1. In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Alexander Ramsey as the first governor of the Minnesota Territory. Ramsey served as governor from 1861 to 1863 and was later elected as the state's second governor in 1869.

2. Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, visited St. Paul on July 27, 1936, during her nationwide tour. She gave a speech at the city's Municipal Auditorium in which she expressed her support for the Equal Rights Amendment and encouraged women to pursue careers in aviation.

3. On July 27, 1940, the Minnesota Twins (then known as the Washington Senators) played their first game at Minneapolis's Nicollet Park. The Twins won the game, 15-6, against the Milwaukee Brewers.

4. The University of Minnesota held its first summer commencement ceremony on July 27, 1954. A total of 2,320 degrees were awarded to graduates from the university's colleges of Agriculture, Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Education, and Pharmacy.

5. Minnesota's first openly gay elected official, Allan Spear, was born on July 27, 1937. He served in the Minnesota State Senate from 1973 to 2001 and was a leader in the fight for LGBTQ rights. He died in 2008.