A resource for reliable information about significant people, places, events, and things in Minnesota history.
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November 20
| 1855 |
The Mississippi River freezes over for the season, concluding a busy year during which 553 boats and 30,000 people traveled to St. Paul. |
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| 1967 |
Nicollet Mall, a pedestrian walkway closed to traffic except buses, opens in downtown Minneapolis. |
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| 1969 |
Indians of All Tribes (IAT), a group of activists including Adam Nordwall (Red Lake Ojibwe) occupies Alcatraz Island in San Francisco. IAT intends to force negotiation with the federal government and to assert the need for Native self-determination. Members of the group remained on the island until they were forcibly removed in 1971, bringing national attention to Native issues. |
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| 1979 |
Artificial blood is used in the United States for the first time when Dr. Robert Anderson of the University Hospital injects Fluosol, a blood substitute developed in Japan, into a Jehovah's Witness individual who had refused a regular blood transfusion on religious grounds. |
 Christopher Columbus (C. C.) Andrews was a Minnesota lawyer and publisher known for his military service in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas during the Civil War. After working as an international diplomat in the 1870s and 80s, he embarked on a second career as a pioneer of scientific forestry and Minnesota's first chief fire warden. His work led to the creation of the two national forests in Minnesota and a state forest named in his honor. |
 A migratory diver of the loon family, the common loon (Gavia immer) has been important to people living in the Great Lakes region for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Its striking calls and black-and-white summer plumage have made it an emblem of Minnesota, where more of the birds live than in any other state except Alaska. The loon became Minnesota’s state bird in 1961. |
Made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008. Administered by the Minnesota Historical Society.
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