mn90

September 16, 1918, Nora Emilie Anderson was embarking on the biggest adventure in her 37 years. The native of Rock Dell, Minnesota, was one of hundreds of nurses boarding a ship en route to the Great War in Europe. Unfortunately, a stowaway—Spanish flu—boarded with them. Here’s Britt Aamodt with Nora’s story

"Well, everybody's heard about the bird. Well, uh, bird, bird, bird, bird is the word." Britt Aamodt traces the origins of the 1963 surf rock hit, "Surfin' Bird", to Minneapolis.

Pete Docter imagined adventures at his childhood home in Bloomington, MN. But at Pixar, says Britt Aamodt, he animated them.

St. Paul has had a lot of mayors. But, according to Britt Aamodt, only one Supermayor.

Carrie H. Lippincott was merely looking for a way to support her mother, sister and brother-in-law. But out of necessity grew a flourishing seed business. Britt Aamodt reveals the Pioneer Seedswoman of America.

There was Gene Vincent. There was Chuck Berry. And there was Eddie Cochran. But Britt Aamodt reveals that only one of these '50s rockers made "Summertime Blues" a hit—and hailed from Minnesota.

While many powerful and deadly tornadoes have battered Minnesota, those that struck on May 6th, 1965, stand out because they hit the densely-populated Twin Cities metro area. Six separate funnel clouds moved across Chanhassen, Deephaven, and North Minneapolis, taking 13 lives and causing $50 million in damage. The fast-growing city of Fridley was hit particularly hard, with three funnel clouds touching down there over the course of just a couple of hours. MN90 producer Marisa Helms takes a look back at the Fridley tornadoes of 1965 with the voices of those who survived the disaster.

Cy Thao wanted to tell the story of the Hmong people. Britt Aamodt finds out that he did it not with words but with paint and canvas.

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright may have made a name for himself with his legendary homes all over the country, but he also had a reputation with the ladies. Producer Allison Herrera tells us about one incident that happened right here in Minnesota...resulting in Wright's arrest!

In 2010, Grant Moos finally decided to go through the boxes left behind by his dead father, Malcolm Moos, President Eisenhower’s chief speechwriter. Britt Aamodt looks at how some housecleaning uncovered the creative development behind one of Ike’s most famous speeches.

Growing up in Minnesota, Michael Wilson knew he wanted to work with primates after he watched a documentary on Dian Fossey. Britt Aamodt looks at Wilson’s work with the research team that studied the primate version of HIV (simian immunodeficiency virus) in chimpanzees.

Minnesota weather isn’t known for its steaminess. So Britt Aamodt wonders how the state ended up with the oldest Finnish steam bath in North America.

Frederick McKinley Jones was an inveterate tinkerer. So it wasn’t surprising that after a sweltering summer drive in Minnesota, he hit upon an idea. Britt Aamodt looks at the inventor behind the refrigerated truck.

You hardly ever hear about kids writing in diaries anymore because paper and pencils seem to have been replaced by computers and text messages. As MN90 producer Marisa Helms explains, the technology that makes it easier for our children to communicate may be destroying their legacies.

Charles Biederman was one of the great abstract artists in the 20th century. Britt Aamodt tries to discover why this Cleveland-born artist has more art in Minnesota museums than anywhere else.

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.

To prepare lectures for his course on Death and Dying at Hamline University in St. Paul, Mark Berkson visited religious centers around the Twin Cities. But on a lunchtime walk near school, he nearly met his own death. Britt Aamodt has the anecdote of the professor and the hearse.

The Beatles' press conference in Minneapolis, August 1965, played a part in—or rather, added guitar to—the group's 1966 album Rubber Soul. Britt Aamodt opens up the case on the 12-string Rickenbacker guitar with the Minnesota provenance.

The Carlton Celebrity Room was featured in the film Fargo. But Britt Aamodt tells us this dinner club was more than a piece of Coen Brothers fiction.

They were southern Minnesotans who signed up for the National Guard during the Great Depression. Many did it for a job when jobs were scarce. But when America entered World War II, they found themselves on an island. Britt Aamodt tells the story of the Minnesotans stationed on Kodiak Island.