1802: The first non-Indian child was born in North Dakota. It was a girl who was born to Pierre Bonza and his wife. They were black, and had been employed at Alexander Henry Jr.’s Pembina trading post.

1884: Sitting Bull and Maj. McLaughlin arrived in Mandan as they traveled to Minneapolis. The trip was to show Sitting Bull how “white people live in the big cities.”

1887: Col. Tyner and Capt. Yorkey returned from Devil’s Lake with bad news. It had been learned that the civil authorities in St. John were powerless to collect taxes from “half-breeds.” It was expected that the President would order at least two companies of militia, from Grafton and Grand Forks, to go to the scene at once.

1889: Opium smugglers were being hunted down in the state. The case against Archibald J. Curran and James M. Leonard, who were charged with smuggling opium to the United States from Canada, was being called in to the United States Court. Curran had been found with $20,000 worth of opium on him.

1894: Two North Dakota men found themselves in the penitentiary. Joseph Maley, a letter carrier from Grand Forks, was found guilty of stealing registered letters. Thomas Murray, a blind pigger at Winona, was found guilty of selling liquor to Indians.

1904: The Bismarck photographer, Boyce, returned to the city, and set up business in the Dakota Block.

1915: A fire was raging in the abandoned lignite pit in Adams county. The flames were seeping upwards of 100 to 200 feet high at the entrance. It was beyond control.

1917: Mandan was the scene of a train wreck. Having occurred in the Northern Pacific Yards at Mandan, a yard switch engine No. 1112, and a Bismarck switch No. 465, collided head on. No one was injured. However, the cab on engine 465 was demolished, and both water tanks were thrown from the track.

1920: Bloodhounds were used to search for escaped convicts. Arthur Buck, serving a life sentence for murder; Ray Burke, sentenced to three years for grand larceny; John Stubard sentenced for five years for grand larceny; and Charles Breyer, sentenced to three years for grand larceny, had made their escape by tunneling through a wall of the prison.

1932: North Dakota hens are more efficient. From 1931, an average increase of 40 eggs per hen were reported.

1964: Governor William Guy suggest a “Fat Boys” farm plan. Said in jest, the governor said he would double the income tax for any male who didn’t measure 52 inches around the waist. He argued that it would cut farm surpluses.