Steve Stark

Our midwestern living conditions in this part of the country are often the subject of some derision by others in these United States. In November of this week in 1909, The Medina Citizen newspaper was cited by the Fargo Forum and Daily Republican for reacting to one such slight.

In the waning days of November in 1909, the Fargo Forum newspaper, as always, had the pulse of the community reflected in its reporting and advertising. Many print ads in that early century were bolder than seen today. Here are some of the interesting enticements from those days.

Today we share a few nuggets of early November history.

During World War II, the American public paid exceptional attention to the needs of their local community as well as the needs of the troops. One of the frequent citizen-led activities were drives for needed items during the long, weary days and years of the war. Virtually every newspaper in the country kept people apprised of those needs.

“Recovering from the unbelievable” screamed the headline of the Minneapolis Star Tribune on this date in 2001. Newspapers across the nation likewise printed breaking reports of the surprise attack on New York City and Washington DC’s Pentagon building.

On this date in 1998, St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire shattered the longtime home run record set by North Dakota’s Roger Maris. With his historic homer electrifying baseball fans, both McGwire and Maris were front page news.

Roger Maris, Fargo and North Dakota’s hometown hero lost his 37-year-old homerun record to St. Louis slugger Mark McGwire in September 1998. Baseball’s waning days that September had christened a new member of batter royalty.

This week in 1945 the world shook with the news that World War II had come to an end. The classic bold type across a Fargo Forum Extra newspaper edition boasted Japan Quits.” The subheading read “Allied Forces Given ‘Cease Fire’ Order.”

“I hereby resign the office of President of the United States.” In that simple 11-word message, President Richard Nixon resigned from office this week in 1974.People in this region, like the rest of the nation, were stunned, saddened or satisfied. The complicated Watergate investigation revealed that Nixon concealed evidence from House impeachment investigators, his own lawyers, and the American public.

The Fargo newspaper headlines this week in 1957 concentrated on the devastating tornado that had leveled a large swath of the city only days before. An…