Dakota Datebook

The Archives

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

Black Gold
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Between 1924 and 1951, twenty-three serious attempts were made to discover oil in the Williston Basin without success. Finally, in 1951, oil was struck on the Clarence Iverson farm south of Tioga. A month later, “…thirty million acres of [the state] were under lease.” On this date in 1952, the Standard Oil Company announced plans [...]
1922 Blizzard
Friday, February 3, 2012
At the end of January in 1922, a band of heavy snow from Richmond to Baltimore immobilized that stretch of the East Coast. The weight of the snow caused the roof of the Knickerbocker Theater in Washington, DC, to collapse, crushing 100 people to death. Reports of this disaster came to North Dakota along with [...]
Groundhog Day
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Today, we celebrate Groundhog Day! Will groundhogs across the country see their shadow? If so, six more weeks of bad weather are in the forecast. If not—spring is supposedly just around the corner. On this date in 1948, residents of the Red River Valley awaited the outcome of the Groundhog’s prediction. “Keep your fingers [...]
Devils Lake Jail
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Devils Lake was founded in 1882 as Creelsburgh and was also known as Creel City before the post office adopted the name Devils Lake—without the common erroneous apostrophe—in 1884. It is the county seat of Ramsey County, and achieved a peak population of 7441 in 1980. Today, the population remains around 7100. It is a [...]
Fountain L. Thompson
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
United States Senator from North Dakota Fountain L. Thompson resigned from his position on this date in 1910. Thompson had been appointed to fill the seat vacated by the death of Martin Johnson, but served less than three months before his resignation. Born near Scottville, Illinois, in 1854, Thompson was educated as a lawyer. Although [...]