In 1949, the Pillsbury Company in Minneapolis celebrated its eightieth anniversary. To promote Pillsbury’s Best Family Flour, it created the Grand National Recipe and Baking Contest, later named the Bake-Off, to discover the country’s best amateur bakers and recipes. The winning recipes were placed in Pillsbury flour bags as an incentive for consumers to purchase one of Pillsbury’s premier products.

In 1891, homesteaders in Hanover realized their dream of officially incorporating their farming community. It had been thirty-six years since Jacob Vollbrecht, a German immigrant, first arrived by canoe from St. Anthony Falls (later Minneapolis) after coming to the area from New Orleans. Jacob staked his land claim in Minnesota Territory and made the area his home. He and his brother William, who followed in the next year, are credited with founding the village of Vollbrecht Mills, later renamed Hanover.

The first Murray County Fair was held in 1880. From 1884 through 1898 there were rival fairs, one in Currie and one in Slayton. Each claimed to be the official county fair, but both were discontinued at the turn of the century. In 1912 the Murray County Fair returned and has been held annually (with two exceptions) since that year.

In 1941, Minneapolis leftists from the Socialist Workers Party and Teamsters union local 544 were accused of conspiracy to overthrow the government under the Alien Registration Act. Twenty-eight were indicted; eighteen were convicted and sentenced to prison.

While running for a third term in office, United States Senator for Minnesota Paul Wellstone dies in a plane crash with his wife and daughter. He was elected to the Senate in 1990 as a liberal Democrat. After his death, his surviving sons and former campaign manager created the Wellstone Action progressive advocacy organization.

Lodge Boleslav Jablonsky No. 219 is added to the National Register of Historic Places. It is an example of a fraternal lodge created in Minnesota around the turn of the century by Czech immigrants who had broken from Catholicism to join the free-thought movement. These lodges served their communities' social and cultural needs, including those normally met by churches.

A drug raid leaves an eleven-year-old boy injured by a policeman's bullet and incites violent protests in North Minneapolis.The protest comes two weeks after another young African American man was shot by police in the same neighborhood, and protesters accuse the police of targeting African Americans. The press are targets of violence during the protest.

The University of Minnesota Gophers men's golf team win its first National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championship.

Governor Jesse Ventura signs a bill to finance a new baseball stadium for the Minnesota Twins. The Twins had previously shared the Metrodome stadium with the Minnesota Vikings and the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers football team. The new ballpark would open in 2010.

Prince releases One Nite Alone..., his twenty-fifth studio album.