1. In 1876, the Minnesota State Agricultural Society began holding their annual fair in St. Paul on November 17th, which continued until 1885 when it was moved to the current location in Falcon Heights.

2. In 1934, the Minneapolis Armistice Day Blizzard struck Minnesota on November 11th, but the storm continued into November 17th causing even more devastation. The storm killed 49 people in Minnesota and caused over $4 million in damages.

3. In 1948, Minnesota native, Hubert H. Humphrey, was elected Mayor of Minneapolis on November 17th, beginning a political career that would eventually lead him to become Vice President of the United States.

4. In 1978, the iron ore carrier, Edmund Fitzgerald, sank in Lake Superior on November 10th, but wreckage and debris continued to wash ashore until November 17th. The sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald remains one of the most famous Great Lakes shipping disasters and inspired the popular ballad by Gordon Lightfoot.

5. In 2015, Governor Mark Dayton declared November 17th "Dorothy Day Day" in honor of the Minnesota-born social activist and founder of the Catholic Worker Movement. Dayton praised Day's commitment to social justice, peace, and the empowerment of the poor and marginalized.