Back Then with Tracy Briggs

Why the Red Pepper became a late-night staple for generations of UND students.

As television networks start debuting their new seasons, a look back at the best TV lineups of all time - from groundbreaking to groovy. Do you agree with my list?

Virgil Greaney was killed by a Viet Cong terrorist while helping a village install a water supply. Years later, his family struggled to understand what happened.

Bob Larson, a 1951 graduate of Oak Grove Lutheran School, died in the first U.S. Air Force plane crash in South Vietnam.

During the first WDAY Honor Flight, many World War II veterans were escorted to Washington, D.C., by their Vietnam veteran sons. Now it's time for those sons and others who served during the Vietnam era to get the thanks they deserve.

Finn Harrison was beyond cute as he did the "Jailhouse Rock" as a 2 1/2 year old. Now he's all grown up, working at WDAY in Fargo and still has a little Elvis in his soul.

The term "flying saucer" was born 75 years ago this summer after numerous sightings all over the country. North Dakotans called in reports, too, while others decided to have a little fun with the whole ordeal.

It's been called one of the "scariest," "most haunted" and "creepiest" houses in the Midwest, but what is it really like inside the Villisca Ax Murder House?

A couple of weeks ago, I shared what some of us at The Forum remember as our first memories of a news event. Now it's your turn to share the stories that you'll never forget.

As Fargo-Moorhead's biggest shopping mall turns 50, a look back at the ways West Acres helped shape generations of kids.

Whether it was the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated or when planes hit the World Trade Center, early news memories stick with you.

Forty years ago this summer, Robert Asp's Hjemkomst ship journeyed to Norway and into the history books.

Trailblazing journalist Muriel Babcock started her journalism career selling Saturday Evening Posts as a child in Wahpeton, North Dakota, and she'd end it being one of the most powerful editors in the business.

It was known as Cully's, then Willy's, but whatever the name, some area food lovers still remember their homestyle dishes. You can find the recipes Tracy mentions at InForum here: www.inforum.com/lifestyle/its-been-closed-for-11-years-but-customers-of-a-dilworth-restaurant-cant-stop-talking-about-that-food

All of the talk recently of reinvigorating Island Park in Fargo sparked a sweet memory for 87-year-old Joanne Wilson of Moorhead. Wilson recently found an old postcard her mother wrote to a friend in Wisconsin in 1910 featuring the park. The young city (just 35 years old in 1910) was clearly proud of its oldest and grandest park, choosing it as the image to share of Fargo to out-of-town relatives.

The Prospect House Museum at 403 Lake Avenue North in Battle Lake, Minnesota is almost easy to miss. Just off the main drag, it's tucked away on a residential street like any other in lakes country. But when owner Jay Johnson greets you, it's pretty clear you're about to have an adventure. Clad in overalls and a Civil War Union cap, Johnson ushers you inside the Georgian-style mansion, not for a l...

After being diagnosed with scarlet fever as a nine-year-old, Donald Person was sent away — off to the Fargo City Detention Hospital, nicknamed the "Pest House." "I was scared to death. I think I was the only patient there," Person says. So what was this mysterious brick building at the corner of Elm Street and 11th Avenue North, what went on in there — and what ever became of the "Pest House"? Fin...

On Memorial Day every year, we remember those who have died in service to our country. Sadly, some people face a greater burden than others. What happens to a family when they lose more than one soldier to war? How does it affect the parents and surviving children and the trajectory of the entire family? This is a story about the Schellhas family of Minnesota who faced the unthinkable during World...

Perhaps it's unavoidable as a parent — when your child hurts, you hurt. When they're sick, you'd rather be sick for them. But it doesn't work that way, right? Still, the empathy we feel for them never goes away. Ask any parent of a child who graduated either from high school or college these past three years. The classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022 have certainly had a different school experience than...

When you only have 3 or 4 stations, you tend to hear the same commercials over and over again, and boy do we remember them. "Back Then" columnist Tracy Briggs wants to know your favorites.

These young women in Grand Forks Central's 1936 yearbook didn't just earn school letters by eating breakfast, but that was a big part of the drill. Meet "The Outing Club."

For Memorial Day, an American military cemetery in Cambridge wants to honor the Americans (including North Dakotans and Minnesotans) who are buried there with photos beside their grave markers. Maybe you know one of these men.

I've mentioned before how I love that my job at The Forum allows me to spend countless hours deep in the archives of the newsroom. Most of the time, I'm scrolling through the microfilm and digging for specific news stories, but occasionally I'm surprised by unexpected news nuggets that make me smile. One photo I found is an example of that. It's from the April 20, 1966, edition of The Forum and sh...

I admit it, much of what I know about the '50s came from watching "Happy Days." Just like most of my Korean War knowledge came from M*A*S*H. But now we can fill in the blanks that The Fonz and Hawkeye Pierce couldn't. After 72 years locked away for privacy sake, the National Archives and Records Administration has now officially released the 1950 U.S. Federal Census. Read more: www.inforum.com/lif...

When pollsters ask Americans to name their favorite candy (so much more fun than naming your favorite politician) the most common answers are usually Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and M&M's. It's pretty clear why those two candies have been around so long. Read more: www.inforum.com/lifestyle/8-retro-candies-you