This Day in Minnesota History

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Today's Date: May 12

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1806

James Shields is born in Ireland. He would be a US senator for three different states: Illinois, Minnesota, and Missouri. After he moved to Faribault in 1855, he was one of the first two senators selected by the state's legislature, and while in office he encouraged Irish immigration to Minnesota. Shieldsville in Rice County is named for him. He died in 1879.
1994

A 400-pound silverback gorilla named Casey escapes his exhibit at the Como Zoo in St. Paul. He causes forty-five minutes of havoc before a zookeeper shoots him with a tranquilizer gun and returns him to his habitat.