This week in state history

Historic Minnesota events with anniversaries this coming week.

Dec. 13

1994 Demolition begins on the Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington, former home of the North Stars professional hockey team and venue for entertainment events.

Dec. 15

1864 Four Minnesota regiments help destroy the Confederate army of General John Bell Hood outside Nashville. During 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.

1892 J. Paul Getty is born in Minneapolis. An entrepreneur, he would become a billionaire in the oil business and would bequeath much of his fortune to the Getty Trust, a philanthropic organization that supports the visual arts.

Dec. 17

1839 Newton H. Winchell is born in New York. As Minnesota’s state geologist, Winchell would publish twenty-four reports on the state’s geology and paleontology. His studies included those on the materials in what is now known as the Iron Range. He used the term “taconyte” in 1889 because of the “Taconic strata.” A Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness lake is named in his honor.

1915 The Mesaba Transportation Company of Hibbing is incorporated. Owners Andrew G. Anderson and Carl Eric Wickman transport passengers and freight from Hibbing to destinations in Alice and Grand Rapids. A subsidiary company, the Mesaba Motor Company, is incorporated on Oct. 23, 1919, to build, repair, and sell buses. Through various mergers, these companies would eventually become Greyhound Lines, headquartered in Chicago.

Dec. 18

1988 The Pillsbury Company accepts a $5.7 billion buy-out offer from the British food and liquor conglomerate Grand Metropolitan PLC, later known as Diageo. In 2001, Diageo sold Pillsbury to its old rival, General Mills. The baking products division was sold to International Multifoods Corporation, which was later acquired by Smucker’s.

Dec. 19

1957 Governor Orville L. Freeman appoints L. Howard Bennett to a municipal judgeship in Minneapolis, making him the first African American judge appointed in Minnesota.

1957 West St. Paul sociology teacher Glen Holmquist, accused of slapping a male student at a high school dance, is cleared of an assault charge by a municipal court. Holmquist’s attorney says that his client’s action was justified as an attempt to maintain order, and that there should be more discipline “instead of the wishy-washy policy parents are advocating today.”

This column is derived from MNopedia, an online project at mnopedia.org. and developed by the Minnesota Historical Society and its partners.