In a fight over the possession of Traverse County records, citizens of Browns Valley (the old county seat) brawl in the streets of their town with farmers from Wheaton (the new seat) who arrive early in the morning to claim the records. The outnumbered "invaders" flee with only one load, which is later returned to Browns Valley. All the records are eventually moved to Wheaton without further battle.

Outside of Pearl Harbor, the destroyer Ward, its crew primarily reservists from St. Paul, attacks and sinks a Japanese midget submarine, the first shots fired on the date of infamy. Inside the harbor, Minneapolis-born Captain Franklin van Valkenburgh is killed on the bridge of his ship, the USS Arizona. He was later awarded the Medal of Honor by Congress.

The movie Mallrats opens. Filmed at the Eden Prairie mall and directed by independent film sensation Kevin Smith, the movie flops in theaters but develops a cult following.

The brothel of St. Paul's most famous madam, Nina Clifford, is demolished after fifty years of business at 147 Washington Street.

The printing press of the St. Cloud Visiter is destroyed by a mob. The paper's editor, Jane Grey Swisshelm, a feminist and abolitionist, had angered local businessman and slave owner Sylvanus B. Lowry. Swisshelm soon obtains a new press and prints the story of her press's destruction and the names of the culprits, which results in a libel case and the termination of the paper. A week later she begins publishing the St. Cloud Democrat, which she runs for eight years.

Henry A. Swift is born in Ravenna, Ohio. He served as governor for six months during the Civil War, succeeding Alexander Ramsey, who left office for the US Senate. Swift died on February 25, 1869, in St. Peter.

Electric streetcars begin running in Minneapolis.

Robert Bly is born in Madison, Minnesota. A poet, translator, editor, and activist in the men's movement, he would write numerous books, including the best-selling nonfiction work on men and myth Iron John: A Book About Men.

A bill is introduced in Congress to create a territory called "Minasota." Although the bill fails, this is the first legislative use of the name.

Wisconsin Territory is established, extending westward to the Missouri River, including the area of present-day Minnesota. Two years later the land west of the Mississippi River becomes part of Iowa Territory.