I learned a new word today: sesquicentennial, which means a 150th anniversary or celebration. I heard something about it on the radio the other day and so I wanted to see what I could find out about it online.
This year Minnesota is celebrating 150 years of statehood. You can go to www.mn150years.org to find out more information about how you can join in the celebration. Hip-hip-hooray!!
The sesquicentennial celebration mayhem doesn’t stop there – Minneapolis is also celebrating it’s 150th year of existence. According to the official Minneapolis sesquicentennial site, Minneapolis became a town in 1858.
However, the exact date of the beginning of Minneapolis is somewhat uncertain, considering that the city celebrated its centennial in 1956 in conjunction with the Aquatennial.
Many of this years sesquicentennial will also coincide with the Aquatennial (billed as “The Ten Best Days of Summer”) that takes place July 18–27, 2008. It will feature some 70 events, including sand castle building, beach volleyball, a tennis invitational, a triathlon, parades, Subway Block Party and the final Target Fireworks, and last but not least the annual “Milk Carton Boat Races.”
This History of Minneapolis paper from the Minneapolis Public Library says: “The town of Minneapolis was finally authorized by the Minnesota Territorial Legislature in 1856 and the first town council was organized in 1858. In 1867, the town was upgraded to a city by a charter issued by the state legislature and the city’s first mayor, Dorilus Morrison, was elected.” So I guess you just take your pick and mark 1856 or 1858 as the beginning of Minneapolis. Like two years makes a difference… even if you’re wrong you would only be off by 1.3%.
Switching gears a little, did you know that Minneapolis has a large Somali and Hmong population? I was reminded of that just now seeing that the city’s website is available in three alternate languages to English: Spanish, Somali and Hmong.
It turns out that Minnesota has the second highest population of Hmong people in the US, behind California. I didn’t see any precise figures, but this interesting excerpt from Wikipedia indicates that the Somali population is also substantial:
An estimated 20,000 Somali refugees ended up in the US State of “10,000 Lakes” some 10 years ago with only their clothes on their backs. Today, the city of Minneapolis hosts hundreds of Somali-owned and operated businesses. Colorful stalls inside several malls offer everything from Halal meat, to stylish leather shoes, to the latest fashion for men and women, gold jewelry, money transfer or Xawaala offices, banners advertising the latest Somali movie, video stores fully stocked with nostalgic love songs not found in the mainstream supermarkets, groceries, and boutiques. Refugees have surged into the Cedar-Riverside area (in particular, Riverside Plaza) of Minneapolis.
Sadly, Somalia is currently experiencing an outbreak of violence, serious human rights violations and severe food shortages. According to a report just released today by Amnesty International, an estimate that 6,000 Somali civilians were killed in 2007 and 600,000 have become refugees because of the violence. The current number of displaced Somalis is estimated at over 1 million.
Remember them in your prayers.
