesota on February 9, 1895. Minnesota State School of Agriculture (now the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus) beat Hamline University 9–3.
The Minneapolis Public Library established the first children’s library in 1889. Today it holds the Upper Midwest’s largest public collection of children’s books. | We invented the road tripThe first bus line ran between the towns of Hibbing and Alice in 1914—using only one bus. The bus line was later incorporated as Greyhound Lines, which today serves more than 3,100 destinationsWe Honored the Lowly MushroomIn 1984, the morel became the first official state mushroom, the highest honor a fungus can achieve. Other states have been slow to follow our lead, but in 1999, Oregon named the Golden Chanterelle as its official state ’shroom.We Put Up the Nation’s First Skyway SystemThe Twin Cities’ skyway systems were the first ever constructed in North America. Since 1962, the climate-controlled networks of shops and restaurants have almost made it possible to never set foot outside.
The first automatic seat belt, which is standard-issue in today’s cars, was invented at the University of Minnesota by mechanical engineer James “Crash” Ryan. His seat belt saved more than 226,000 lives from 1975 to 2006, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. |
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Reader Comments:
Governor Stassen was central to the founding of the United Nations, established one of the first and argueably most successful civil service systems in the county, and in 1941 created what we now call the Iron Range Recovery and Rehabilitation Board, the first public-private partnership created to foster economic and environmental sustainability. He was a giant political leader, not a rogue.