James K. Hilyard, an African American entrepreneur and intellectual, dies in St. Paul. In addition to being co-founder of the Western Appeal, one of Minnesota's first black-owned newspapers, Hilyard, by active recruitment through newspapers and personal connections, was largely responsible for the influx of African American professionals into the state in the 1800s.

The Minnesota Twins (formerly the Washington Senators) play their first game at Metropolitan Stadium, losing to the new Washington Senators, 5-3.

Cadwallader C. Washburn is born in Livermore, Maine. A pioneer in the state's flour-milling industry, Washburn built his first mill at St. Anthony Falls in 1866, and his Washburn-Crosby Company marketed Gold Medal flour. He died in 1882.

Governor Adolph O. Eberhart signs a law abolishing the death penalty in Minnesota.

A group of Belgian settler-colonists, led by Angelus Van Hee, arrives at Grandview in Lyon County. The village is renamed Ghent in honor of the group, which had been invited to the state by Bishop John Ireland.

Governor Arne H. Carlson signs the HealthRight bill into law. Providing medical insurance for low-income Minnesotans, the program is later renamed MinnesotaCare.

A race to break the world record for the longest distance traveled in a hot air balloon ends in Rochester as the winner, W. T. Van Orman, lands the Goodyear III just under the world record distance (1,179.9 miles). The race had begun in San Antonio, Texas, and the three top finishers would soon represent the United States at the international competition in Brussels, Belgium.

In Wright County, Oscar F. Jackson is found not guilty of the murder of his neighbor Henry A. Wallace. Although there was a good deal of evidence against Jackson, a forensic examination of Wallace's body did not offer sufficient proof of his guilt. After his acquittal, on April 25, an angry mob lynched Jackson in Wallace's house. Because the authorities in Wright County cooperated with the lynching, Governor Henry H. Sibley offered a $500 reward for their capture. These events marked the beginning of the "Wright County War."

The former Greyhound bus station in Minneapolis opens its doors as a music club, the Depot. Twelve years later it would be renamed First Avenue by Steve McClellan, the booking agent of the club, and Jack Meyers, the club's financial manager. A cornerstone of the city's music scene, First Avenue hosted local and national acts and was featured in Prince's movie Purple Rain.

The Minnesota state flag is adopted, just in time to appear in a state-sponsored exhibit at the World's Fair in Chicago. Designed by Amelia H. Center of Minneapolis, the flag depicts the state seal ringed by a wreath of white lady slippers and surrounded by nineteen stars, representing Minnesota as the nineteenth state (after the original thirteen) to be admitted to the Union. The flag would be modified on March 18, 1957, when the white flowers were replaced with pink-and-white lady slippers.

The first work of fiction set in Minnesota, a collection of stories about fur traders and Native Americans titled Tales of the Northwest, is published in Boston. The author, William J. Snelling, is the son of Josiah Snelling, for whom Fort Snelling is named.

The Bohemian Reading and Educational Society of McLeod County orders a set of Czech readers. The society met regularly for more than sixty years, usually in Bohemian Hall, located between the towns of Silver Lake and Hutchinson.