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May 2 is State History Day in Minnesota. Time to brush up on your Minnesota facts and memorize the state bird, the state fish and 

. (That's the loon, the walleye and blueberry, of course.)

Students from around the state will present their history projects at an 

 on the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus today, but here's four gems they might not cover.


Underwater tunnels are commonplace now — tunnels run under the Hudson in New York and the Thames in London. Tunneling under the Mississippi in 1869, however, was a relatively new idea. And as it turned out, not a good one.

Spurred by a dispute over water rights, some enterprising gentlemen set out to 

 that ran under the Mississippi to the tip of Nicollet Island. It collapsed. 

But that wasn't the end of it. The collapse created a whirlpool ninety feet wide that threatened to suck the entirety of St. Anthony Falls down with it. Since the water power of the falls was the chief power source for the region, it would have been quite literally lights out.

Hundreds of volunteers tried to plug the hole with rocks and logs, but everything they put in the river was quickly swept away. After several weeks, using temporary dams, they managed to divert the river, seal the break and save the falls. 

Some of the city's other underground tunnels were more successful. A network of tunnels ran under the mills on the west bank and under Main Street on the east. None of them, however, ran under the river. 


The town of Hibbing popped up in 1893, close to valuable iron deposits in northern Minnesota. A little too close, it turned out. With each passing year, the iron mine inched closer and closer to the town. By the 1910s, Hibbing was surrounded by the mine on three sides. Residents knew they were sitting on valuable land — they called themselves "the richest village in the world."

When World War I broke out, the demand for steel skyrocketed and the Oliver Mining Company couldn't put it off any longer: They needed to move the town. The company struck a deal to move Hibbing south to the small community of Alice. They hitched up the horses, powered up the tractors and moved 188 buildings in total.

The buildings, which ranged from small houses to the Colonial Hotel, were placed on logs and rolled to their new location. The town was pieced back together, but in a different formation. According to the 

, "the town looked completely different in its new location."

In an odd twist, the company that became Greyhound Lines, the largest bus company in the world today, got its start in 1914 with a bus that ran from Hibbing to Alice. By 1920, that route was irrelevant, as Hibbing and Alice were now in the same place.

3) Minnesota's lukewarm response to the Beatles


On August 21, 1965, the Beatles played their first and last concert in Minnesota. The rest of the country was deep in the throes of Beatlemania, but Minnesota played hard to get: Minnesota was the only stop on their tour that did not sell out.

The concert was held at Metropolitan Stadium, which gave the Beatles access to the Minnesota Twins' locker room. According to the 

, "all four took saunas for the first time."

As was standard for the tour, concert ushers carried smelling salts to revive any fans that fainted at the mere sight of John, Paul, George or Ringo. Ticket prices ran from $2.50 to $5.50.

30,000 people packed the stadium to hear the band that night, but 18,000 tickets went unsold.


Judy Garland, silver screen darling of Grand Rapids, Minn., made ruby red slippers the most magical footwear in movie history in 1939's "The Wizard of Oz." Garland wore several different pairs of the slippers on the movie's set, and the four known surviving pairs are scattered across the country. One pair is at the Smithsonian, another at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. The third pair is owned by a private collector and the fourth? That's a Minnesota mystery.

In 2005, a set of Garland's ruby slippers were stolen in a smash-and-grab job from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids. They remain missing. 

, police have been unable to break the case. In 2011, officers searched a San Diego home and 

 — just the not the right ones. The slippers actually have serial numbers and the missing pair has Judy Garland's name written inside.

The museum hired a private investigation firm in 2013 to stay on the case. 

, the slippers are still somewhere in Minnesota.

Arts and Culture

History

Tracy Mumford

Author

Ring in State History Day with these odd moments from Minnesota's past, from moving an entire town to missing ruby slippers.

Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society

Break in the tunnel at Saint Anthony Falls, 1869

Odd moments in Minnesota history

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