At a Kandiyohi County rally to support greenbacks rather than gold as the national currency, candidate for Congress Ignatius Donnelly gives a speech.

Jacob Schmidt is born in Bavaria. Schmidt opened a major regional brewery in St. Paul in 1855. The Jacob Schmidt Brewing Company, Inc., was bought by G. Heilemann Brewing Company, which in turn sold the brewery to Landmark Brewing in 1992.

The Battle of Sugar Point occurs on Leech Lake. Soldiers from the Third Infantry had accompanied US Marshal R. T. O'Connor to arrest Bagone-giizhig of the Bear Island Pillager Ojibwe. Bagone-giizhig had protested practices of lumber companies on the reservation, and he was in turn accused of illegal liquor sales. When O'Connor came to arrest him, Bagone-giizhig was rescued by a group of Ojibwe. O'Connor then requested assistance from General John M.

While under construction to provide water power for mills on the Mississippi River around St. Anthony, a tunnel under Hennepin Island gives way. The 2,000-foot collapse threatens to divert water from the main falls and cut the power source for mills along the river. Local citizens work to plug the hole until the river freezes, and then a dam is built to allow for more permanent measures. The repair job would require ten years to complete.

Gordon Parks is born in Fort Scott, Kansas. He moved to St. Paul as a teenager and eventually developed a career as a photographer, writer, filmmaker, composer, and musician. He worked for the Farm Services Administration, bacome a war photographer in 1943, and was the first African American on Life magazine's staff. His movies include The Learning Tree, based on his autobiography.

Martha G. Ripley is born in Lowell, Vermont. A crusader for public health, Dr. Ripley established Minneapolis's Maternity Hospital in 1886. A memorial to her was dedicated in the Minnesota State Capitol in 1939.

Henry H. Sibley is born in Detroit, Michigan. A major player early in the state's history, Sibley would be a fur trader, politician, businessman, military leader, and university regent. He died in St. Paul on February 18, 1891.

Tabloid editor Walter W. Liggett is killed by machine-gun fire at his Minneapolis home. A crusading reporter, Liggett had ties with right- and left-wingers, was accused of blackmail, and was an opponent of Governor Floyd B. Olson. Gangster Kid Cann (Isadore Blumenfeld) was tried for the crime but found not guilty.

The University Avenue streetcar line from Minneapolis to St. Paul begins operating.

Faribault's waterworks pass their operations test, and the system is accepted on December 31.