Minnesota celebrates its first Labor Day. The state legislature would declare the first Monday in September a legal holiday in 1893.

The Younger gang tries to rob the First National Bank in Northfield. Bookkeeper Joseph Lee Heywood delays the robbery by refusing to open the vault and pays with his life. A gunfight in the streets of Northfield follows; two of the robbers die and two more are wounded in the fight. A posse catches up with the gang at Madelia a few days later, killing one additional member and capturing all three of the infamous Younger brothers, Cole, Bob, and Jim, who would be sentenced to life in prison. Two of the gang members escape.

Red Lake County is established, named for the Red Lake River, which flows through it.

The Hotel Hallock in Kittson County burns. Boasting deluxe accommodations and catering to hunters, the hotel had running water, a barbershop, and kennels for patrons' dogs. Owner Charles Hallock, publisher of Field and Stream, helped publicize Minnesota as a hunter's paradise.

The Mesaba Transportation Company of Hibbing is incorporated. Owners Andrew G. Anderson and Carl Eric Wickman transported passengers and freight from Hibbing to destinations in Alice and Grand Rapids. A subsidiary company, the Mesaba Motor Company, was incorporated on October 23, 1919, to build, repair, and sell buses. Through various mergers, these companies eventually became Greyhound Lines, headquartered in Chicago.

Newton H. Winchell is born in New York. As Minnesota's state geologist, Winchell published twenty-four reports on the state's geology and paleontology. His research involved describing the movement of St. Anthony Falls (Owamniyomni) from its origins near Fort Snelling to its present location, an event requiring an estimated 8,000 years. He died in 1914.

The Elizabeth Kenny Institute for the treatment of infantile paralysis is dedicated in Minneapolis. Sister Kenny, an Australian nurse, came to the United States to promote her ideas about treating polio using physical therapy and hot packs rather than the traditional method of complete immobilization. Her work with a patient, Henry Haverstock, Jr., in his Minneapolis home brought her techniques increasing attention.

Machinist William H. Fruen of Minneapolis is issued the first US patent for an automatic liquid-dispensing vending machine, which discharges a uniform amount of liquid from a reservoir when a coin is placed in a slot. An enthusiastic fisherman, Fruen had settled earlier in the year at the western edge of the city and begun excavating near his home for the construction of a fishpond in which to keep his catch fresh for eating.

Charles A. Pillsbury is born in New Hampshire. After moving to Minneapolis in 1869, he would learn the flour-milling business and help introduce roller mills that could crush Minnesota's spring wheat into high-grade bread flour. Upon his death in 1899, the Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Company would be the largest in the world.

The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden opens alongside the Walker Art Center. Designed by modernist architect Edward Larrabee Barnes in collaboration with landscape architect Peter Rothschild, it is the home of the famous Spoonbridge and Cherry by Coosje van Bruggen and Claes Oldenburg.