Jayme L. Job

6/30/2012: A large meteorite crashed to earth about twenty miles south of Richardton, North Dakota, on this date in 1918. “The fireball of the meteoroid … was witnessed over an area of … 18,000 square miles.” As far away as Mandan and Dickinson, witnesses recalled that, “As it came down, it illuminated the landscape to almost the brilliancy of sunlight.”

6/28/2012: Paul Johnsgard, famed ornithologist and author of over fifty books, was born in Fargo on this date in 1931. Growing up in North Dakota, Johnsgard’s love for wildlife was fueled by his forays into the nearby plains and wetlands. His father took him hunting, and his mother encouraged his interests, but his mother’s cousin, “Bud” Morgan, left the largest impression. A North Dakota Game Warden, Bud took Johnsgard on his annual spring waterfowl surveys.

6/23/2012: On this date in 1927, the Sioux County Pioneer reported that President Calvin Coolidge would be adopted into the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.

6/10/2012: The county of Bowman, North Dakota, was re-established on this date in 1907 by Governor John Burke.

6/9/2012: An incredible thunderstorm struck Bismarck on this date in 2001, causing millions of dollars in damage and leaving up to six feet of hail piled up in some areas. Afterward, the fresh hail resembled blankets of snow, clogging storm drains and underpasses, which led to flooding.

6/4/2012: Boy Chief, an Arikara Indian scout who fought at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, passed away on this date in 1922 in Armstrong, North Dakota. Boy Chief was a member of General Custer’s 7th Calvary stationed at Fort Lincoln and participated in the attack launched by Major Reno.

6/3/2012: Governor John Hoeven nominated the design for the North Dakota Commemorative Quarter on this date in 2005.

6/2/2012: The Whooping Crane was placed on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife List of Endangered Species on this date in 1970.

5/27/2012: Hector Field, Fargo’s Airport, was dedicated on this date in 1931.

5/26/2012: The United States Supreme Court ruled in the case of the Quill Corporation v. the State of North Dakota on this date in 1992.