A court orders an injunction against construction of the Duluth Ship Canal, which Duluth was building in order to divert traffic from Superior, Wisconsin, which has the natural mouth of the harbor. Duluth mayor J. B. Culver orders the excavation into high speed, completing the work on June 13, just before the formal court order is delivered. Duluth's reply to Superior is "You can stop the water if you can. We can't." The Aerial Lift Bridge now crosses the canal.

C. C. Beck is born in Zumbrota. As an adult, he excelled as a cartoonist and drew Captain Marvel.

Popular artist LeRoy Neiman, known for his wildly colored sports scenes, is born in St. Paul.

The body of a "petrified man" is found in Bloomer, Marshall County. Believed by some to be a voyageur, he is actually made of plaster.

The flour of the Washburn-Crosby Company wins a gold medal at an exhibition in Cincinnati, launching the Gold Medal brand. Washburn-Crosby eventually became General Mills.

Former president Millard Fillmore visits St. Paul as part of a Grand Excursion celebrating the completion of the Rock Island Railroad from Chicago to Rock Island, Illinois. The group had journeyed up the Mississippi River by steamboat. Although not a Minnesota railroad, the rail connection between the river and Chicago provided a boost to Minnesota's economy.

The US government moves a group of Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) people from their reservation in Iowa to one in present-day Minnesota, on land that had been purchased from the Ojibwe.

August Wilson's play Fences wins four Tony Awards, including one for best play. Born in Pittsburgh, Wilson moved to St. Paul in 1978 and soon began writing his award-winning plays, which chronicle African American experiences during the twentieth century.

Musician Prince Nelson is born in Minneapolis. He is perhaps best known for the album and movie Purple Rain. Nelson first took "Prince" as his stage name but for a time used an unpronounceable symbol, leading people to refer to him as "the artist formerly known as Prince."

The Minnesota Cooperative Creameries Association, now known as Land O'Lakes, is formed.