MN90: The Automatic Pop-Up Toaster

Charles Perkins Strite was tired of burnt toast. So the Minnesota inventor set out to do something about it. Britt Aamodt offers up a tale of a new kind of toaster.

MN90: The Beatles' Minnesota Guitar

The Beatles' press conference in Minneapolis, August 1965, played a part in—or rather, added a guitar to—the group's 1966 album Rubber Soul. Britt Aamodt opens up on the case of the twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar with Minnesota provenance.

MN90: The Bridges of Hennepin County

There are more bridges across the Mississippi in the City of Minneapolis than anywhere else along the river. MN90 Producer Andi McDaniel speaks with David Stevens of Mill City Museum to find out why.

MN90: The Citizens League

What makes Minnesota unique? The lakes, the weather...and the Minnesota Citizen's League. For over 60 years, the Minnesota Citizens League has helped tackle some of the toughest problems in the state. MN90 producer Allison Herrera tells us more about this influential organization.

MN90: The controversial life and death of Hole-in-the-Day the Younger

Hole-in-the-Day the Younger (1827–1868) signed almost every land cession treaty between the Minnesota Ojibwe and the U.S. government. MN90 producer Marisa Helms reports that though he was an effective negotiator he was also a controversial figure with many enemies. On June 27, 1868, as he was traveling to Washington, D.C., to fight the removal of his people to a reservation at White Earth, Hole-in-the-Day was assassinated by Ojibwe men from Leech Lake just a few miles from his home in Crow Wing.

MN90: The Faribault WASP

Elizabeth “Betty” Wall, a pilot from Faribault, Minnesota, arrived in Texas in 1943 to do her part during World War II. Unlike male recruits, she had to pay her train fare—and her room and board—while she trained to become a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). Britt Aamodt reports in this MN90 segment.

MN90: The Genesis of Artist George Morrison

When George Morrison was ten, he was living away from his Chippewa (Ojibwe) community in Minnesota’s Arrowhead, convalescing in a children’s hospital and working on his art. That child became one of America’s great post-war abstract artists. MN90's Britt Aamodt reports.

MN90: The Greatest Minnesota Athlete to Run on Four Legs

One of Minnesota's greatest athletes was Dan Patch, a harness horse from the turn of the 20th century who set the world record by pacing a mile in 1:55. When salesman Marion Savage (the town Savage is named after him) bought Dan Patch, he became very rich by turning his horse into a supreme pitchman for all kinds of products, including cars, watches and washing machines. MN90 producer Marisa Helms has the story.

MN90: The Headliner

Segment of MN90 from producer Britt Aamodt.

MN90: The Invention of Betty Crocker

Betty Crocker has it all. She’s wholesome, pretty, and bakes a “perfect cake every time.” Pretty impressive for a woman who doesn’t actually exist. MN90 Producer Andi McDaniel finds out how Gold Medal Flour created a persona that still charms homemakers today.

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