Topics
    Category
    Era
    banner_logo
    MNHS

    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

    Learn More
    Hussein_Samatar_2010_Hero

    Red Wing pottery

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

    Learn More
    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

    Learn More
    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

    Learn More
    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 

    Learn More
    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

    Learn More
    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

    Learn More
    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

    Learn More
    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.

    Recently Added Articles

    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
    See All Recently Added Articles

    This Day in Minnesota History (November 10)

    1851

    The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet open a school for girls in St. Paul, enrolling fourteen pupils and holding classes in the former Chapel of St. Paul. Originally named St. Mary's, their school would eventually be known as St. Joseph's Academy.

    1855

    Henry W. Longfellow publishes The Song of Hiawatha. Although the poet never visited Minnesota, his poem depicts locations such as Minnehaha Falls (Mni Haha in the Dakota language) and inspired some of the state's Ojibwe place names, including Bena, Nushka, Osseo (Waaseyaa), Ponemah (Baanimaa), and Wabasso (Waabooz).

    1871

    Cretin High School opens in St. Paul. Named for Joseph Cretin, the first bishop of the diocese of St. Paul, the school would merge with Derham Hall high school in 1987.

    1880

    Captain R. H. L. Jewett receives from the government a shipment of young carp with which to stock Rice County's lakes. A government commission had been formed in response to European immigrants' demands for the fish.

    1933

    Workers at the Hormel meat packing plant in Austin stage the first sit-down strike in American labor history, occupying the factory to prevent non-strikers from operating the equipment. The strike is settled on December 8 after hearings by the Industrial Commission of Minnesota.

    1975

    The ore boat Edmund Fitzgerald sinks in Lake Superior, and twenty-nine crewmembers drown.

    1976

    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.

    Select a New Date

    History Near You

    Choose a location on the map to see history near you.

    Please wait, the pin is being added to the map.

    Find this resource helpful?

    Make a donation to support our work preserving and sharing the places, artifacts and stories that make Minnesota’s history meaningful.