Olive Fremstad makes her debut with New York's Metropolitan Opera, singing the role of Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre. Born in Scandinavia, she had been adopted by a St. Peter couple. A true diva, Fremstad would be legendary for her vocal powers as well as her temperament. She died in New York in 1951.

Architect Cass Gilbert is born in Ohio. Gilbert's family would move to St. Paul in 1868, and he would later begin his career there. Among his most recognizable buildings are the Minnesota State Capitol, the US Supreme Court Building, and Manhattan's Woolworth Building.

The Second Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment and the rest of General George H. Thomas's Army of the Cumberland charge up Missionary Ridge near Chattanooga and defeat the Confederates holding the ridge.

Catherine Bissell is born. She and her husband, Edmund F. Ely, would run mission schools at Fond du Lac, Pokegama, La Pointe, and other locations. She died in California in 1880.

Governor Stephen Miller declares a Thanksgiving holiday, in accordance with President Abraham Lincoln's recommendation that the last Thursday in November be used for this purpose. Minnesota had celebrated Thanksgiving Day before, usually in December.

Pennington County is created. It commemorates Edmund Pennington, president of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie (Soo Line) Railroad.

Radioactive cooling water from the Monticello Nuclear Power Plant overflows its tank and eventually reaches the Mississippi River.

Super Value Groceries receives Minnesota's first shipment of air freighted vegetables. The cargo includes tomatoes, asparagus, figs, and avocados, and a special basket is given to Minneapolis Mayor Hubert H. Humphrey and Governor Edward J. Thye.

Two masked men rob Anoka's Monte Carlo casino. An article in the Anoka Herald reports that "the whole thing was carried out with good humor," although it was likely not humorous for the attendant who was shot twice by the robbers when he tried to escape.

The singing Hutchinson family of New Hampshire founds the town of Hutchinson in McLeod County. From 1841 until the close of the Civil War, the Hutchinsons toured the United States giving concerts of popular and patriotic songs.