Andrew Alexis Varvel

On this date in 1930, the body of Vernon Squires, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, laid in state at the University of North Dakota.

On this date in 1930, Vernon Squires, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of North Dakota, died after a long illness.

On this date in 1823, Joshua Pilcher's men burned Arikara villages to the ground. This was directly against the express orders of Colonel Leavenworth.

This date in 1823 saw the second day of combat in “The Arikara War.” That morning, Colonel Leavenworth's Sixth Infantry bombarded the upper and lower villages of the Arikara in the vicinity of what is now Mobridge, South Dakota. His howitzers attacking the upper village mostly fell into the Missouri River or onto the river sands. By noon, his artillery ran out of ammunition.

On this date in 1946, alumni of the University of North Dakota's secret society called “Iron Mask” held a reunion.

On this day in 1968, plans by the Democratic Nonpartisan League to build its new party headquarters in Bismarck had run into a speed bump. Its proposed Kennedy Center had been planned as both a memorial to the slain Kennedy brothers and a party headquarters. The day before, the Bismarck Tribune had published this Associated Press article explaining tax problems for such a building.

This date in 1975 was the last day when homosexuality was illegal in North Dakota, a change that came with little fanfare as North Dakota newspapers focused on other things. A tornado had killed an infant; there was flooding in West Fargo; a civil war in Lebanon; a new adoption law; repeal of the margarine tax, two FBI agents shot dead on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and the old governor's mansion being set for renovation.

This date in 1914 began a two-day pageant at the University of North Dakota. With UND hosting the annual meeting of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, students honored the convocation with their presentation of “A Pageant of the Northwest” at the Bankside Theater along a bend of the English Coulee.

This week in 1969 the Bismarck Tribune ran a fundraising advertisement for the new Kennedy Center, which was under construction at 1902 East Divide Avenue in Bismarck.

On this date in 1925, the University of North Dakota's student newspaper, The Dakota Student, ran this article about the university library: “At one time classed as one of the largest collections of its kind in the country, the collection of Scandinavian literature in the University library now consists of 4,500 volumes, and includes all kinds of Norwegian, Icelandic, and Swedish books and magazines, according to A. D. Keator, librarian.”