The March 1963 murder of St. Paul wife and mother Carol Thompson shocked the Twin Cities as few local crimes have. Despite community fears of a homicidal maniac, investigators soon focused on T. Eugene "Cotton" Thompson, the victim’s husband, as their prime suspect. Three and a half months after the murder, Thompson was arrested and charged in connection with his wife’s death. In December 1963 he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Clontarf, a railroad town in Swift County, was established by Bishop John Ireland of St. Paul in 1877 as a Catholic colony on the prairie. Early arrivals named Clontarf for the site of the eleventh-century victory of the Irish king Brian Boru over Viking invaders.

On July 27, 1972, two armed, masked men walked into the Orono home of Virginia Lewis Piper and walked out with the forty-nine-year-old woman handcuffed and blindfolded. The next day, her husband, Harry C. Piper Jr., a prominent Twin Cities investment banker, personally delivered a $1 million ransom to the unidentified kidnappers. Four decades later, no one has served a day of prison time for the crime. Except for about four thousand dollars in scattered twenty-dollar bills, the Pipers’ million-dollar ransom has not been recovered.

The Miracle on Ice is the name given to the American men’s ice hockey victory over the heavily favored Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics. The team drew heavily on Minnesotan talent, including twelve players and coach Herb Brooks. Coming amid American setbacks in the Cold War, their unlikely win inspired and united the country.

“No trucks shall be moved! By nobody!” was the rallying cry of Minneapolis Teamsters Local 574 as they struck in the summer of 1934. Their demands were clear: a fair wage, union recognition, and the trucking firms’ recognition of inside workers as part of the union. Despite the violent reaction of the authorities, the 574 won on all these points.

Day two of the three-day Great Storm of 1913 begins. It kills 251 people on the Great Lakes (forty-four on Lake Superior) and sinks seventeen boats.

Mary Ann Courteau, who later became known as singer and songwriter Mary MacGregor, is born in St. Paul. In 1976 she recorded the pop song "Torn Between Two Lovers," which became a number-one hit the following year. She married Paul D. MacGregor on November 13, 1971, but they later divorced.

On Thanksgiving Day, the St. James Hotel in Red Wing opens. Conceived by eleven local businessmen who made their fortunes in the grain industry and contributed $60,000 to the cause, the establishment is an expression of community pride and identity.

Former professional wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura wins the gubernatorial election. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor and Republican candidates split much of the vote, and Reform Party candidate Ventura, who had been mayor of Brooklyn Park and host of a radio talk show on KSTP in the Twin Cities, takes the prize. Ventura later switched his affiliation to the Independence Party of Minnesota, and his administration focused on education and tax reform.

Governor Wendell R. Anderson announces that he will fill newly elected Vice President Walter Mondale's US Senate seat. He resigns as governor and is replaced by Lieutenant Governor Rudy Perpich, who then appoints Anderson to complete Mondale's term. The move ends Anderson's political career and makes Perpich's; Anderson would not earn reelection to the senate in 1978, but Perpich would serve out Anderson's term and be elected governor in 1982.