February 13, 1926 – A devastating fire destroys the original interior of the Englert Theatre and threatens many businesses on East Washington Street in Iowa City. Yet, despite the danger being only two storefronts away, thirty-one brave Northwestern Bell Telephone operators stay at their switchboards.

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February 12, 1951 – Meredith Willson’s Iowa Fight Song is introduced on the University of Iowa campus – played at half-time of the Iowa vs. Indiana basketball game.

Hawkeye fan, Bob Tjarks, has shared pics of his very rare program from the February 12, 1951 Iowa vs. Indiana basketball game. As you can see from the pic (above left), Meredith Willson’s Iowa Fight Song is being introduced – AT HALFTIME: PREMIER PERFORMANCE ON SUI CAMPUS OF THE “IOWA FIGHT SONG” COMPOSED BY NATIVE IOWAN MEREDITH WILLSON AND DEDICATED TO THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA.”

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February 12, 1962 – The Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist – Jay N. (Ding) Darling dies, at age 85, and is buried in Sioux City, Iowa.

In 1919, Jay “Ding” Darling, The Des Moines Register political cartoonist, met an up-n-coming public servant named Herbert Hoover. Over the next forty-three years these two men became close friends despite all their many differences. One pursued politics while the other won two Pulitzer Prizes for his editorial work poking fun at politicians.

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This Day In History is an Our Iowa Heritage blog series that offers you a little bit of Iowa trivia from a large selection of stories on our website. Subscribe to this FREE blog and you’ll get a new email from us daily. Click to learn more.

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