In the land of finding just about anything to make us feel warmer as we shiver our way through another January cold blast, here are the record lows for the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul for the following dates in January:

January 15: -37

January 16: -29

January 20: -32

January 21: -41

What do these dates all have in common? They all fell during the same seven-day stretch 130 years ago in the year 1888. That must have been quite a cold snap and, of course, back then they couldn’t just go to the thermostat and kick up the heat. They had to shovel coal or cut wood to stoke the furnace.

According to the Minnesota Weatherguide Environment Engagement Calendar, the low of -41 on January 21 is the lowest recorded temperature of all time in the Twin Cities.

The Weatherguide calendar has a wealth of information not only about the weather but about what’s going on up in the sky with the sun, moon, stars and planets and news from the world of phenology.

Phenology is the “science of tracking biological and physical events of nature in relationship to weather and climate.” It is not to be confused with phrenology, a study of different areas of the human brain and how they affect human behavior.

Unfortunately, phrenology has not come up with a way to control the part of our brains that tells us if we are warm or cold, so if you need to feel warmer just look at those temperatures from 1888 again and throw on another blanket.