On This Date in Minnesota History: June 23

June 23, 1998 – “The Minnesota Wild hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the new arena on [this date]. The new team played its first home game before a standing-room-only crowd in the new Xcel Energy Center arena on October 11, 2000.”
http://www.leg.state.mn.us/lrl/issues/issues.aspx?issue=hockey

On This Date in Minnesota History: June 22

June 22, 1928 – “General Mills came into existence on [on this date], two days after its incorporation. Red Star Milling Company, Royal Milling Company, Kalispell Flour Mills Company, and Rocky Mountain Elevator Company joined the Washburn Crosby Company to create one of the largest milling companies in the world.”
http://www.generalmills.com/~/media/Files/history/history_book.ashx

On This Date in Minnesota History: June 21

June 21, 1921 – Film actress Jane Russell was born Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell in Bemidji, Minn.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Russell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jane_Russell_in_Gentlemen_Prefer_Blondes_trailer.jpg

On This Date in Minnesota History: June 20

June 20, 1970 – “Dave and John Kunst walked East out of Waseca, Minnesota, with a pack mule named Willie Makeit. On October 5, 1974, Dave Kunst walked back into Waseca, Minnesota, from the west, to become the first person verified to have circled the land mass of the earth on foot (John Kunst was shot and killed by bandits half way around the world in Afghanistan on October 21, 1972).”
http://home.earthlink.net/~earthwalker1/

On This Date in Minnesota History: June 19

June 19, 1852 – “Acting upon a request from the Minnesota territorial legislature, the United States Congress decreed the aboriginal name for the river, Minnesota, to be the river’s official name and ordered all agencies of the federal government to use that name when referencing it.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_River

On This Date in Minnesota History: June 18

June 18, 1847 – “William Willim received the first known citizenship papers granted in Minnesota. An English-born building contractor in Stillwater, he also built the first limekiln in the state in 1847.”
http://www.thehistorypeople.com/data/docs/timeline-part1.pdf

On This Date in Minnesota History: June 17

June 17, 1972 – Iron Workers Local 512 agreed to withdraw its pickets so the No. 1 social event in Minneapolis – the Symphony Ball – could be held as scheduled in the Crystal Court of the IDS Center, which was still under construction. Without the concession by the Iron Workers, the Symphony Ball would have been without union musicians, 97 members of the Minnesota Orchestra, an 18-piece dance band, waitresses, bartenders, barboys, cooks and supervisory help.¹  The event was viewed as the public opening of the unfinished IDS Center; 1,165 guests paid $50 a ticket to see the new building. Andy Warhol was supposed to attend, but he had a schedule conflict and was in Mexico.²

¹Minneapolis Tribune; “Pickets to leave IDS Center tonight so Symphony Ball won’t strike out”; June 17, 1972; p. 1.
²Minneapolis Tribune; “’Best Symphony Ball ever’ gives peek at IDS Center”; June 19, 1972; p. 10B.