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Dakota Datebook radio features air daily at 8:35 am, 3:50 pm, 6:30 pm and 7:50 pm (CT) on Prairie Public.

Recent Shows

• Depression Script

  Tuesday, February 9, 2010

  With recent mortgage foreclosures in the housing market, we can perhaps more readily relate to the events that transpired in the Great Depression of the 1930s. With continual drought and low commodity prices, farmers across North Dakota were losing their farms to taxes and mortgages; but the State Legislature on this date would reintroduce an [...]

• False Reports

  Monday, February 8, 2010

  As the year 1906 drew to a close, North Dakotans looked forward to a prosperous new year. In the past year, the crops and livestock thrived, and a record number of settlers sought their fortunes in the flourishing western frontier. An article in the White Earth Record declared that for the coming year [...]

• World’s Shortest Interstate

  Sunday, February 7, 2010

  The world’s shortest interstate streetcar line used to run between Wahpeton and Breckenridge. The route was .14 miles long, transported about 750 passengers a day, and ran from 1910 to 1925. It traveled about 15-20 miles per hour and provided one of the earliest means of traveling between the two towns. A few pieces of [...]

• Written Consent

  Saturday, February 6, 2010

  While today, many young adults consider college a time to become independent, in the early 1900s, college was a different sort of experience, and on this date in 1908, the University of North Dakota announced a new rule for co-eds: if they wanted to go downtown after 6, they needed written permission from their parents!
  This [...]

• Arson Attempt

  Friday, February 5, 2010

  A Fargo woman’s visit to Moorhead on this date in 1910 nearly ended in tragedy as the woman attempted to burn down the Fargo city jail, along with herself and four male prisoners. The woman, Jane Hannibohl, had a lengthy police record, and was known for taking advantage of Moorhead’s lax liquor laws, despite [...]