Afton's Jesse Diggins and teammate Kikkan Randall win the women's team sprint race in Pyeongchang, South Korea, to become the first US athletes to win an Olympic gold medal in cross-country skiing.

The Mississippi, Pillager, and Lake Winnibigoshish bands of Ojibwe sign a treaty ceding to the U.S. government a major portion of heavily wooded north-central Minnesota, in which lumbering companies had expressed a keen interest. The treaty establishes reservations at Leech Lake and Mille Lacs.

The United States Olympic Hockey team defeats the Soviet Union in a match that becomes known as the Miracle on Ice.

Morrison and Sherburne Counties are created. Morrison is named for fur traders William and Allan Morrison. Sherburne is named for Moses Sherburne, a justice in the territorial supreme court.

Kittson and Marshall Counties are created. Kittson honors Norman W. Kittson, a prominent territorial pioneer, and Marshall honors William R. Marshall, fifth governor of the state.

Territorial delegate Henry M. Rice succeeds in lobbying Congress to pass the enabling act for the state of Minnesota. This act defines the state's boundaries and authorizes the establishment of a state government.

Hubbard County is organized and named for Lucius F. Hubbard, who served as governor from 1882 to 1886.

Thomas Lowry is born in Logan County, Illinois. After arriving in Minneapolis in 1868, Lowry would play an instrumental role in establishing the Twin Cities' streetcar system. He died in 1909.

Beltrami County is formed, though settler colonists did not move into the area until the 1880s. The county's name honors Italian adventurer Giacomo C. Beltrami, who had explored the region in 1823.

Horsecar service ends in St. Paul.

Al Sieber is born in Germany. Sieber moved to Minneapolis in 1856, joined the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment in 1862, and after the Civil War become an army scout in the American West. Wounded twenty-nine times in combat, he was killed during construction of the Roosevelt Dam in 1907.

Music fans in Moorhead await the arrival of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper at the city's Armory Building, the next stop of their scheduled tour. But the performance never takes place. The airplane carrying the trio crashes while passing over Clear Lake, Iowa, on its way to the North Star State, killing everyone on board.