On this day in 1869, future Duluthian John R. McGiffert was born in Hudson, New York. After a “liberal education,” he received a law degree from the New York Universoty in 1892 and made his way to Duluth that same year. According to one biographer, “while in school and during his law practice Mr. McGiffert…

On this day in Duluth in 1915, Public Safety Commissioner John Hicken—who was running for reelection—addressed potential voters at the First Swedish Lutheran Church and managed to avoid addressing the issues raised by his very-vocal critics. Hicken had been on a mission to reduce problem drinking establishments throughout the city, and as the election neared,…

On this day in 1889, Alfred Merritt and a crew of six men started off on an expedition that would eventually lead to the opening of the Mesabi Iron Range. Here’s how recounted the story in 1917: “The year 1889 the first work was done on what is now the Mountain Iron Mine. I took…

On this day in Duluth in 1915, future songwriter Sammy Gallop was born to Russian immigrants Morris and Dora Gallop. According to Zenith City’s David Ouse, Gallop grew up in Duluth and attended Central High School, graduating in 1932. The 1932 Zenith, Central High’s yearbook, indicates he didn’t participate in many extracurricular activities. His older…

On this day in 1900, Life magazine ran a brief story calling Duluth the “meanest city in the United States.” Someone called “Frozen-Face Ike” was credited for the following story: “The meanest city in the United States? That’s easy, for there is but one city in this country, or on this globe for that matter,…

On this day in Duluth in 1914, pioneer Roger Munger died at 83 years of age in the home of his daughter and son-in-law, Dwight Woodbridge. After he and his brothers, who performed as the Munger Bothers Orchestra, opened the state’s first music store in St. Paul, Munger and his wife Olive moved to Duluth…

On this day in Duluth in 1976, Superior native Ole Haugsrud died in Duluth at the age of 73. He was already well known in the Twin Ports for his team of barnstorming high-school basketball stars before he became nationally famous as the owner of the NFL’s Duluth Eskimos, featuring the biggest star in the…

On this day in Duluth in 1930, a street car crossed the newly converted Aerial Lift Bridge for the first time. The Park Point line went between Piedmont Avenue and the “end of the Park Point carline” at 43rd Street South on Minnesota Avenue. The car ran regularly every 20 minutes, except during the “morning…

On this day in Duluth in 1919, Lieutenant Wilbur Larrabee—with his brother Weldon on board—flew from Minneapolis to Duluth in exactly 90 minutes, shattering the previous mark by over an hour on a trip from the Twin Cities to Duluth. Several weeks earlier, Lt. Walter Bullock made the same flight in 2 hours and 36…

On this day in 1910, Duluthian Attila Castigliano was named United States consular to the Kingdom of Italy with jurisdiction over the state of Minnesota and northern Michigan. According to one biographer, “The duties of his office involve a general protection of the interests of the Italian people in the district where over seventy-five thousand…