February 22, 1902

Varsity Bachelor Club at University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, organized by "ten turned-down, heart-pierced young men."

February 22, 1889

Congress passed the Enabling Act, laying the groundwork for the entry of North Dakota and South Dakota into the Union, along with Montana and Washington.

February 22, 1881

Grand Forks was incorporated as a city, by act of the territorial legislature, with W. H. Brown as the first mayor.

February 25, 1891

Wahpeton selected as site for Red River Valley University; later moved to Grand Forks as Wesley College.

February 27, 1891

Bill creating State Soldiers Home at Lisbon signed into law by Governor Andrew H. Burke.

February 27, 1883

Founders Day for the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, the day on which Governor Nehemiah Ordway signed the organic act into law.

March 1, 1934

Governor William Langer was relieved as chief of the North Dakota federal relief setup by Harry L. Hopkins because "information received by the administration indicated that political contributions were collected from employees of the relief administration in North Dakota."

March 2, 1861

Dakota Territory, which then included what is now both Dakotas, northern Montana and Idaho, organized with capital at Yankton. President Abraham Lincoln named Dr. William Jayne as territorial governor.

March 2, 1895

Fort Lincoln established at Bismarck, the second military post to be so designated. The two sites are on opposite sides of the Missouri River, the first south of Mandan, the second south of Bismarck.

March 3, 1853

Congress appropriated $150,000 for exploration of best railroad routes from the Mississippi to the Pacific.

March 3, 1857

Fort Abercrombie, 12 miles north of Wahpeton, became the first regular military post to be established in present North Dakota.

March 3, 1963

North Dakota Legislature imposed one cent a gallon tax on gasoline, yielding $179,000 in first year -- or less than five days collection at the 1963 six-cent-a-gallon rate.

March 3, 1945

Senator John Moses died in office after serving in the U.S. Senate for two months.

March 6, 1919

Soldiers bonus bill ("Returned Soldiers Fund") enacted.

March 8, 1883

Towner County formed from parts of Cavalier and Rolette Counties and named for Colonel O. M. Towner, founder of Elk Valley Farm.

March 10, 1880

The railroad reached Grand Forks, the first train being a combination of a work and immigrant train.

March 12, 1802

The first non-Indian child in what was to become North Dakota, a girl, was born to Pierre Bonza and his wife. They were black, employed at Alexander Henry Jr.'s trading post in Pembina.

March 12, 1945

Governor Fred Aandahl appoints State Senator Milton R. Young to fill the U.S. Senate seat that was open following the death of Senator John Moses nine days earlier.

March 15, 1941

Ninety persons killed by Red River Valley blizzard in most disastrous storm in area's history.

March 16, 1920

Recall Amendment ratified, allowing citizens to petition for an election to have elected state officials recalled from office.

March 16, 1920

Hiram Johnson of California and William Jennings Bryan won Republican and Democratic presidential preference primaries, respectively.

March 17, 1862

First territorial assembly convened at Yankton.

March 19, 1907

Legislature adopted primary election law to provide that "political parties shall make nominations of candidates for all public offices by popular vote."

March 19, 1912

First presidential preference primary held in North Dakota with Senator LaFellette getting 34,123 votes, Theodore Roosevelt, 23,669, and William Howard Taft, 1,876.

March 20, 1916

William Jayne, first governor of Dakota Territory, died in Springfield, Illinois.

March 26, 1955

100 Native Americans on Fort Berthold Reservation receive $4,126,000 as their share of oil lease bonuses.

March 27, 1942

U.S. Senate voted 52-30 to seat William Langer "without prejudice" despite 13-3 report by its committee on Elections and Privileges that he should be denied seat because of charges of moral turpitude filed against him at beginning of his term.

April 1, 1875

The "Manitoba," queen of Red River steamboats, set a record of 45 hours from Moorhead to Winnipeg on her maiden voyage.

April 1, 1925

Sale of cigarettes became legal in North Dakota under tax legislation adopted by 1925 Legislature.

April 3, 1953

American Oil Co. holds groundbreaking ceremony at site of Mandan Refinery, two years after discovery of oil in state, giving a major boost to industry's growth.

April 4, 1950

Seven years after first oil discovery in North Dakota, Amerada Petroleum also brought in the state's 100th producing well.

April 4, 1951

Oil discovered on Clarence Everson farm near Tioga, making North Dakota the 27th in the U.S. with commercial production. This is N.D.'s first oil well.

April 7, 1805

After spending the winter at Fort Mandan, on the banks of the Missouri near present-day Washburn, the Lewis and Clark party of exploration resumed its journey to the West.

April 8, 1953

Bones of Sitting Bull spirited from original grave at Fort Yates and reburied under tons of cement near Mobridge, South Dakota.

April 11, 1877

The first Bismarck-Deadwood stagecoach left Bismarck for the gold boom town in the Black Hills. One-way fare: $23.

April 16, 1948

A Red River flood crested at 41.6 feet at Grand Forks.

April 17, 1934

Indictment returned by grand jury at Fargo, charging Governor William Langer with violating law prohibiting one federal employee from soliciting campaign funds from another.

April 18, 1950

Water went over 40-foot level at Grand Forks, remaining there until April 29 in the first of two serious floods that year.

April 19, 1852

The Swiss artist, Rudolph Kurz, began his homeward trip after nearly a year on the Upper Missouri portraying Indians, animals, traders and various fur trade articles. Kurz, who kept a detailed journal, spent most of his time at Fort Union, near the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers.

April 25, 1823

General Stephen H. Long's exploration authorized to establish Canadian boundary.

April 26, 1805

Captain Meriwether Lewis scouted locality at junction of Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers and suggested it was "a butifull commanding situation for a fort."

April 30, 1803

Louisiana Purchase concluded with France, giving U.S. title to all of North Dakota except portions drained by Red and Mouse Rivers.

April 29, 1920

The contract was let for the State Mill and Elevator in Grand Forks, which was symptomatic of the victory won by the state's agrarian forces.

April 30, 1942

First permit issued by N.D. Geological Survey for the Carter Oil Co.-E. L. Semling Well in Oliver County.

May 1, 1882

Hillsboro was organized as a municipality with John DeGroat as its first mayor.

May 1, 1885

State hospital for mentally ill opened at Jamestown as territorial institution.

May 2, 1898

Eight infantry companies of National Guard are accepted for service in the Spanish-American War.

May 7, 1917

Law enforcement officers, led by Attorney General William Langer, swooped down on Minot in biggest "raid" in history of state.

May 7, 1935

Federal Court of Appeals ordered new trial for former Governor William Langer because of "insufficiency of evidence" to sustain conviction of violating law prohibiting one federal employee from soliciting political contributions from another.

May 7, 1960

The fast segment of Interstate Highway 29 in North Dakota, Pembina to Drayton, was dedicated, It was the first stretch of interstate highway reaching an international border.