It was 18 years ago today that the I-35W bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River in Minneapolis during the evening rush hour, killing 13 people and injuring 145.

Pioneer Press photographers took hundreds of images that day. You can see a few of them here: www.twincities.com/2025/07/23/t...

The St. Paul Daily News hired a private investigator to tap the phones and bug the offices of the city’s police department.

The conversations he recorded uncovered evidence of rampant corruption in its ranks, leading to the ouster or suspension of more than a dozen officers — including the chief.

Pioneer Press reporter Bill Martin interviews a seemingly talkative hippopotamus named Miss Oklahoma in the basement of St. Paul Auditorium in March 1952.

To find out what she was doing there, visit our #ThrowbackThursday gallery at twincities.com/throwback.

📸: Pioneer Press file photo

“Jaws” premiered 50 years ago today at a pair of local movie theaters that had won a bidding war to screen the original summer blockbuster.

A case that began with a complaint about a broken furnace ended with the largest jury award for a race-based housing discrimination claim in U.S. history because 27-year-old Melissa Hortman saw “that there were these larger issues. Not every lawyer would pick up on that,” a former colleague said.

Members of the St. Paul Athletic Club, including former mayor Mark Gehan on the left, dutifully don gym shorts as they exercise on the club’s rooftop deck on July 16, 1941.

To view our previous #ThrowbackThursday images, visit twincities.com/throwback

📸: Former PiPress photographer Jack Loveland

“Of plot there is very little, save for some hectic love affairs that are not above reproach, the author’s aim and interest all being centered on Gatsby himself,” wrote the books editor of the St. Paul Daily News. “Personally I don’t think the fellow was worth so much effort.”

The paddleboat Capitol makes its way down the Mississippi River from St. Paul on July 1, 1932. The 280-foot excursion steamer was a frequent visitor to the city during the summer navigation season.

To view all of our #ThrowbackThursday photos, visit twincities.com/throwback.

📸: Pioneer Press files

“There was a lot of bad science happening at that time, and it was used to justify some pretty horrible behavior,” the grandson of one of the women said.

Moving day at the Science Museum of Minnesota brought skeletons out of the closets in 1964.

The museum was moving from the John L. Merriam mansion in St. Paul to new digs at the Arts and Sciences Center.

See more #throwbackthursday images: twincities.com/throwback

📸: Former PiPresser Don Church

In March 1950, a gang of Dayton’s Bluff middle schoolers led police to the cave hideout of a convicted killer after recognizing his mugshot in the St. Paul Dispatch.

“That’s a no-no,” St. Paul cop Frank Langan tells this St. Patrick’s Day reveler as he tries to conceal his beer can outside Gallivan’s bar in downtown on March 17, 1976.

To see a gallery of all our #ThrowbackThursday photos, go to twincities.com/throwback

📸: Pioneer Press photographer Bill Davis

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