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6/28/2008: North Dakota philanthropist Frances Land Leach was born on this date, June 28, 1902.

6/29/2008: Of all the things that have changed in North Dakota over the past 130 years, food belongs near the top of the list.

6/30/2008: In 1990 the President of the University of North Dakota, Thomas Clifford, took on the additional task of serving as Interim Chancellor of the newly formed University of North Dakota System. After what must have been a busy eight months Clifford stepped down as Interim Chancellor on this date, June 30, 1991. For many, the work involved in managing both major academic bodies would have been overwhelming. But for Clifford the fast paced work schedule was par for the course.

7/7/2008: Throughout the summer of 1864, travel in Northern Dakota Territory was not only slow but unsafe. In response to aggressive military expeditions the year before, Yanktonai and Lakota American Indians began a systematic attack on transportation routes; even the river ways were unsafe as stranded Steamboats on the Missouri River were a favorite target.

7/10/2008: Long ago there stood a village in the midst of the prairie. It was high on the hillside overlooking the great Missouri River Valley. From this place one could see for miles across the landscape. A landscape without pavement, car exhaust, or road signs; only marked by the rise and fall of the sun and the night stars. This place was home to the Mandan people, whose earth lodge village was part of the rhythm of the land. This was Chief Looking’s Village.

7/17/2008: Named after Brevet Major General Joseph Gilbert Totten, former chief engineer of the Army, Fort Totten was established on this day, July 17, 1867.

4/9/2008: Dawn had just broken the morning of April 9, 1865. Union forces had finally maneuvered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia into the place chosen for a final showdown. Leading the Third Cavalry, General George Armstrong Custer stood at the advance, awaiting word to proceed against the Confederate cavalry. General Lee’s army was trapped.

4/15/2008: Two days after the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's army in April of 1865, a jubilant crowd gathered outside the White House calling for President Lincoln. Among the crowd waiting to hear what would be Abraham Lincoln’s final public address was a 22-year-old man named Smith Stimmel.

4/22/2008: As a popular tourist destination, most North Dakotans are familiar with Fort Totten. Located near Devils Lake, the frontier military post was built to protect American interests in the region. It was briefly commanded by Major Marcus A. Reno, visited by General Sherman, and later turned into a school. But what may be less familiar to North Dakotans is who the “Totten” of Fort Totten was.

4/23/2008: On this date in 1922, Dr. O. O. Churchill of North Dakota Agricultural College confirmed a report by Dr. Austin O’Malley of Philadelphia that Fargo would be one of the few cities in the United States to boast of a population of blondes.