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5/9/2016: The first automobile in North Dakota appeared on the streets of Grand Forks in 1897, having wandered across the Red River from Minnesota. But the first car actually owned by a citizen of North Dakota wasn’t recorded until 1900.

5/13/2016: World War One was the bloodiest war in human history prior to World War Two. 64 million people served in the war, and about nine million soldiers died.

5/19/2016: There was big news in Bismarck on this date in 1972. Authors George F. Bird and E. J. Taylor announced that their book about Bismarck was a best seller, at least in North Dakota. “History of the City of Bismarck, North Dakota: The First Hundred Years” was selling out, with over half of the first 2,000 copies sold.

12/7/2015: Colonel Clement Lounsberry was a well-known North Dakota figure. Following his service in the Civil War, he started his journalism career with newspapers in Minnesota. As the railroad moved west, so did Lounsberry. In July, 1873 he published the first issue of his Bismarck newspaper.

12/15/2015: This date in 1885 was one piece of the timeline moving Dakota Territory to statehood as John Sherman, president pro tempore of the 49th U.S. Congress, was presented with a constitution and memorial assembled by Dakota Territory's legislature. These intensely worded documents gave reasons for splitting the territory, with the half south of the 46th parallel to be given statehood as South Dakota.

12/23/2015: North Dakota farmers are all too familiar with crop damage caused by hail. In 2013, Governor Dalrymple declared an agricultural disaster in 31 hail damaged counties. A severe thunderstorm the following year also inflicted extensive damage from hail. One farmer said his canola crop was waist high before the storm beat it to the ground.

12/30/2015: On this fateful date in 1903, a terrible fire swept through the Iroquois Chicago Theatre during a packed, bargain-priced afternoon matinee of the play Bluebeard. The fire, which may have stemmed from an open arc spotlight, killed more than 600 people, and injured 250 more. Most of the deaths were caused by smoke inhalation and burns, but some individuals also were trampled to death as the panicked crowd attempted to escape the danger.

12/31/2015: For the 50 people who have served as North Dakota Supreme Court justices, December 31st is often their last day in office. On this date in 1964, one of the state’s longest serving justices retired. James Morris served on the court for nearly 30 years.

1/21/2016: In what the Fargo Forum and Daily Republican called “the North Dakota Whirligig,” finances were very much in the news on this date in 1939. The departments of state government had gotten into a habit of exhausting their budgets, with officials leaving office on January 1 with six months of the biennium left to go. When a new legislature was called into session, the departments would come with their hands out asking for money to finish out the fiscal year.

1/26/2016: In 1966, Congress passed the National Historic Preservation Act to help preserve the diverse archaeological and architectural treasures of America. One example is the Leach Public Library in Wahpeton.