A timeline of Minnesota history from first contact to the present, complied by the Created by MinnesotaHistory
on Jul 21, 2008
Last updated: 04/13/12 at 09:14 AM
Minnesota native Pete Docter wins an Academy Award for the Best Animated Feature Film for Up.
In November, the National Transportation Safety Board officially concludes that a design flaw from the 1960s was the probable cause of the August 2007 collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis that killed 13 people and injured 145. The board said designers either failed to calculate or improperly calculated how thick its steel gusset plates should be.
High fuel prices were a major reason Delta Air Lines swallowed up Northwest Airlines, a mainstay of the Minnesota economy, in a combination that closed in October and made Atlanta-based Delta the world’s largest carrier. Delta pledged to preserve a hub at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Learn more about Northwest Airlines:
Images in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database
Northwest Airlines Corporate Records.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=100018&Page=14&Keywords=northwest%20air&SearchType=Basic
The national economic meltdown hit hard in Minnesota, where unemployment reaches nearly 6 1/2 percent by November. As the economy tanks, Minnesota companies lay off thousands of workers. One of the state’s largest private employers, 3M Company, cuts nearly 3,300 jobs worldwide in the second half of 2008, including about 400 in the Twin Cities. Ford Motor Company furloughs some 770 workers at its Saint Paul plant in December. Duluth-based airplane maker Cirrus Design Corporation furloughs or lays off about 600 people between its plants in Duluth and in Grand Forks, N.D. Hutchinson-based Hutchinson Technology Inc., which makes computer components, says it will cut as many as 1,125 jobs. Learn more about these companies: 3M Company Historical Corporate Records 3M images in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database Collective labor agreements between Local 879, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America and the Ford Motor Company, Twin Cities Assembly Plant, St. Paul, Minnesota Images of the Saint Paul Ford Plant in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database.
150th anniversary of Minnesota statehood.
Learn more at:
MN150 wiki.
http://www.mn150years.org/
The 35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapses during rush hour, killing thirteen and injuring 145. Multilevel investigations into what caused the bridge to fail go on for months; a replacement span opens in fall 2008.
Learn more:
I-35W bridge resources at the Minnesota Historical Society
Minnesota Historical Society acquires 1-35W bridge marker sign
http://www.mnhs.org/library/bridge/
Paul Molitor's career was forged on the strength of collecting base hits, versatility in the field and savvy on the base paths. As a member of the Brewers, Twins, and Blue Jays, the seven-time All-Star batted over .300 in a dozen seasons, stole over 500 bases and fashioned a 39-game hitting streak in 1987. Molitor collected a record five hits for Milwaukee in Game One of the 1982 World Series and 11 years later, earned World Series MVP honors for Toronto. Appearing in at least 400 games at three positions, Molitor totaled 3,319 hits, eighth on the all-time hit list.
Learn more:
Paul Molitor entry on the National Baseball Hall of Fame website.
http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/detail.jsp?playerId=119236
Minneapolis native Peter Agre receives the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of water channels in cell membranes.
The Rocori High Schhol shootings occurred in Cold Spring, Minnesota, on September 24, 2003. Then 15-year-old John Jason McLaughlin shot and killed high school Seth Bartell, 15, and Aaron Rollins, 17.
Tim Pawlenty takes office as the state's 39th governor.
http://www.mnhs.org/people/governors/gov/gov_40.htm
U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone, his wife Sheila, his daughter Marcia, and five others died when their plane crashed near Eveleth on October 25, 2002. He was on his way to debate Norm Coleman in Duluth. Learn more about Paul Wellstone: Items in the Minnesota Historical Society Catalog Photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database.
On January 29, 2002, Mee Moua took office as the first Hmong woman to be elected to the Minnesota Senate. She holds the highest office of any Hmong American politician and has served as a majority whip.
http://events.mnhs.org/Timepieces/EventDetail.cfm?EventID=2001334
Jesse Ventura takes office as the state's 38th governor.
Learn more:
Governors of Minnesota, Minnesota Historical SocietyMore photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database
Jesse Ventura entry in the MN150 wiki
Listen to Governor Ventura's speeches.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=184179&Page=1&Keywords=ventura&Type=Art&SearchType=Basic
The Oak Ridge Lutheran Church is moved to the Norwegian Emigrant Museum in Hamar, Norway. It will be reconstructed to become the Norwegian Memorial Church of Emigration.
The gripping song "Runaway Train" won lead singer Dave Pirner a Grammy as "Best Rock Song of the Year" in 1994.
Learn more:
Soul Asylum History Topic, Minnesota Historical Society
Soul Asylum in the Punk/Funk/Rock/Pop Minneapolis Music Collection, Minnesota Historical Society
http://www.mnhs.org/collections/mplsmusic/object_pages/mf008441.htm
Somali teachers, professionals, and elders who have escaped their country's civil war establish the Confederation of the Somali Community in Minnesota. The organization sponsors cultural events and offers advocacy, educational, employment, and health-related services to the expanding Somali community. By the year 2001, the Twin Cities will be home to the largest concentration of Somali refugees in the United States.
Alan Page, the soul of the Vikings' "Purple People Eaters" defense, turns to law once his football days are over. The assistant state attorney general asks that voters vote for Alan Page the lawyer, not the football player, and he is elected to the Minnesota Supreme Court.
The Minnesota Twins win the World Series over the Atlanta Braves 4 games to 3.
After placing last the year before, the Twins turn it around to win the World Series in one of the most dramatic championships in memory.
After a scoreless 9 innings in the 7th game, Gene Larkin singled in the 10th to score Dan Gladden for the Twins to beat Atlanta 1-0.
The winning game took place in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis.
Learn more:
More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=3724&Page=1&EndDate=2000&Keywords=Twins&StartDate=1990&SearchType=Basic
A team from the University of Minnesota invents Internet Gopher, a text-based interface for retrieving documents on the Internet. The breakthrough system is quickly adopted around the world and introduces the Internet for personal use. Despite its popularity, Gopher is soon overtaken by the more user-friendly World Wide Web. Most Gopher files will have been moved to the web by 1997.
After finishing sixth in their division in 1986, the Twins take it all in '87, outlasting the Saint Louis Cardinals in seven games. Thousands of long-suffering fans turn out for a victory parade through the streets of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
The Twins won the World Series over the Cardinals 4 games to 3. The winning game, on Octobert 25, took place in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=69412&Page=1&EndDate=2000&Keywords=twins&StartDate=1987&SearchType=Basic
Saint Louis Park natives Joel and Ethan Coen are well known for their cinematic works, including Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Barton Fink (1991), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), No Country for Old Men (2007), and Burn After Reading (2008), A Serious Man (2009), True Grit (2010).
Rudy Perpich takes office as the state's 36th governor, elected this time on his own.
Learn more:
Governors of Minnesota, Minnesota Historical SocietyMore images in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database
Rudy Perpich nomination in the MN150 wiki.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=143034&Page=7&Keywords=rudy%20perpich&SearchType=Basic
The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, a domed sports stadium in downtown Minneapolis, opened on April 3, 1982.
Learn more at:
More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=85044&Page=1&Keywords=metrodome&SearchType=Basic
Eight women bank workers in the small town of Willmar, Minnesota, found themselves in the forefront of the fight for equal-pay for working women when they conducted one of the first gender-discrimination strikes.
Learn more:
Willmar 8 entry in the MN150 wiki
Workday Minnesota article on the Willmar 8.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=3774&Page=28&Keywords=willmar%208&SearchType=Basic
On July 29, 1974, Dr. Jeannette Piccard and ten other women broke the barrier so long in place against the ordination of women to the priesthood of the Anglican Church when they were "irregularly" ordained to the priesthood in Philadelphia. The event caused great consternation among the church hierarchy.
Learn more at:
Ordination of Women in the Episcopal Church History Topic, Minnesota Historical Society
More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database
Jeannette Piccard entry in the MN150 wiki.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=132691&Page=1&Location=FM6%2E332%20r18&SearchType=Negative
Anoka's Garrison Keillor reinvents the radio variety show and makes his "A Prairie Home Companion" a public radio institution. His affectionate tales of Lake Wobegon, the mythical Minnesota town "that time forgot," delight millions of listeners, as well as readers of his best-selling novels and short stories.
Learn more:
A Prairie Home Companion website
Minnesota Public Radio History Topic, Minnesota Historical Society
More images in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database
Garrison Keillor entry in the MN150 wiki.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=46321&Page=1&Keywords=prairie%20home%20companion&SearchType=Basic
Over 2,500 music lovers listen to the Minnesota Orchestra play Stravinsky, Bach, and Beethoven at the opening of Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis.
Governor Wendell Anderson appears on the cover of the August 13, 1973, issue of Time magazine holding up a fish. The cover story—"Minnesota, A State That Works"—is on the Good Life in Minnesota.
Learn more:
Read the cover story, in the collections of the Minnesota Historical Society Library
Add to the "Governor Wendell Anderson makes cover of Time Magazine" nomination in the MN150 wiki.
http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19730813,00.html
The Walker Art Center opens its new building adjacent to the Guthrie Theater.
The new space allows the Walker to show off its recent acquisitions, including works by such contemporary stars as Isamu Noguchi, Anthony Caro, Claes Oldenburg, Louise Nevelson, Frank Stella, Kenneth Noland, Josef Albers, George Segal, and Andy Warhol.
Learn more:
More images in the Minnesota Historical Society's Photo and Art Database.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=85682&Page=1&EndDate=1980&Keywords=walker%20art%20center&StartDate=1970&SearchType=Basic
Wendell R. Anderson takes office as the state's 32nd governor. Governor Anderson resigns in late 1976 to become U.S. Senator.
Learn more:
Governors of Minnesota, Minnesota Historical SocietyMore images in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=135702&Page=1&Keywords=%22wendell%20r%20anderson%22&Type=Art&SearchType=Basic
The Minnesota North Stars debut as a National Hockey League expansion team. The home of the North Stars, Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington, was built in 12 months (October 3, 1966, groundbreaking to October 25, 1967, first home game).
During the next 26 seasons, the team wins 758 games and loses 970. Owner Norm Green moves the team to Texas in 1993, and 7 empty winters pass before the Wild bring professional hockey back to the North Star State.
Learn more:
More photographs in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=182114&Page=1&Keywords=North%20Stars&SearchType=Basic
"Beatlemania" comes to the Twin Cities as the "Fab Four" bring their American tour to Metropolitan Stadium. The Beatles performed at Metropolitan Stadium to a crowd of 4,000 on August 21, 1965.
"The Twin Cities was visited Saturday by some strange citizens from another world. They wore long hair and wide grins and were easily as Ringo Starr, John Lennon, George Harrison and Paul McCartney. They were the Beatles—alleged musicians."
-St. Paul Pioneer Press
Learn more at:
More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=2142&Page=1&Keywords=beatles&SearchType=Basic
The “Fridley tornado” hits eleven counties in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The northern suburbs of the Twin Cities are hit particularly hard. Fourteen people die, more than 680 are injured, and the damages total $57 million.
Learn more about tornadoes in Minnesota:
A Neighborhood Remembers—The 1965 Fridley Tornado: A Collection of Stories and Memories from Rice Creek Terrace: 30th Anniversary Reunion, May 6, 1995, Fridley, Minnesota
Images of historic tornados, and the damage they cause, in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database
Sit in a recreated 1960s-era home basement during the May 1965 Fridley tornadoes in the "Weather Permitting" exhibit at the Minnesota History Center.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=139917&Page=22&Keywords=tornado%3F&SearchType=Basic
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area, named in 1958, gains new protections in the federal Wilderness Act. Amid conflict between recreationists and conservationists, more than one million acres of forests, lakes, and rivers are set aside as a federally managed wilderness.
Learn more at:
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Controversy, History Topic, Minnesota Historical Society.
More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database.
Boundary Waters Canoe Area entry in the MN150 wiki.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=57729&Page=3&EndDate=2008&Keywords=Boundary%20Waters%20Canoe%20Area%2E&StartDate=1964&SearchType=Basic
The Guthrie Theater, named for its founder and first artistic directory, Sir Tyrone Guthrie, opens in Minneapolis with a performance of Hamlet.
Known as an innovator "interested in places that aren't central marketplaces of theater," Guthrie assembles a distinguished repertory company that includes George Grizzard, Hume Cronyn, and Jessica Tandy.
Learn more at:
Guthrie Theater, History Topic, Minnesota Historical Society.
More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database.
Guthrie Theater entry in the MN150 wiki.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=88591&Page=2&Keywords=guthrie&SearchType=Basic
The mostly Mexican neighborhood on the Lower West Side of St. Paul is cleared to make way for an industrial park.
Learn more at:
More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=59662&Page=38&Subject=St%2E%20Paul%2E%20West%20Side%2E
Coach Norm Van Brocklin and rookie quarterback Fran Tarkenton (on his right) celebrate the Minnesota Vikings' opening-day upset of the Chicago Bears.
The National Football League expansion team wins only two more games in its first season.
Learn more:
More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database.
Nomination for the Vikings Football Team in the MN150 wiki
Minnesota Vikings Official Website.
http://events.mnhs.org/timepieces/EventDetail.cfm?EventID=66
Marcel Breuer, born in Hungary in 1902, designed many buildings on the St. John's Abbey and University campus, including the Abbey Church. Construction of the church lasted from May 19, 1958, to August 24, 1961. Learn more at: Marcel Breuer, History Topic, Minnesota Historical Society More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database
Hibbing's Bob Dylan, once a play-for-free minstrel at bars around the University of Minnesota, releases his first album. He takes folk into rock and rock into politics, and becomes a legend of American music.
Born Robert Zimmerman, he assumes a new name that pays homage to Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.
Learn more:
Bob Dylan History Topic, Minnesota Historical Society.
More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database.
Bob Dylan entry in the MN150 wiki.
http://events.mnhs.org/timepieces/EventDetail.cfm?EventID=83
Calvin Griffith's Washington Senators are reborn as the Minnesota Twins. They lose ninety games in 1961, but Killebrew, Battey, and Kaat lead them to an American League pennant four years later.
Learn more:
More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database.
Minnesota Twins entry in the MN150 wiki
Minnesota Twins Official Website.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=32053&Page=1&Location=GV3%2E11P%20p21&SearchType=Negative
The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra is formed under the direction of Leopold Sipe. Dennis Russel Davies takes over the baton in 1972 and brings the SPCO to international recognition.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=87849&Page=1&Location=N5%2E1%20p24&SearchType=Negative
Water from the seven seas christen the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, linking the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean and making Duluth a world port.
Learn more at:
More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database
St. Lawrence Seaway entry in the MN150 wiki.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=47369&Page=2&EndDate=1960&Keywords=duluth%20harbor&StartDate=1958&SearchType=Basic
Freeway construction passes through established neighborhoods in the Twin Cites. The Rondo neighborhood, long a center of black community life in St. Paul, is razed to make way for Interstate 94. Four hundred houses are condemned and torn down.
Learn more at:
More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database
Rondo Neighborhood and the Building of I-94, History Topic, Minnesota Historical Society
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=142210&Page=4&Digital=Yes&Keywords=rondo&SearchType=Basic
Nearly 1.5 million cars are registered in Minnesota, double the number in 1945.
Learn more at:
More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=71751&Page=1&Location=MH5%2E9%20MP3%2E1A%20p46&SearchType=Negative
Albert Woolson, the last surviving Union veteran of the Civil War, died in Duluth. He was 109.
Learn more at:
More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=79761&Page=1&Keywords=Albert%20Woolson&SearchType=Basic
Congress authorizes the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways. Eventually, I-35 and I-94 link urban and rural Minnesota, while metropolitan multi-lanes connect suburb with city, home with work and shopping.
Learn more at:
More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=95585&Page=1&Location=HE3%2E8%20r10&SearchType=Negative
Taconite promises to save an Iron Range that is running short of iron. New technology converts low-grade taconite rock into concentrated iron pellets and Reserve Mining Company opens a mine and processing operations.
Learn more at:
Hubert Humphrey, History Topic, Minnesota Historical Society.
More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=13987&Page=1&Location=ML3%2E9%20SB%20r4&SearchType=Negative
Lunch with Casey Jones (Roger Awsumb) becomes a noontime tradition for Twin Cities youngsters—and later for their children.
Casey and his cast of regulars—including Joe the Cook, Roundhouse Rodney, Carmen the Nurse, and Clancy the Cop—will entertain kids with skits, songs, guests, and cartoons until 1972.
Learn more:
Videocassette featuring excerpts from favorite episodes of Lunch with Casey. Available in the Minnesota Historical Society Library
More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database.
Add to the Casey Jones nomination in the MN150 wiki.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=142319&Page=1&Location=por%2013525%20r1&SearchType=Negative
The population of Cottage Grove Township grows sixfold in the 1950s. Builders convert thousands of acres of farmland into suburban housing tracts that promise wholesome family living within commuting distance of downtown jobs.
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=29876&Page=1&EndDate=1960&Keywords=cottage%20grove&StartDate=1950&SearchType=Basic
Minneapolis says "thanks for the memories" to Bob Hope, as the breezy comic joins Arthur Godfrey and vice president Alben Barkely in kicking off the city's 10th Aquatennial, celebrating 100 years since Minnesota became a Territory.
Learn more:
More photos in the Minnesota Historical Society Photo and Art Database
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=86579&Page=2&EndDate=1949&Keywords=Aquatennial&StartDate=1949&SearchType=Basic

