Topics
    Category
    Era
    banner_logo
    MNHS

    MNopedia

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

    Vietnamese Community of Minnesota

    A nonprofit organization active since 1981

    Learn More
    Vietnamese Community of Minnesota

    Paul Bunyan Canoe Derby

    A 450-mile race that took place on the Mississippi River between 1940 and 1960

    Learn More
    17 Benny and Frank Tonce 10724787-1

    Minnesota Lynx

    The women's basketball team that won four WNBA championship titles in six years.

    Learn More
    Two basketball players stand side by side, clasping two of their hands together.

    Virginia and Rainy Lake Company

    The Minnesota firm that became the world's largest white pine lumber company overnight

    Learn More
    A four-story sawmill with a green roof, red walls, and pairs of windows across the horizontal access. People are in the foreground.

    Fort Ridgely

    A US military base in Nicollet County that operated between 1853 and 1867

    Learn More
    View of Fort Ridgey with stone foundation ruins in the foreground, a one-story building with two doors and six windows in the middleground next to a stone pillar, and a grey sky in the background.

    Ȟaȟá Wakpádaŋ (Bassett Creek)

    A waterway that flows through nine Minnesota cities

    Learn More
    Creek with bright green foliage on either side and a blue sky with clouds above.

    Stewart, Jacob Henry (1829–1884)

    A doctor, mayor, congressman, and Civil War veteran

    Learn More
    10247870.640x640_hero

    Peterson Bluebird Nest Box

    A conservation success story that started in Brooklyn Center

    Learn More
    A field showing grass and trees in different shades of green. Three orange butterflies alight on stalks of flowers in the foreground.

    Recently Added Articles

    Workers in yellow protective gear handle a pink pipeline in front of construction vehicles, with a frozen stretch of water in the foreground.

    Line 3 Oil Spill, Grand Rapids

    Creator: Abigail Venuso
    First Published: April 10, 2026
    On March 3, 1991, Line 3 of the Lakehead Pipeline Company burst near Grand Rapids, Minnesota. An estimated 1.7 million gallons of oil spilled into the nearby Prairie River and surrounding ...
    Event
    1980–Present (US in a New Global Age)
    Environment
    A sign with text and a color image stands on two wooden supports in front of a grassy background. A historical marker set into the earth is visible at left.

    21-MO-20 (archaeological site)

    Creator: Kristen Zschomler
    First Published: April 02, 2026
    The confluence of rivers is an ideal place for human settlement, offering strategic, spiritual, and practical reasons for occupation. One such location is two miles north of the modern-day ...
    Place
    1754–1800 (Revolution and a New Nation)
    Business and Industry
    Native Americans
    See All Recently Added Articles

    This Day in Minnesota History (April 17)

    1856

    The Minnesota Pioneer Guard, the state's first volunteer military company, is organized in St. Paul. This group would become Company A of the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

    1895

    Hastings' spiral bridge opens. It would carry horse and automobile traffic into the heart of the city for over fifty years and be replaced by a straight bridge in 1951.

    1965

    The Mississippi River crests in St. Paul at 25.8 feet, nearly ten feet above flood stage. Three days earlier, President Lyndon B. Johnson had visited St. Paul to survey damages from record flooding along the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. In the flood's wake, losses are estimated at $88 million and numerous counties across the state are declared federal disaster areas.

    1990

    The Minnesota State Lottery begins selling instant tickets. Within four months, sales reach $100 million.

    1997

    The Red River crests at 39.5 feet, 22.5 feet above flood stage at Fargo, breaking a 100-year-old record. Continuing into Grand Forks, North Dakota, and East Grand Forks, Minnesota, on April 21 the flood pushes water levels to 54.2 feet, 26.2 feet above flood stage. The worst flooding in the area in over a century, it causes more than one billion dollars of damages and displaces 47,000 of the 50,000 residents of Grand Forks.

    2000

    George Morrison, an abstract painter and sculptor, dies. Born in Chippewa City, near the Grand Portage Indian Reservation of Ojibwe, in 1919, Morrison had pursued a career in art that took him to New York, Paris, Ohio, and Rhode Island. In 1970 he returned to Minnesota, where he taught American Indian studies and studio arts at the University of Minnesota for fifteen years. His works are in the collections of many galleries, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Walker Art Center, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

    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.