Sitting Bull to Phil Jackson, cattle to prairie dogs, knoephla to lefse. North Dakota's legacy includes many strange stories of eccentric towns, war heroes, and various colorful characters. Hear all about them on Dakota Datebook, your daily dose of North Dakota history.
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Dakota Datebook is made in partnership with the State Historical Society of North Dakota, and funded by Humanities North Dakota, a nonprofit, independent state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the program do not necessarily reflect those of Humanities North Dakota or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
You can find all Dakota Datebooks from 2018-today below. Our archive of Datebooks from 2003-2017 can be found here.
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The political climate in 1968 was one of turmoil and division in the United States. There were major protests against the Vietnam War. Martin Luther King was assassinated in April of that year, followed by the assassination of Robert Kennedy, the leading Democratic candidate for president and the brother of assassinated President John F. Kennedy. The Civil Rights Movement had seen major progress, but struggled to move forward as a militant wing began to form. -
Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and their intrepid Corps of Discovery were integral to the expansion of a new country. The expedition set out to begin mapping the immense territory that Thomas Jefferson had purchased. They chronicled the vast wilderness and the rich resources it contained. Lewis and Clark are a bedrock of American history, but they were not the first Europeans to explore the Great Plains.
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As the railroad moved out onto the Great Plains, settlers followed. Small gatherings began to form wherever the railroad workers set up their camps. These rudimentary communities usually started as a collection of tents, with frame buildings gradually taking shape as the neighborhoods became permanent. When the Northern Pacific Railroad crossed the Red River, what would later become a city had a very modest beginning.
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The 1950s are remembered fondly by most U.S. history textbooks. Known as the Eisenhower era, the post-war years were considered a new height of prosperity, with median family purchasing power increasing as much as 30%.
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In 1904, seven men met in Chicago and laid the foundation for the International Workers of the World. Attendees included radicals and trade unionists from across the United States.
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President Abraham Lincoln began considering emancipation for slaves in states that were in rebellion, which would exempt border states that remained in the Union, like Kentucky. This would be the first step on the road to abolition while keeping the border states loyal to the Union.
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How often do you get to experience a UFO, or unidentified flying object, in your backyard? On this date in 1966, newspapers from the state reported on an 11-year-old boy in Sargent County who got to do just that.
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The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers was the climax of the subprime mortgage crisis. When attempts to negotiate financing for reorganization failed, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy involving more than $600 billion. On this date in 2008, the Dow Jones fell by more than 500 points, a drop of 4½ percent. Other financial institutions began to feel the uncertainty, and the result was a financial panic that spread across the globe.
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In 1819, Secretary of War John C. Calhoun authorized an expedition to the American frontier. Calhoun’s goal was to establish a military outpost at the mouth of the Yellowstone River in present-day North Dakota.
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Fire was always a danger in early North Dakota. Early firefighting often consisted of community members responding and forming bucket brigades. The first organized firefighters were volunteers who trained together and collected rudimentary equipment. But as clusters of homes grew into towns, and towns grew into cities, communities realized they had to develop a serious plan to respond to the danger of fire.
Dakota Datebook is made in partnership with the State Historical Society of North Dakota, and funded by Humanities North Dakota, a nonprofit, independent state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the program do not necessarily reflect those of Humanities North Dakota or the National Endowment for the Humanities.