157th Anniversary of Minnesota Statehood

157 years ago, Minnesota became the 32nd state of the United States on May 11, 1858. It first became a territory of the United States in 1849. Then it submitted an application for statehood to President James Buchanan in January, 1858. However, distracted from a controversy about statehood of Kansas, Congress did not act on the application for several months before finally approved it. The state was created from the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and part of the Wisconsin Territory. The name "Minnesota" was originated from a Dakota word meaning "clear blue water." The state is known as the "Land of Ten Thousand Lakes" due to its large number of lakes.

Postcard US-2269166 from Minneapolis, MN shows Minnehaha Falls, one of the most photographed sites in Minnesota with 850,000 visitors every year, at Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The park was designed by landscape architect Horace W.S. Cleveland in 1883, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 as the Minnehaha Historic District.

Pigtail Bridges

Postcard US-2711416 from Minnesota shows an aerial view of two pigtail bridges and one of the tunnels on Iron Mountain Road, ascending 17 miles or 27 kilometers from Custer State Park to the entrance of Mount Rushmore National Memorial, in the Black Hills, Rapid City, South Dakota. Drivers will get a 360° panorama of the area that has many unique and beautiful scenic roads. Jess Stryker has a Youtube video showing driving through the one-lane tunnel, horseshoe curve, and 360° loop over and under one of the pigtail bridges. The Mount Rushmore came into view when exiting the tunnel.

View Iron Mountain Road in a larger map

Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota

Postcard US-2550963 from Missouri shows a beautiful night view of the back of Old Main, The Link, and the Dewitt Wallace Library at Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota. It reminds me that this is the time of the year when college students pulling all nighter before the final exams. However, unfortunately, it is also the time when some unprepared students would try anything to desperately avoid, or even just postpone for a hours, the final exams.

Harvard University had a bomb threat on Monday, December 16, 2013 that turned out to be a hoax, made by a student in an attempt to avoid a final exam. I remember that when I was in graduate school at the University of Florida, there were several occasions as well when students called-in bombs anonymously to dodge finals. In my impression, it never worked and the exams were not canceled. But that was a pre-911 era. Now the time has changed and the authority took it seriously. A 20-year old student was soon identified and charged with making bomb threats. So, the message is: study and read your books, don't even think about those tricks that will never work. A proverb in Chinese "躲得过初一，躲不过十五" means that it will happen sooner or later. Why not just face the music, and don't try to get yourself in trouble that could land you in prison for up to five years.

One Year Later: Obama and Same Sex Marriage

LGBT Supporters with Bill Clinton for Obama Re-Election in 2012 

This postcard is made to mark the anniversary of President Obama's endorsement for same-sex marriage on May 9, 2012. On the postcard, a "LGBT for Obama" banner was held high when former President Bill Clinton spoke during a rally at the the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas on October 9, 2012.

Jonathan Capehart had a blog on "Obama and gay marriage: one fabulous year" at Washington Post that documented major related events in the year following Obama's announcement. (updated on May 10, 2013: he had a new blog titled "Minnesota, Clinton and Obama: More gay firsts" following a 75 to 49 vote on May 9, 2013 in the Minnesota State House to legalize same-sex marriage.)

The postcard can be purchased at Zazzle.com