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9/27/2010: "Celebrate Your Freedom to Read" is the motto used in many libraries this week to promote Banned Books Week. Banned Books Week is part of the American Library Association's goal to "keep the concept of literary freedom at the forefront of Americans' minds."

10/1/2010: At about this time in 1902, railroad workers in the state had been going through a tough time with hobos riding the rails. On September 22nd, the Fargo Forum reported a story under the heading, “Another Brakeman Shot.”

10/7/2010: The Civil War in America was one of the last major conflicts that used the European form of battle with frontal assaults in formation, sometimes against an entrenched enemy. Advancements in weaponry created higher casualty rates and made this tactic less effective.

10/9/2010: Albert Hoiland was a North Dakotan inventor from the early 1900s. Throughout his life, he invented many contraptions, including a wild oat separator, a cow trainer, a “flying machine” (a helicopter), highway guards, and furnace grates – and he left a great legacy of helpful tools.

10/11/2010: On October 11, 1881, a homesteader living in Hunter, North Dakota, took out a patent for camera film that would forever change the world of photography. The inventor, David Henderson Houston, was to become a major player in the Kodak empire.

10/16/2010: On this date in 1958, the stretch of Interstate 94 between Valley City and Jamestown was dedicated and opened for business at an interchange south of Eckelson. The section of highway stretched for 39 miles and was at the time the largest single piece completed as a unit on the 41,000-mile interstate system.

10/31/2010: President George W. Bush nominated former North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer as Secretary of Agriculture on this date in 2007.

11/1/2010: A series of tornadoes struck North Dakota on this date ten years ago, affecting New Salem, Washburn, Wilton, Underwood, and Bismarck. The tornadoes that hit northern Bismarck caused the most damage, tearing off the roofs of houses and even large parts of residential garages with 90-mile an hour winds.

11/5/2010: The lure of rich farm land brought many homesteaders to Dakota Territory. The long, endless waves of prairie grass were evidence of a good growing season. Among those land-seekers were investors who sought to buy up large tracts of land and establish company farms. These farms would operate from one central location and employ a steady work crew. Seasonal laborers would be hired during spring planting and fall harvest.

11/5/2010: On this date in 1930, Myron Sletten wrote a letter to his mother. In the postscript he added, “I see by the looks of the Tatler that you didn't keep very quiet as to what I was doing.” The Tatler was his high school newspaper and he didn't exactly want people to know what he was doing.