A resource for reliable information about significant people, places, events, and things in Minnesota history.
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December 15
| 1856 |
A lyceum is organized in St. Paul. Lyceums were cultural centers that sponsored lectures, classes, and other activities. |
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| 1864 |
Four Minnesota regiments help defeat the Confederate army of General John Bell Hood outside Nashville, Tennessee. Over the course of this two-day battle, the Minnesota losses—302 killed, wounded, or missing—are the greatest the state suffers in any Civil War engagement. |
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| 1887 |
The first issue of the Northfield Independent appears. The newspaper's editor declares that "It comes in its own independent way, without first having asked leave to be, but intends to justify its being by filling a vacant journalistic place in this city and surrounding country...It will labor that the homes it is permitted to enter may be brighter and purer for its coming, their burdens lightened, if possible, their industries enobled [sic]." |
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| 1892 |
J. Paul Getty is born in Minneapolis. An entrepreneur, he would become a billionaire in the oil business, and he would bequeath much of his fortune to the Getty Trust, a philanthropic organization that supports the visual arts. |
 In the winter of 1981–1982, a severe homelessness crisis prompted ten Minneapolis churches and community organizations to open their doors as emergency shelters. The city’s large-scale response was an example of public–private collaboration that got people safely indoors. It was also Minnesota’s first contribution to the nationwide homeless shelter movement. |
 The battle flag of the Twenty-eighth Virginia Infantry Regiment was captured by the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. The storied Confederate banner has remained in St. Paul continuously since 1886, despite numerous requests to return it to its state of origin. |
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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