Minnesota’s short growing season makes it tough to run an orchard here. But thanks to the University of Minnesota’s fruit-breeding program, there are a growing number of varieties that can withstand our winters. MN90 producer Andi McDaniel learns the story behind the wildly successful Honeycrisp apple and its U of M-born cousins.

For most of history, the human heart was off limits to medicine. The first closed heart surgery began in the 1940’s. In the 1950’s, a pair of physicians who worked in mobile surgical units of World War II discovered that open heart surgery could be an option.

Tugged along by a steamboat headed North from Missouri, a group of formerly enslaved African American men, women, and children arrived at Fort Snelling in 1863. They were taking their chances for a better life. Calling themselves Pilgrims as they headed up the Mississippi River, they arrived in St. Paul and formed one of the oldest African American churches in Minnesota. Allison Herrera tells us about Pilgrim Baptist Church.

Minneapolis native Prince Rogers Nelson became mega-musical-star Prince. Along the way, he created the Minneapolis Sound and won Grammys and an Oscar for his semi-autobiographical album and film Purple Rain. He also wrote, performed, and produced numerous hit records. In 2010, he received BET’s Lifetime Achievement Award. MN90 producer Marisa Helms tells us that despite his success, Prince remained rooted in Minneapolis, and became one of the state’s cultural icons.