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MNopedia

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

Minnesota Lynx

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Peterson Bluebird Nest Box

A conservation success story that started in Brooklyn Center

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

Strutwear Knitting Company Strike

The longest of three major labor disputes in Minneapolis between 1935 and 1936

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Strutwear Knitting Company strike

Bohemian Flats

A resilient immigrant community in Minneapolis that outlasted floods and disease

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Bohemain Flats

Recently Added Articles

Two rows and two clumns of people march on the Minnesota state capitol grounds carrying wreaths and flags. The capitol rises in the background against a blue sky.

Vietnamese Community of Minnesota

Creator: Elena Mai
First Published: March 12, 2026
Established in 1981 by first-wave Vietnamese immigrants, Vietnamese Community of Minnesota (Cộng Đồng Người Việt Minnesota) is a non-profit organization that supports Vietnamese Minnesotans ...
Group
1980–Present (US in a New Global Age)
Immigration
Canoe paddlers wait at the shoreline of a lake to start a race as spectators look on.

Paul Bunyan Canoe Derby

Creator: Frank Bures
First Published: March 03, 2026
Conceived as a way to launch the inaugural Aquatennial Celebration, the Paul Bunyan Canoe Derby was a 450-mile race that took place on the Mississippi River between 1940 and 1960. Teams of ...
Event
1920–1945 (Great Depression and World War II)
1945–1989 (Post-World War II United States)
Sports and Recreation
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This Day in Minnesota History (March 23)

1823

Henry A. Swift is born in Ravenna, Ohio. He served as governor for six months during the Civil War, succeeding Alexander Ramsey, who left office for the US Senate. Swift died on February 25, 1869, in St. Peter.

1860

Convicted of poisoning her husband, Stanislaus, Ann Bilansky is executed in St. Paul. Bilansky would be the only woman and the first white person to be legally executed in the state, although serious doubts about her guilt still persist.

1971

Minnesota is among the first states to ratify the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the US Constitution, which gives US citizens eighteen years of age or older the right to vote in local, state, and national elections. Both Minnesota and Delaware claim to be the initial actor on this important issue, although one Minnesota legislator who voted against ratifying calls his state's role a "dubious pleasure." Ratification by the necessary number of states would be completed later in the year.

2002

The University of Minnesota Gophers wrestling team win their second consecutive National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) National Championship.

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History Near You

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