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9/16/2007: James J. Hill was born in Ontario on this day, September 16, 1838. At the age of eighteen, Hill first arrived in St. Paul, Minnesota by steamboat with ambitions to become an animal trapper or trader. Instead his name would become synonymous with the “Empire-Builder.”

9/19/2007: Prolific North Dakota poet Thomas McGrath died on this date in 1990. Born near Sheldon in 1916, he was called “our Homer and Sophocles” by Everett Albers, former director of the North Dakota Humanities Council.

9/25/2007: Poor Johnny Benson had led a turbulent, dramatic life that was filled with heartache and jail sentences. To many, Johnny was merely a criminal. To others, he was a hopeless romantic who was prone to misfortune. On this day in 1946, however, federal agents waited patiently in Sanish for Johnny who was still at large for shooting a federal agent. In just three days, the federal agents would bring Johnny’s unfortunate life to a dramatic end.

10/17/2007: Evan Edwin Lips, former three-term mayor of Bismarck, was born on this date in 1918. A legacy for Bismarck and North Dakota, Lips was dedicated to community service.

10/18/2007: One of the greatest rodeo announcers of all time was born on this date in 1907 near Cavalier, North Dakota.

10/19/2007: North Dakota is called the “Duck Factory” of the United States. The numerous wetland areas in our state make for an ideal environment for producing waterfowl. Anyone who has traveled the state has no doubt watched the numerous flocks of geese and listened to their “honks” as they fly gracefully overhead.

10/21/2007: We’ve all heard of swarms of mosquitoes. We’ve heard of swarms of bees. But swarms of ducks?

5/12/2007: This weekend is the 40th anniversary of the disaster known as Zip to Zap. Planned as an innocent spring fling, kids began descending on Zap Friday afternoon, and by sundown the town of about 300 was swarming with some 2,000 drunk students.

5/13/2007: On this date in 1950, some 35,000 people gathered at Fargo’s Great Northern Railway depot to see President Harry Truman, who was touring the western states. Truman spoke for 22 minutes and then shook hands with people in the crowd.

5/15/2007: News was received in Fargo on this day in 1917 that caused quite the commotion, and even more chuckles. The obituary of Mrs. John W. Springer from New York appeared to many quite the fitting end to a sensational story.