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11/11/2016: World War I, which took place from 1914 to 1918, was the deadliest conflict the world had ever known. So, when the “Great War” ended, it brought jubilation.

12/27/2016: Cooperstown and Hope were once in the same county – Griggs – which was established by the Territorial Legislature in 1881. But that wasn’t to last.

1/4/2017: The Winchester Model 1873 repeating rifle was the first firearm to use the slogan “the gun that won the west.” But Sam Colt also claimed the title for his Peacemaker revolver.

1/6/2017: There once was an old farmer named Olaus O. Berg, in Walsh County, who lived in seclusion from the outside world. His neighbors called him a hermit, for he lived a solitary life in a tumbledown shack on his 160-acre farm in Vesta Township, seven miles northwest of Park River.

1/9/2017: On this date in 1972, a battle was brewing in Bismarck. The state constitution contained a Right to Work section that had been adopted in 1947. But some members of the legislature wanted to take that a step further. 53 members of the state constitutional delegation approved a proposal from delegate Arden Burbidge of Park River. The proposed Right to Work section was titled “Non-Discrimination in Licensing and Employment.” It was sent to a legislative committee agreed to recommend the change.

1/10/2017: Think of North Dakota boxers, and you probably think Virgil Hill. But Hill is not the only great boxer from the state. Back in the 1920s and 30s, there was Billy Petrolle, a lightweight called the “Fargo Express.” He is ranked as one of the two greatest fighters to have never won a world championship.

This Sunday on Prairie Public Presents: A new episode of Why? Philosophical Discussions About Everyday Life. In this episode, host Jack Russell Weinstein and guest Brian Huschle explore the question: "What Do Community Colleges Do?"

1/11/2017: North Dakota State University’s campus has had a number of buildings come and go, but maybe none as dramatic as the old Chemical Building, which was a total loss in a Christmas Eve fire in 1909. The school was still called the North Dakota Agricultural College when the brick building opened in 1906. It offered chemistry classes, which had previously been held in the basement of College Hall, which is now known as Old Main.

1/12/2017: In 1910, Mrs. Minnie L. Budge, the Grand Forks postmistress, was ready to vacate her position. She had served as postmistress for the past four years, having replaced her husband, William Budge, who had held the office since 1898.

1/13/2017: There was a time when land prices in North Dakota were low because there was little demand. Many people who wanted to move west shied away from the state because of tales of Indian attacks and general lawlessness. The notoriously cold weather also did nothing to encourage newcomers. Consequently, there was more than enough land for those hardy souls who chose to live in North Dakota.