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3/12/2008: The weather is always a little unpredictable in March. So going outside for a hike isn’t always uppermost on most North Dakotans’ minds, around this time of year.

3/15/2008: Thomas Ward Custer, born this day, March 15, 1845, is not just the cavalry officer who died alongside his famous brother at the Little Bighorn. Tom Custer is also one of only 19 double Medal of Honor recipients.

3/17/2008: As students struggle through Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and even Calculus this school year, they likely will find sitting on the desk in front of them a calculator. This ubiquitous tool of most, if not all math students, will likely feature a dark grey or black body, a protective slip-case, a model number such as 83 or 86, and two letters plainly etched in its hard plastic shell; “T” and “I.” As many of you who have seen or used this ever-present tool have guessed; the two letters stand for Texas Instruments, makers of some of the most popular calculators in the world. Oddly enough, one of the original founders of TEXAS Instruments is a native of North Dakota, and he was born on this date 1914 in Harvey North Dakota.

4/5/2008: In response to nearly 14 million unemployed Americans, President Franklin Roosevelt instituted the Civilian Conservation Corps on this day, April 5, 1933.

10/24/2007: On this date in 1882, even before it became a state, North Dakota experienced its first known lynching. Unfortunately, it was not to be the last. Perhaps even more unfortunate is what eventually happened to the mobs of vigilantes who perpetrated these crimes.

10/28/2007: If this sounds like a scene from the old Wild West, it’s because it was!

10/27/2007: These days, pedestrian safety can sometimes be taken for granted. But what was it like walking in downtown Fargo before our current “Walk-Don’t Walk” signs were around?

11/18/2007: Fog hung heavy around Sheriff Hardie as he picked his way through the wreckage of the semi. The sun had set hours ago and he glanced nervously over his shoulder before switching on his flashlight. Hardie scanned the beam of light across the blacktop as his worst nightmares were realized. Alone, on Highway 2, Sheriff Hardie faced 25,000... pounds of cheese?

11/20/2007: It took a year and some fancy police work, but on this date in 1939, three members of a horse rustling gang were finally caught and put behind bars.

12/27/2007: On this date in 1956, North Dakotans learned, from their local newspapers, they were supposed to be watching television ads more closely – but not so they’d buy things; they were supposed to partner with an investigative unit newly created by the Federal Trade Commission.