Minnesota is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It
is the 12th largest state in the U.S., and the
21st most populous, with just over five million residents
as of 2006. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the
Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the 32nd
state on May 11, 1858. While the state's residents are primarily white
and Northern European, substantial influxes of African, Asian, and
Hispanic immigrants have joined the descendants of European immigrants
and of the original Native American inhabitants. Nearly 60% of
Minnesota's residents live in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan
area known as the Twin Cities, the center of transportation, business,
and industry, and home to an internationally known arts community. The
remainder of the state, often referred to as Greater Minnesota,
consists of western prairies now given over to intensive agriculture;
eastern deciduous forests, also heavily farmed and settled; and the
less-populated northern boreal forest. The state, known as the "Land
of 10,000 Lakes," is known for its moderate-to-progressive politics
and social policies, its civic involvement, and high voter turnout.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1792:
Merchant sea-captain Robert Gray first entered the Columbia River, the
largest river flowing into the Pacific Ocean from North America.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_River)
1812:
British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was assassinated by John
Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_Perceval)
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bellingham)
1918:
The Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus was established,
with Tapa Tchermoeff as the first prime minister.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapa_Tchermoeff)
1949:
Siam was officially renamed Thailand.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Thailand)
1960:
Mossad agents captured Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi leader and fugitive war
criminal hiding in Argentina.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Eichmann)
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Wikiquote of the day:
The poet in a golden clime was born,
With golden stars above;
Dower'd with the hate of hate, the scorn of scorn,
The love of love.
-- Alfred, Lord Tennyson
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alfred_Tennyson)