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2/15/2017: On this date in 1901 the Oakes Republican reported that Coroner T.W. Millham and Sheriff Thompson had been summoned to investigate the death of Charles Brucker. The first report was that Brucker had been killed when his wife shot him with a shotgun. Mrs. Brucker was the daughter of Ferdinand Kosanke, a prominent member in the Germans from Russia community. She was only with husband Charles a short time before they quarreled and split up. Mrs. Brucker returned to her family. One evening, Brucker arrived at the Kosanke home threatening to kill his wife and the entire family.

2/16/2017: The Deep Waterway Association annual conventions were well attended by influential politicians and businessmen. In 1903, a highlight was a letter read to the convention from railroad tycoon James J. Hill. In 1907, the keynote speaker was Teddy Roosevelt. The main interest was improving water access from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. A proposal suggested deepening and widening river channels for Great Lakes vessels. But while interest was strong, there was little agreement on how to accomplish the goal. In the 1912 issue of The Journal of Political Economy, an article noted that while many studies had been made, there was still no plan in place.

2/17/2017: The Industrial Revolution began in the middle of the 18th Century and swept the world like a storm. Following a time when human and animal labor were the main sources of production, inventions like the steam engine and electricity improved the living conditions of many people. However, these improvements did not come without cost.

3/1/2017: Today we share another story about Professor E. F. Ladd, the well-known champion of purity in consumer products. In 1890, President Stockbridge of the newly founded North Dakota Agricultural College invited Professor Ladd to become Professor of Chemistry at the college and chemist of the Agricultural Experiment Station. Ladd agreed, and joined the first group of instructors at the new institution.

3/10/2017: Mathematics helped solve the mystery of a fighter jet that crashed through the ice of Lake Sakakawea on this date in 1969. For thirty-five years, The F-106 Delta Dart interceptor from the Minot Air Force base had rested on the bottom of the lake near the Four Bears Bridge at New Town.

3/20/2017: Modern-day people take street pavement for granted, driving over concrete highways and asphalt streets. But back in the 1890s, the going was tougher. North Dakota’s towns had dirt roads or hard-packed soil that could turn into sticky mud during a good rain, becoming impassible.

3/27/2017: On today’s date in 1918, Mrs. H.L. Peterson and her family from Bowbells, North Dakota were awaiting the April 1st issue of the “Nonpartisan Leader.” Mrs. Peterson had won a Nonpartisan League women’s writing contest with her essay titled “Pay for the Wageless Years.

3/28/2017: By June 7, 1917, the British Second Army was prepared to attack the Germans at Messines Ridge in northern France. The British had put a great deal of planning into the attack. For eighteen months, soldiers dug tunnels under the German positions. Some of the tunnels were 2,000 feet long. The Germans had been entrenched in their positions for almost two years. The British soldiers had to dig the tunnels as much as 100 feet below the surface. Once the tunnels were completed, the soldiers packed them with nearly 1 million pounds of explosives.

3/29/2017: Using fingerprints in criminal investigations became widespread in the early years of the 20th Century. Because no two fingertips are alike, and because fingerprints never change, it became a sure way to connect criminals to their crimes.

3/30/2017: Meriwether Lewis and William Clark get most of the credit for being early white explorers of the Missouri River and the American West, but their adventure wasn’t the first. The Verendrye family was in the North and South Dakota region for more than sixty years before the Corps of Discovery. They too sought an all-water route to the Pacific Ocean. Louis-Joseph and Francois de la Verendrye camped with the Mandans on the Upper Missouri before leaving on their journey in the summer of 1742.