![Fun Facts to Celebrate Minnesota’s 163rd Birthday (May 11th)](https://townsquare.media/site/65/files/2021/05/Untitled-design-2021-05-11T090747.468.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Fun Facts to Celebrate Minnesota’s 163rd Birthday (May 11th)
Minnesota became the 32nd state in the union on May 11th, 1858. To celebrate our great state's 163rd birthday, here are some fun facts you can share with your friends and coworkers this week.
- There are actually 11,842 lakes in our state that measure 10 acres or more. Imagine what our nickname would be if we counted the ones smaller than that.
- We own more recreational boats than any other state. There is one for every six people in Minnesota. As my dad used to say, "you don't need a boat, you need a friend with a boat."
- 78 football fields can fit into the Mall of America. It is still the largest mall in the United States at 9.5 million square feet.
![KFIL logo](https://townsquare.media/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/KFILFM.png?w=100)
Get our free mobile app
- RIP the Metrodome, before it was torn down, it was the only stadium in the country to host a World Series (1987, 1991), a Super Bowl (1992), and an NCAA Final Four Basketball Championship (2001).
- According to Explore Minnesota, Minnesota's rivers and streams flow in three directions: north to Hudson Bay in Canada, east to the Atlantic Ocean, and south to the Gulf of Mexico.
- The first permanent settlers in Minnesota landed in Hennepin County, which was named for Father Hennepin, a Franciscan missionary born in 1640.
- Our state slogan is "L'Etoile du Nord," which means "Star of the North" in French, an homage to the French fur traders and trappers that called the area home in the 1600's.
- Minnesota is home to more common loons than any other state in the continental United States. Alaska does have us beat on this one, but I gotta say our loons have great taste.
Got a Minnesota fun fact that isn't on this list? Celebrate Minnesota's birthday and share it with me on our mobile app!
The State Symbols of Minnesota
7 Countries That Are Roughly the Same Size as Minnesota
More From KFIL
![Happy Birthday! Gigantic List of Fantastic Freebies in Minnesota](http://townsquare.media/site/715/files/2023/04/attachment-Copy-of-Featured-Image-Bifold-10.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Eat Ice Cream at These 100 Shops in Minnesota and Get a Free T-shirt](http://townsquare.media/site/715/files/2021/06/attachment-ice-cream.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![102-Year-Old Minnesota Woman Receives Almost 800 Birthday Cards](http://townsquare.media/site/716/files/2019/08/RS34474_GettyImages-918933880-e1565974413342.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![10 Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Minnesota](http://townsquare.media/site/164/files/2020/09/RS15058_508789795.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Elderly Iowa Woman Who Waves at School Bus Gets Sweet Surprise [WATCH]](http://townsquare.media/site/675/files/2020/03/Bonnie-Linder.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Rochester Bakery is Helping Make Birthday Wishes Come True for Kids in Need](http://townsquare.media/site/715/files/2020/03/ThinkStock.png?w=980&q=75)
![40 Free Things on Your Birthday](http://townsquare.media/site/684/files/2017/06/Birthday.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Subway Birthday Club](http://townsquare.media/site/718/files/2013/11/birthday-cake1.jpg?w=980&q=75)