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    MNopedia

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

    Samatar, Hussein (1964–2013)

    The entrepreneur and community leader who founded the African Development Center in Minneapolis in 2002

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    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.

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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 (November 03)

    1831

    Ignatius Donnelly is born in Philadelphia. He arrived in Minnesota in 1857 and built a mansion at Nininger, near Hastings. He later served as first lieutenant governor of the state and as a representative in the legislature and Congress. An author on various topics, Donnelly opposed business monopolies in the weekly paper Anti-Monopolist; attested that Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare's plays in The Great Cryptogram; advanced the then-outlandish theory that a giant comet had once struck the earth in Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel; and argued for the existence of Plato's fabled island in Atlantis: The Antediluvian World.

    1895

    A fire begins in a flour mill and destroys the town of Walcott, in Rice County. Walcott had prospered for nearly fifty years, but the community decided not to rebuild.

    1908

    Bronislav "Bronko" Nagurski is born in Ontario. In 1929 he was named All-American as both defense tackle and offensive fullback for the Gophers, the only player to be named All-American for two positions in the same year. He later played for the Chicago Bears football team and performed as a professional wrestler. After his retirement from sports he operated a service station in his hometown, International Falls.

    1959

    The Wilson & Company packinghouse strike begins in Albert Lea. Lasting 109 days, it receives national attention.

    1989

    The Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team plays its first game, losing to the Seattle Supersonics 106-94.

    1992

    Lawyer Alan Page is elected associate justice of the state supreme court, the first African American to so serve. Normally judges are appointed by the governor, but unusual circumstances led to a direct election. Voters undoubtedly recalled Page's career with the Minnesota Vikings and his election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as well as his work as assistant attorney general.

    1998

    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.

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