Historical eventOctober 51869

Eastman tunnel

During construction of the Eastman tunnel in St. Anthony, Minnesota (now Minneapolis), the Mississippi River broke through the tunnel's limestone ceiling, nearly destroying Saint Anthony Falls.

Everything on October 5Original source

In context

When
Tuesday, October 5 1869157 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
19th century · 1860s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

Russia, Greece and some other countries used the Julian calendar into the early 20th century, so local records may show a date up to 13 days earlier.

At a glance

Dates: From 1869.

What happened

During construction of the Eastman tunnel in St. Anthony, Minnesota (now Minneapolis), the Mississippi River broke through the tunnel's limestone ceiling, nearly destroying Saint Anthony Falls.

October 5 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1869Eastman tunnel
  2. 1988Lloyd Bentsen
  3. 1990The Herald (Melbourne)
  4. 19911991 Jakarta Indonesian Air Force C-130 crash
  5. 1994Order of the Solar Temple
  6. 1999Ladbroke Grove rail crash
  7. 2000Overthrow of Slobodan Milošević
  8. 2000Colour revolution
  9. 2011Mekong River massacre
  10. 2014Jules Bianchi
  11. 2021Windows 11

Also in 1869

  • January 5Te Kooti's WarTe Kooti's War: After surviving a five-day siege in the pā at Ngātapa, Māori leader Te Kooti escaped from New Zealand's Armed Constabulary.
  • March 1Dmitri MendeleevThe Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev (pictured) finished his design of the first periodic table.
  • September 22Das RheingoldDas Rheingold, the first of four operas in Der Ring des Nibelungen by the German composer Richard Wagner (pictured), was first performed…
  • November 6New Brunswick, New JerseyIn New Brunswick, New Jersey, Rutgers College defeats Princeton University (then known as the College of New Jersey), 6–4, in the first o…
  • January 27Tokugawa shogunateFormer members of the overthrown Tokugawa shogunate proclaimed Japan's second-largest island, Hokkaido, to be the independent Republic of…
  • February 5MoliagulProspectors in Moliagul, Australia, discovered the largest alluvial gold nugget ever found, known as the Welcome Stranger.
  • June 27Battle of HakodateOne day after surrendering at the Battle of Hakodate, Enomoto Takeaki turned the fort of Goryōkaku over to Japanese forces, signaling the…
  • June 27Meiji RestorationThe military phase of the Meiji Restoration in Japan was completed with an imperial victory in the Boshin War.

Everything we record for 1869 →

Sources

Cite this page

“Eastman tunnel”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/eastman-tunnel-1869-october-5, accessed October 26, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about this entry

When did Eastman tunnel happen?

October 5 1869 — 157 years ago, on a Tuesday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

How do I cite this page?

Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

Text adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 and from Wikidata (CC0). Images come from Wikimedia Commons; credit and licence are shown with each image. Editorial entries are © What's On This Date. Sources & licensing · How this site works.