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    MNopedia

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

    Red Wing pottery

    A stoneware-making tradition that grew out of Red Wing's clay soil

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    Orange salt-and-pepper shakers, a yellow pitcher, and a taupe oil pourer in fluid, round shapes sit against an indigo background.

    Mataafa Storm, 1905

    One of the costliest disasters in the history of Lake Superior

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    In a sepia-tinted photograph, a steamship with a central smoke funnel sits in water beside a harbor broken in half.

    Butler, Pierce (1866–1939)

    The first Minnesotan to serve as a justice of the US Supreme Court

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    A man wearing a suit jacket and tie sits in a study with a book open on the desk in front of him.

    Forest Fires

    Some of the state's deadliest natural (and not-so-natural) disasters 

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    A destroyed structure sits in the foreground next to a standing wooden pole, with charred buildings and fire survivors in the background.

    Commercial Logging, 1838–1949

    An industry that reshaped Minnesota's land, water, and people

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    A railroad car sits on a track next to a stack of logs that extends into an obscured vanishing point at the lower left.

    DesJarlait, Patrick (1921–1972)

    A modernist painter who depicted his Red Lake Ojibwe kin in a contemporary style

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    Five figures act out the steps of making maple sugar

    Deformed Frogs in Le Sueur County, 1995

    An environmental mystery discovered by Minnesota middle-school students

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    Three people carrying fishing nets walk through ankle-deep water (waist-deep in the middleground). There is shoreline at the front-right corner and in the background.

    Minneapolis-Moline Company

    The "whole line" farm-equipment firm that dominated its industry in the mid-twentieth century

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    Three-wheeled tractor with a yellow body sitting on green grass in front of a blue sky in the background.

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    Three-quarters head-and-shoulders view of a woman with her hair parted on the side.

    Jeffrey, Laura (1915–2003)

    Creator: Karen Sieber
    First Published: October 21, 2026
    Laura Jeffrey’s influence in St. Paul can be felt beyond her role as one of the city’s first Black librarians. The Macalester College graduate was also deeply involved in African American ...
    Person
    1920–1945 (Great Depression and World War II)
    1945–1989 (Post-World War II United States)
    African Americans
    Education
    A baking dish shaped like the state of Minnesota filled with browned tater tots, with filling visible below them, against a cutting-board background.

    Hotdish

    Creator: Arielle Fields
    First Published: October 15, 2026
    Hotdish is a Minnesota culinary institution. A traditional recipe typically consists of ground meat, a creamed soup, and a vegetable (usually canned), topped with tater tots and baked in an ...
    Thing
    1920–1945 (Great Depression and World War II)
    1945–1989 (Post-World War II United States)
    1980–Present (US in a New Global Age)
    Arts
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    This Day in Minnesota History (October 21)

    1839

    The US War Department orders Edward Janes, Wisconsin territorial marshal, to expel the Selkirk squatters from Fort Snelling military reservation. The fort's commander had complained of the settlers selling whiskey to the soldiers.

    1850

    Swedish settlement in Minnesota begins when Carl A. Fernstrom, Oscar Roos, and August Sandahl build a log cabin on Hay Lake in Washington County.

    1967

    The Minnesota North Stars professional hockey team plays its first home game, beating the California Seals 3-1.

    2005

    Filmmaker Ali Selim debuts his movie Sweet Land, which is based on a short story by Minnesota author Will Weaver. Selim shot the film in twenty-four days near Montevideo and featured many locals as extras.

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    History Near You

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