Use our search function to find “This Day” entries for a specific day of the year. Spell out the month and include a comma after the date numeral, do not include a year, and place it all within quotation marks, like this: “May 1,”.
On this day in Duluth in 1907, the Duluth Builders’ Exchange told newspapers that if the union men did not return to work constructing the Sellwood Building the next day, they would be replaced by non-union labor. The labor strife began when Captain Joseph Sellwood, the building’s namesake and financier, hired the American Bridge Company…
Read More
On this day in Duluth in 1870, Duluth Hose Company No. 1—the foundation of what would become today’s Duluth Fire Department—was first organized. Foreman E. M. Bloomer, assistant foreman T. H. Pressnell, secretary A. S. Chase, steward James Farrell, and vigilance committee members E. M. Bloomer, L. H. Tenney, and George Spencer led the group,…
Read More
On this day in 1920, suspects in a Superior bank robbery were captured in Omaha, Nebraska. The alleged bandits were suspected of holding up the Superior State Bank on November 16, making off with $7,070—but it could have been much more if it weren’t for quick-witted bookkeeper Nell Mulligan. Mulligan, 22, had defied the robbers…
Read More
On this day in Duluth in 1923, Bert Wheeler gave a speech about his pioneer family at the annual meeting of the Old Settlers Association of the Head of the Lakes. The venue was very appropriate: Wheeler’s family was among the oldest settlers of today’s Duluth, having established the town of Oneota (part of today’s West…
Read More
On this day in Duluth in 1908, prominent Duluthian and mining executive F. E. House of the Du Lhut Monument Association expressed renewed enthusiasm to have a famous sculptor carve a likeness of the city’s namesake, Daniel Greysolon Siuer du Lhut, out of Point of Rock. Month’s earlier Bishop James McGolrick had suggested that August Rodin,…
Read More
On this day in 1916, Chester Adgate Congdon died of heart failure in St. Paul. In the following days, the Duluth News Tribune contained many tributes to Congdon. Here are some excerpts from the newspaper’s own remembrance: “Death chose indeed a shining mark. It does not seem possible, and it will take Duluth months to…
Read More
On this day in Duluth in 1925, humorist will Rogers entertained 3,000 residents of the Zenith City at the 1915 Duluth Armory. According to the Duluth News Tribune, “Will just grinned and talked and chewed his gum and swung his ropes, and grinned, and talked some more. And his audience just laughed and chuckled and…
Read More
On this day in 1939, Duluth native and movie actress Dorothy Arnold married Joe DiMaggio, then the most popular professional baseball player in the world. The pair met in January 1937 on the set of the film Manhattan Merry-Go-Round and, according to the New York Daily News, “instantly hit it off.” They were wed at…
Read More
On this day in Duluth in 1918, Police Chief Robert McKercher resigned his position as the Zenith City’s top cop to become the executive agent of Minnesota’s State Society for the Prevention of Cruelty, which protected not only animals but also vulnerable children and adults. When McKercher, a native of Ontario, first came to Duluth,…
Read More
On this day in Duluth in 1882, several Duluth women of means established the Ladies’ Library Association. They included Caroline Ray, wife of J. D., and Ida Spencer, wife of George, who donated space in the building he owned with Melvin Forbes, the Metropolitan Block at 113–119 West Superior Street. Forbes and Spencer were part…
Read More