Minnesota's famous spiced canned meat celebrated a milestone Friday -- it's been 75 years since the the "SPAM" trademark was registered by the Hormel Foods Corp. “The fact that recipes from all around the world have been passed down from generation to generation is a testament to the relevancy of the Spam brand,” Nicole Behne, Spam brand product manager, says.

Arson is the suspected cause of a fire Thursday that caused $750,000 in damages and all but destroyed an old wooden bridge that spanned the Pike River in northeastern Minnesota, authorities say. Located about 15 miles northeast of Virginia, the bridge was on a road that saw little traffic -- but without it, a fire chief says, there could be delayed response times for emergency vehicles.

Weekend festivities will mark the 75th year of the establishment of the monument in 1937, but the site has a rich history that goes back to a time when glaciers deposited layers of mud, sand and gravel in the area, which scientists estimate as between 1.75 billion and 1.63 billion years ago.

Exactly 75 years ago Thursday, the first can of Spam luncheon meat rolled off the assembly line at the Geo. A. Hormel & Company plant in Austin. The canned ham became an instant success for Hormel. That brand — which Monty Python parodied in a famous 1970 sketch comedy, spawned its own museum in 2001, and became synonymous with unsolicited emails — propelled the company to international success and remains a big part of the company's image.

The Superior National Forest's archaeologist says recently recovered evidence of human activity may be more than 11,000 years old. That's not long after the last glaciers left northeastern Minnesota and scientists had not thought the region could sustain people that long ago. A Legacy Amendment grant will pay for testing that will date the artifacts.