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.

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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)

_____________________ 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)