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MNopedia

A resource for reliable information about significant people, places, events, and things in Minnesota history.

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Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW)

A scenic wilderness with thousands of lakes, canoe routes, hiking trails, and campsites

Mi Perú-Minnesota

A dance ensemble bridging Peru and Minnesota

Faribault, Pelagie (1783–1847)

The matriarch of an influential Anglo-Dakota family

Minnesota State Prison, Stillwater

The oldest prison in Minnesota

Moving through Minnesota: Transportation in the Land of Lakes

From sleds and snowshoes to airplanes and light rail

Exchange, Industry, and Adaptation: Economics in Minnesota

From subsistence and exchange to services and tech

Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial, Duluth

Remembering suppressed history in Zenith City

Heart of the Earth Survival School

A Minneapolis school designed to nurture Native youth

Spotlight On Court Cases

Black and white photograph of Jack Baker and James Michael McConnell applying for a marriage license in Minneapolis, 1970.
Baker v. Nelson
Black and white photograph of Winslow Hotel, St. Anthony, c.1865.
Eliza Winston Court Case
Black and white photograph of Joseph Gilbert seated, c.1925.
Goodhue County Loyalty Trials, 1918
Photograph of St. Louis County Courthouse and Duluth City Hall
Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co.
Black and white photograph of the Reverend Bernt J. Muus, c.1875.
Muus v. Muus
Black and white image of the editorial page of the Minneapolis Saturday Press, October 25, 1927.
Near v. Minnesota
Black and white photograph of Socialist Workers Party members, ca.1941.
Smith Act Trial
Button produced by the Minnesota Smoke-Free Coalition
State of Minnesota et al. v. Philip Morris et al.
Black and white photograph of Joseph Israel Lobdell, also called Lucy Ann and La-Roi Lobell, ca. 1854.
Trial of Joseph Israel / Lucy Ann Lobdell
photograph of Reserve Mining Company train
United States of America v. Reserve Mining Company
See all spotlights


January 21

1844

Jacob V. Brower is born in York, Michigan. After moving to Minnesota in 1860, he would survey the headwaters of the Mississippi River and play an instrumental role in the preservation of Itasca State Park. He died in 1905.

2017

About 100,000 people gather in St. Paul to protest the policies of President Donald Trump, inaugurated the previous day. The ensuing march and rally at the State Capitol are part of similar events held nationwide to coincide with the 2017 Women's March in Washington, DC.

Select a new date

From The Minnesota Book of Days (Minnesota Historical Society Press).

Recently Added Articles

Minnesota Correctional Institution for Women, Shakopee
Minnesota State Reformatory for Women, Shakopee

Minnesota Correctional Facility-Shakopee (MCF-Shakopee) is Minnesota’s only state women’s prison. Women reformers pushed for its existence in the 1910s, arguing that women needed a place away from men where they could receive training instead of punishment. It opened in 1920 as the State Reformatory for Women. Over the next hundred years, it became increasingly crowded, and its focus shifted from “retraining” its prisoners to confining them.

Iron Man statue on top of the Iron Man Memorial
Iron Man Memorial, Chisholm

The Iron Man Memorial in Chisholm stands at eighty-five feet tall as a monument to the miners of Minnesota’s Iron Range. The nearly thirty-year story of its creation reveals northeastern Minnesotans’ commitment to recognizing their history, expanding local heritage tourism, and diversifying their economy beyond the mining industry.

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Made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008. Administered by the Minnesota Historical Society.
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