Charles Schulz’s first ‘Peanuts’ comic strip debuts on Oct. 2, 1950
It featured a group of 3-to-5-year-old characters, inspired by Charles Schulz’s childhood in the Twin Cities.
MNopedia
Each week, MinnPost brings you a highlight of our state’s past from MNopedia, an encyclopedia of Minnesota history written by experts and produced by the Minnesota Historical Society.
This content is shared with MinnPost by MNopedia, the digital encyclopedia created by the Minnesota Historical Society and supported by the Legacy Amendment's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
The origins of Minnesota’s state seal
The Great Seal of Minnesota was created by men who tied their fortunes to the progress (as they defined it) and settlement of the state, often at the expense of Native Americans.
Minnesotanos: Latino journeys in Minnesota
By far the largest and most established group of Latino Minnesotans is of Mexican heritage (70%). The next largest groups are from Puerto Rico (about 4.3%).
The life of Civil War sharpshooter Halvor Halvorson Quie
Following the war Quie and other local Norwegian Americans sought to establish a Christian secondary school and founded St. Olaf’s School in 1874.
The history of labor organizing in Minnesota
Since statehood, Minnesota workers have joined together to improve and protect their livelihoods, rights, and voices in the workplace.
Origins and traditions of the Minnesota State Fair
In the 21st century, nearly 1.8 million people attend the 12-day event every year, making it the second-largest state fair in the nation.
The Rochester Cyclone of Aug. 21, 1883
It killed dozens and injured hundreds, dropping people into cemeteries, scattering fish across the landscape, and plucking chickens bald.
The Children’s Preventorium of Ramsey County
As its name suggests, the purpose of the preventorium was to prevent disease — in this case, tuberculosis.
Gedney Foods, the creator of the ‘Minnesota Pickle’
Founded in 1880, Gedney continues to grow one of the more successful pickle brands in the United States.
Split Rock Lighthouse lit for the first time on July 31, 1910
By 1940, its picturesque North Shore setting had made it one of the most visited lighthouses in the United States.
The creation of Minnesota’s Itasca State Park
Efforts to preserve Lake Itasca led to contention with the lumber industry, public interests, and the politics that weaved between them.
The Sea Wing steamer disaster of July 1890
The accident ranks among the most deadly on America’s inland waterways.
Who designed the Minnesota state flag?
When the organizers of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago organized a contest for the best state flag, Minnesota’s Women’s Auxiliary Board of exhibition planners got to work.
Tourism in Minnesota from 1835–1940
The tourism industry flourished between World War I and 1930, when Minnesota developed its reputation as the Land of 10,000 Lakes and one of the nation’s premier summer vacation destinations.
Jack Baker and Michael McConnell became the first same-sex couple in the U.S. to apply for a marriage license
It was 1970, and Hennepin County clerk Gerald R. Nelson rejected their application.
The Bisexual Organizing Project of Minnesota
BOP is a nonprofit group that has supported Minnesota’s bisexual, pansexual, fluid, queer, and unlabeled (bi+) communities since 1999.
Remembering the Positively Gay Cuban Refugee Task Force
The group helped 90 gay Cuban men fleeing the regime of Fidel Castro find new homes in Minnesota in the summer of 1980.
Drag performance in Minnesota theater from the 1880s through the 1920s
Historically referred to as “male impersonation” or “female impersonation,” drag was a popular act in Minnesota theater reflecting the heyday of vaudeville nationally.
William Little Wolf: From White Earth Reservation to Navy gunner in World War I
In 1917, he ran away from Carlisle Indian Industrial School in order to join the Navy and fight for the United States in World War I.
Leroy Sunderland Buffington, the ‘Father of the Skyscraper’
Buffington’s architectural office in Minneapolis employed more than thirty draftsmen, making it the largest in the region.
