On this day in Duluth in 1922, respected physician Dr. J. J. Eklund was shot to death in his office in the Long Block at 7 East Superior Street. According to Duluth historian Heidi Bakk-Hansen, a “clean-shaven man in a cheap-looking suit had entered Eklund’s examination room and—without uttering a single word—pointed a .32 caliber…

On this day in Duluth in 1929, a black bear took up an extremely brief and violent residency in the Hotel Duluth. The bear had apparently followed a truck driven by Arvid Peterson, who travelled London Road to Superior Street on his way to downtown Duluth to deliver a load a fish harvested by fishermen…

On this day in Duluth in 1870, a fire on Minnesota Point was the first call to Duluth’s newly established volunteer fire department, which was little more than a bucket brigade. The fire inside J. C. Funston’s furniture store was discovered by a Mr. Berkelman, who also resided in the building. Berkelman was only able…

On this day in Duluth in 1965, fire destroyed a warehouse at the southeast corner of Third Avenue East and Michigan Street. At the time the building was owned by Arrowhead Distributors, Inc., who leased it as a warehouse to Verne D. Johnson, who used it to store cars and other items related to his…

On this day in 1965, the USS Duluth was christened in New York’s Brooklyn Naval Yard by Nancy Solomonson, the daughter of the Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey. Also on hand were Senator Walter Mondale, Representative John A. Blatnick, and Duluth Mayor George D. Johnson. The Duluth, an amphibious transport vessel, was one of the…

On this day in Duluth in 1911, veteran mariners of the Duluth-Superior harbor ridiculed an idea to “move” the Duluth Ship Canal. The plan called for both the Duluth Ship Canal and the Superior Entry—each widened and reinforced with concrete piers by the federal government just a decade earlier—to both be filled in and a…

On this day in Duluth in 1890, former Kentucky lawmaker Proctor Knott arrived in Duluth, the city he once mocked on the floor of congress in a legendary speech remembered as one of the funniest American history (you can read it all here). Knott was traveling with Beriah Magoffin III, who was investing in property…

On this day in Duluth in 1916, Harry H. Gardiner—billed as the “World’s Most Daring Athlete”—scaled Duluth’s Alworth Building, then and today the tallest building in Duluth. Gardiner’s stunt, sponsored by the Grand Theatre and the Duluth’s Interstate Auto Company, was his second that week, having scaled the Torrey Building a few days earlier. According…

On this day in Duluth in 1907, an estimated 30,000 people—Duluth and visitors alike— visited the Zenith City’s parks. According to the Duluth News Tribune, it was “the first fair Sunday for a real outing in three weeks, and those who had recently been penned up on the only day of freedom they know each…

On this day in Duluth in 1907, seven men drowned in the Duluth adjacent to the Northern Pacific freight house on the slip at the foot of 12th Avenue West. According to historian Heidi Bakk-Hansen, eleven men had overloaded a rowboat in effort to avoid a longer walk after their shifts; in the busy waters…