Jayme L. Job

3/11/2013: 1943 proved a tough tax season for the Fargo Tax Division of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Division workers headquartered on the second floor of the Fargo Federal Building began processing as many as 20,000 claims a day on this date in 1943, in anticipation of the looming March 15th deadline. With the passage of new tax legislation, more Americans were filing income taxes than ever before.

3/8/2013: News of its namesake’s death reached Burleigh County on this date in 1896; Walter Burleigh had passed away the evening before in Yankton, South Dakota. Burleigh’s duplicitous character made him a prominent figure in the early days of Dakota Territory.

3/6/2013: The State Legislature passed a law on this date in 1891 that would require the teaching of Scandinavian languages at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. Although less than 8% of the student population was of Norwegian descent, the state’s Norwegian minority began clamoring for the bill as early as 1884, calling for the hiring of a Norwegian professor “of their own race,” as they put it. After seven years of campaigning, they found victory in the hiring of a Norwegian professor, the Reverend George Rygh.

3/5/2013: An unbelievable UFO sighting occurred on this date over the Minot Air Force base in 1967. Unbeknownst to many North Dakotans, the state has proved fertile ground for UFO sightings for several decades.

3/4/2013: Fist-fights and hilarity reigned at the State Capitol on this date in 1921. While Non-Partisan Leaguers attempted a political coup, their rivals, led by two Irish attorneys, fought back long into the night. The entire comedic drama ended well past midnight in the chambers of State Supreme Court Justice Luther Birdzell.

2/21/2013: Granville, North Dakota, recorded an 83-degree rise in temperature on this date in 1918, one of the most extreme temperature changes ever recorded. In only twelve hours, the temperature climbed from 33-degrees Fahrenheit below zero to 50-degrees above. The 83-degree swing was only one example of extreme temperature changes caused by a meteorological phenomenon known as ‘Chinook winds.’

2/15/2013: The city of Fargo welcomed the 1st North Dakota Infantry home from Mexico on this date in 1917. The men returned after serving eight months on the border as part of the Mexican Expedition under U.S. General John Pershing.

2/14/2013: A terrible fire destroyed the Krem Roller Mill on this date in 1906. Although little remains of the town today, Krem was once the “largest and most progressive” town in Mercer County. Much of the town’s commercial success, however, was the result of its large flour mill. Losing the mill was the beginning of the end for the North Dakotan prairie town.

2/10/2013: The Bank of North Dakota announced in the State Legislature that it was unable to meet the state’s payroll on this date in 1921.

2/7/2013: Arthur Packard established the Bad Lands Cow Boy newspaper at Medora on this date in 1884. Medora’s first newspaper, the Cow Boy recorded the town’s earliest history.