Minneapolis City (pop., 2000: 382,618), eastern Minnesota, U.S. The state’s largest city, it is situated on the Mississippi River near the mouth of the Minnesota River. With St. Paul across the river it forms the Twin Cities met¬ ropolitan area. Visited by French missionary Louis Hennepin in 1680, the area developed as a military outpost. On the eastern bank was the village of St. Anthony (inc. 1855), on the western bank, Minneapolis village (inc. 1856). In 1872 the two merged as the city of Minneapolis, which developed as a centre of the lumber and flour-milling industries. Still a grain market for the surrounding agricultural region, it is also a manufacturing centre. Its educational institutions include the University of Minnesota.
Minnelli, Vincente (b. Feb. 28, 1910, Chicago, Ill., U.S.—d. July 25, 1986, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. film director. He was a stage manager and costume designer from age 16, achieved success as a Broadway director c. 1935, and moved to Hollywood in 1940. He combined a daring use of colour with imaginative camera work in films such as Cabin in the Sky (1943), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), The Pirate (1948), An American in Paris (1951), and Gigi (1958, Academy Award), infusing a new sophis¬ tication and vitality into filmed musicals. He also made several notable dramas, including Father of the Bride (1950), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), and Lust for Life (1957). He was married to Judy Garland (1945- 51). Their daughter, the singer and actress Liza Minnelli (b. 1946), won a Tony Award for her performance in Flora, the Red Menace (1965) and an Oscar for Cabaret (1972).
minnesinger Vmi-no-.siq-or, 'mi-no-.ziq-orX (from German, Minne : “love”) Any of certain German poet-musicians, c. 1150-c. 1325, parallel to the troubadours and trouveres. Like their French counterparts, the min¬ nesingers’ subjects were not limited to love but also included politics and ethics. Originally members of the high nobility, minnesingers later came from the emerging middle class and had an economic as well as social interest in singing. Walther von der Vogelweide, Neidhardt von Reuental (c. 1180-c. 1250), and Tannhauser were among the most famous of the minnesingers.
American mink (Mustela vison).
KARL H. MASLOWSKI
L_
M
N
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1264 I Minnesota ► mint
L_
N
Minnesota State (pop., 2000: 4,919,479), midwestem U.S. Bordered by Canada and the U.S. states of Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota, it covers 86,943 sq mi (225,182 sq km); its capital is St. Paul. The most northerly of the 48 contiguous U.S. states, it has exten¬ sive woodlands, fertile prairies, and numerous lakes. Before European settlement, the region was inhabited by the Ojibwa (Chippewa) and the Dakota (Sioux) tribes. French explorers arrived in search of the Northwest Passage in the mid 17th century. The northeastern portion passed to the British in 1763 and then to the U.S. in 1783, becoming part of the North¬ west Territories in 1787. The southwestern portion was acquired by the U.S. in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase, and the northwestern por¬ tion was ceded to the U.S. by the British by treaty in 1818. The first per¬ manent U.S. settlement was made in 1819, when Fort Snelling was founded. The Minnesota Territory, established in 1849, included present- day Minnesota and the eastern sections of North and South Dakota. Min¬ nesota became the 32nd U.S. state in 1858. The Sioux Uprising in southern Minnesota in 1862 resulted in the death of 500 civilians, sol¬ diers, and Indians. Commercial iron-ore production began in 1884, and after the huge iron reserves of the Mesabi Range were discovered in 1890, the population at Duluth and Superior grew rapidly. Today agriculture, especially grains, meat, and dairy products, is the basis of the economy. Mineral resources include iron ore, granite, and limestone.
Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. See 3M
Minnesota River River, southern Minnesota, U.S. Rising on the South Dakota-Minnesota boundary, it flows southeast then turns northeast to join the Mississippi River just south of St. Paul, after a course of 332 mi (534 km). Once known as the St. Peter or St. Pierre, it was important to early explorers and fur traders.
minnow Small fishes, especially of the carp family (Cyprinidae), as well as some rockfish (family Umbridae) and killifishes (family Cyprinodon- tidae). The numerous species of North American cyprinid minnows are freshwater fishes, 2.4-12 in. (6-30 cm) long. Many are valuable as food for fishes, birds, and other animals and as live bait. The bluntnose {Pime- phales notatus ) and fathead (P. promelas) minnows, the common shiner, and the American roach are good bait species. The term also refers to the young of many large fish species. The minnow of Europe and northern Asia ( Phoxinus phoxinus) is about 3 in. (7.5 cm) long and varies from golden to green.
Mino da Fiesole \'me-no-da-fya-'zo-la\ (b. 1429, Poppi, Republic of Florence—d. 1484, Florence) Italian sculptor. Probably trained in Flo¬ rence, he was active both in Florence and Rome, where he created monu¬ ments (especially wall tombs) and busts of cardinals and other prominent individuals. Among the earliest Renaissance portrait sculptures, his works were greatly admired in the 19th century but are now considered less inspired than those of Desiderio da Settignano, Antonio Rossellino (1427- 79), and other eminent contemporaries.
Minoan \mi-'no-3n\ Any member of a non-Indo-European people who flourished (c. 3000-c. 1100 bc) on the island of Crete during the Bronze Age. The sea was the basis of their economy and power. Their sophisti¬ cated culture, based at Knossos, was named for the legendary King Minos. It represented the first high civilization in the Aegean area. The Minoans exerted great influence on the Mycenaean culture of the Greek islands and mainland. Minoan culture reached its peak c. 1600 bc and was noted for its cities and palaces, extended trade contacts, and use of writing (see Lin¬ ear A and Linear B). Its art included elaborate seals, pottery, and, notably, the vibrant frescoes decorating palace walls, which depicted both religious and secular scenes, including goddesses reflective of a matriarchal reli¬ gion. Palace ruins show evidence of paved streets and piped water. Famil¬ ial - Minoan art motifs are the snake (symbol of the goddess) and the bull and leaping dancer, also of mystical significance.
Minos Vml-n3s\ In Greek legend, a king of Crete, the son of Zeus and Europa. He gained the throne with the aid of Poseidon and also became ruler of the Aegean islands. His wife Pasiphae fell in love with a bull and gave birth to the Minotaur, which was imprisoned in the Labyrinth. Minos waged war against Athens and exacted a tribute of youths and maidens to feed the Minotaur until Theseus killed the monster with the aid of Minos’s daughter Ariadne. Minos was killed in Sicily when boiling water was poured over him as he was taking a bath. Many scholars now con¬ sider that Minos was a royal or dynastic title for the priestly rulers of Bronze Age, or Minoan, civilization in Knossos (Minoan means “of Minos”).
Minot Yml-notV George (Richards) (b. Dec. 2,1885, Boston, Mass., U.S.—d. Feb. 25, 1950, Brookline, Mass.) U.S. physician. He received his medical degree from Harvard University. He reversed anemia in dogs (induced by excessive bleeding) with a diet of raw liver; subsequently he and William Murphy (1894-1987) found that eating raw liver reversed pernicious anemia in humans. They shared a Nobel Prize in 1934 with George Whipple for their treatment of the previously invariably fatal dis¬ ease. He and Edwin Joseph Cohn prepared liver extracts that, taken orally, were the main treatment for pernicious anemia until 1948, when vitamin B 12 was isolated.
Minotaur Vmi-no-.toA In Greek mythology, a monster of Crete with the body of a man and the head of a bull. It was the offspring of Pasiphae, wife of King Minos, and a snow-white bull sent by Poseidon and intended for sacrifice. When Minos kept it instead, the god punished him by making his wife fall in love with the bull. The Minotaur (whose name means “Minos bull”) was imprisoned in the Labyrinth built by Daedalus. After defeating Athens in a war, Minos forced the Athenians to send human tribute to be devoured by the Minotaur. The third year the tribute was sent, Theseus vol¬ unteered to go, and with the help of Ariadne he killed the monster.