This week in state history

Historic Minnesota events with anniversaries this week.

April 17

1990 The Minnesota State Lottery begins selling instant tickets. Within four months, sales reach $100 million.

1997 The Red River crests at 39.5 feet, 22.5 feet above flood stage at Fargo, breaking a 100-year-old record. Continuing into Grand Forks and East Grand Forks on April 21, the flood pushes water levels to 54.2 feet, 26.2 feet above flood stage. The worst flooding in the area in over a century, it causes more than $1 billion in damages and displaces 47,000 of the 50,000 residents of Grand Forks.

2000 George Morrison, an abstract painter and sculptor, dies. Born in Chippewa City, near the Grand Portage Indian Reservation, in 1919, Morrison pursued a career in art that took him to New York, Paris, Ohio, and Rhode Island. In 1970 he returned to Minnesota, where he taught American Indian studies and studio arts at the University of Minnesota for 15 years. His works are in the collections of many galleries, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Walker Art Center, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

April 18

1807 The first recorded mention of farming by white Minnesotans is made in a letter written by George H. Monk, who notes crops of potatoes, oats, cabbages, beets, beans, pumpkins, and Indian corn being cultivated at the North West Company’s fur trading posts on Sandy and Leech Lakes.

April 19

1945 “Hail! Minnesota” becomes the state song. Written by two University of Minnesota students in 1904 and 1905, it is also the university’s official song.

April 20

1891 Itasca State Park, Minnesota’s first, is established. Its 32,000 acres preserve more than 300 lakes as well as the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

1921 The legislature passes the Minnesota Lynching Bill, which stipulates that a law enforcement officer can be removed from duty for not stopping a lynching and that damages may be recovered by the victim’s family. Promoted by civic activist Nellie G. Francis, the bill is a response to the Duluth lynchings in June of 1920.

1949 Jessica Lange is born in Cloquet. In 1995 she would win an Academy Award for best actress for her performance in the movie, “Blue Sky.”

April 21

1961 The Minnesota Twins (formerly the Washington Senators) play their first game at Metropolitan Stadium, losing to the new Washington Senators, 5-3.

2016 Prince dies at his Chanhassen home, Paisley Park, from an accidental overdose of the opioid fentanyl.

April 23

1992 Governor Arne H. Carlson signs the HealthRight bill into law. Providing medical insurance for low-income Minnesotans, the program is now known as MinnesotaCare.

This column is derived from MNopedia.org and developed by the Minnesota Historical Society and its partners.