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11/25/2016: Fifty years ago the National Historic Preservation Act was created to help preserve the diverse archaeological and architectural treasures of America. Courthouses are often considered for historic preservation, and there is perhaps one type worthy of further discussion.

11/29/2016: The United States Navy approved activation of a Very Low Frequency Navy facility at LaMoure, North Dakota, in 1968. The new facility was needed when the one in Annapolis, Maryland was decommissioned. The purpose of the tower was to provide the equipment and support for the Defense Communications System.

12/1/2016: This date in 1932 would have been just about ideal for enjoying the inaugural harvest of the new Buttercup Squash developed by the North Dakota Agricultural College in Fargo. The Buttercup was the result of work done by horticulturist Albert F. Yeager, chemist T. H. Hooper, and Constance Leeby and Esther Letzke of the Home Economics Research department. The team had spent the past ten years crossing different types of squash. Their aim was to develop a variety to take the place of the sweet potato, which had hadn’t grown well in the region.

12/2/2016: There is a powerful Norwegian-American heritage in North Dakota. In fact, N.D. has been recognized as the most “Norwegian” state in the U.S., having, in 1990, 29.6 percent of its population identifying as “primarily or secondarily Norwegian.”

12/5/2016: William Ross loved horses. For his whole life he was a horse trader and handler. Unfortunately, his love of horses grew so big that he became a successful horse thief. That is, until July of 1905. Ross was employed by Thomas Walsh, a farmer in his 60s who lived outside of Willow City, North Dakota.

12/6/2016: The Soledad Brothers were three prison inmates nicknamed for their prison, the Soledad State Prison in California. In 1970, they were accused of killing guard John Vincent Mills. The trio, who weren’t really brothers, included George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo, and John Cluchette. They were accused of killing Mills in retaliation for the killing of three fellow inmates during a fight in the exercise yard.

12/13/2016: On January 17, 1920, the United States went dry as the manufacture and sale of intoxicating alcohol was banned. 1,500 Federal law enforcement officers were tasked with enforcement. The force was not nearly big enough.

12/15/2016: The gubernatorial transition in North Dakota historically took place on the first Wednesday in January, but voters approved a constitutional amendment in 1987 that favored today’s date of December 15th.

12/20/2016: There was a time when there were no bridges over the Red River of the North. In those days, wintertime crossings were made over the ice. Summertime travelers had to ford the Red by wading through a shallow stretch, or rowing a boat, or taking a ferry.

12/29/2016: Fifty years ago the National Historic Preservation Act was created to help preserve the diverse archaeological and architectural treasures of America.