This week in state history

Historic Minnesota events with anniversaries this coming week.

Oct. 25

1987 In the seventh game of the World Series, the Twins beat the St. Louis Cardinals with a score of 4-2, winning the series 4-3.

2002 While running for a third term in office, United States Senator for Minnesota Paul Wellstone dies in a plane crash with his wife and daughter. He was elected to the Senate in 1990 as a liberal Democrat. After his death, his surviving sons and former campaign manager would go on to create The Wellstone Action progressive advocacy organization in their family’s honor.

Oct. 26

1950 Edward Calvin Kendall and Philip Showalter Hench, Mayo Clinic doctors, and Tadeus Reichstein, a Swiss doctor, are awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their development of cortisone.

1960 Calvin Griffith decides to move his Washington Senators to Minnesota, where the baseball team is renamed the Twins.

Oct. 27

1829 Christopher C. Andrews is born in New Hampshire. A pioneer advocate of the application of European forestry principles to American conditions and a persistent sponsor of the preservation of forests for posterity, he would serve as the state’s first chief fire warden and as the commissioner of forestry from 1905 to 1911.

1991 Jack Morris pitches a ten-inning shutout as the Minnesota Twins beat the Atlanta Braves 1-0 in the seventh game of an exciting World Series.

Oct. 28

1919 Congress passes the Volstead Act, setting in motion the prohibition of liquor sales nationwide. Andrew J. Volstead, congressman from Minnesota, had introduced the bill.

Oct. 31

1903 A Minnesota–Michigan football game ends in a 6-6 tie. Declaring a “moral victory” over the favored Michigan team, the Gophers claim for their trophy a water jug accidentally left behind by the Michigan trainer. The Little Brown Jug becomes a symbol of the two teams’ rivalry.

1920 Anoka begins earning its reputation as the Halloween Capital of the World by holding its first planned celebration of the holiday. Traditional events include a parade, a football game, and a 5K Grey Ghost Run.

1991 The “Halloween Blizzard” begins. A record snowfall of 24 to 36 inches blankets the area from Duluth to the Twin Cities.

This column is derived from MNopedia, an online project that has a “This Day in Minnesota History” feature on its website, mnopedia.org. Developed by the Minnesota Historical Society and its partners, it is a free resource about state history.