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1/1/2015: It’s New Year’s Day and according to tradition, that means it’s time to make resolutions that you promise to keep. For North Dakota ranchers in 1944, however, it wasn’t resolutions they were worried about keeping on New Year’s Day, but their brands.

1/2/2015: Every December, the Audubon Society sponsors the Christmas bird count. It is the longest running volunteer science survey in the world. The count started in 1900 when ornithologist Frank Chapman proposed a new holiday tradition: a bird census that would count birds instead of hunting them.

1/5/2015: The first week of 1942 brought news of how the war was going to affect the homefront. The Japanese controlled the Far East rubber supply, so tires were the first item rationed. The government announced that the rationing would go into effect on this date in 1942.

1/6/2015: January 6 is known by different names. In France, it is called Three Kings Day. In England, it is called Twelfth Night, for the twelfth night after Christmas. It is also known as Epiphany. The day commemorates the arrival of the three wise men in Bethlehem, when they delivered gifts to the Christ Child. Epiphany is a Greek word meaning revelation. It refers to the revelation of the wise men when they saw the star and followed it.

1/8/2015: Life was not easy in the early days of the Dakota Territory. Settlers had to contend with too much rain or not enough. They had to deal with heat in the summer and cold in the winter. And they had to face the constant threat of Indian attacks.

1/12/2015: Wintertime brings cold and ice and snow, but North Dakotans have endured the worst of it, often embracing the best of winter’s weather.

1/19/2015: Niels E. Hansen was born in Denmark in 1866 and grew up in South Dakota. He became a plant scientist and worked at South Dakota State University in Brookings.

1/22/2015: On this date in 1918, members of the North Dakota Legislature began to hope that a short session was possible. If that was the case, they could all go home early. There was concern, however, that contentious issues advocated by the Nonpartisan League could extend the session. Some accused the NPL of “having something up their sleeves,” but the NPL denied this, saying their program had been fully outlined for the legislature.

1/23/2015: Anyone passing through Bismarck today is able to go to the 17th floor of the capitol building, the observation deck, and view the landscape of the city from above. Tiny people, cars, trees, and buildings can be seen in every direction. There weren't 17 floors in the original Capitol, but at the time it was built, there was much less to look at. The building was quite some distance north of the developing city.

1/26/2015: In January of 1917, plans for the annual Outdoor Sports Carnival in Minnesota were underway. There were many sporting events of interest, including a national ski tournament, world's championship speed-skating races, curling, and fireworks. However, a new event was being organized, one that would make history: one of the longest dog team races ever held in the United States.