This former site of the oldest, deepest, and richest iron ore mine in Minnesota is now the location of the Soudan Underground Mine State Park.

On the National Register for Historic Places since November 1966, the mine has been making headlines in recent years for the experiments conducted at the bottom of the mine to detect dark matter.

Since the bottom of the mine is shielded from cosmic rays, scientists from the CDMS-II (Cryogenic Dark Matter Search) team have been keeping chunks of germanium and silicon at absolute zero to see if any WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles) bounce into them.

There has been evidence of interaction with WIMPS, but a new super-sensitive detector should provide more definitive results.

A separate experiment, called MINOS, is being conducted at the same location to detect neutrinos. Tours of the Soudan Mine are available.

As most people know, dark matter and neutrinos were made by Jesus to test our faith.

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Johnny Cash enlisted in the United States Air Force on July 7, 1950. After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base and technical training at Brooks Air Force Base (both in San Antonio, TX), he was assigned to be a Morse Code Intercept Operator at Landsberg Air Base near Penzig, Germany. Cash was the first radio operator to pick up the news of the death of Joseph Stalin.

While at Landsberg, J.C. started his first band, The Landsberg Barbarians. After Cash was honorably discharged as a Staff Sergeant on July 3, 1954, he returned to Texas.

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In June 1965, Johnny Cash's truck caught fire from an overheated wheel bearing, triggering a forest fire that burnt 508 acres in Los Padres National Forest in California.

When the judge asked Cash why he did it, Cash said, "I didn't do it, my truck did, and it's dead, so you can't question it."

There is an internet rumor that the burning foliage off three mountains killed 49 of the refuge's 53 endangered condors, which would represent half the entire population. However, snopes.com makes an excellent point that 580 acres is around one square mile, and that breeding pairs of condors defend around 20 square miles, so 49 condors in that area doesn't make much sense.

Either way, Cash eventually settled the case and paid $82,001.

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During "the fun house" era, Scott Asheton drove a 12'6" rental truck into this 10'6" bridge after a gig. Asheton and 2 roadies, all seriously injured, tossed reds into the nearby brush before the cops arrived.

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Ira Hayes was a Pima Native American and a US Marine during World War II. The Pima Indian Reservation struggled to grow successful crops in Arizona after the government diverted most of the water supply, and Ira joined the Marines to be able to send money home to his family.

On February 19, 1945, Hayes was part of the 5th Marine Division that landed on Iwo Jima. On February 23, 1945, he was one of the five men portrayed in the iconic picture of Marines raising the second American flag on Suribachi (Ira is the one in back with the outstretched fingers).

Hayes became a celebrity because of the photo. He was pulled out of combat and put on a Bond Tour to raise money for the war. He constantly deferred attention to his fallen comrades, but starred in the John Wayne film, Sands of Iwo Jima as himself.

Ira Hayes accumulated 52 arrests for public drunkenness in the ensuing years. In 1955, he died in a ditch of alcohol poisoning and exposure.

A folk song, "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" was written by Peter La Farge. The song was covered by Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, and Johnny Cash (Cash's version went to #3 of the Billboard charts).

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