1. In 1875, New Mexico's first railway line was completed between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, reducing travel time between the two cities from days to hours. The railway line was built by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company, and revolutionized transportation and commerce in the state.

2. On April 11, 1912, New Mexico became the 47th state to join the United States of America. Previously a territory, New Mexico had a long and complex history, with influences from Native American, Spanish, Mexican and American cultures.

3. In 1935, the Civilian Conservation Corps established the Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico. The monument, named after archaeologist Adolph Bandelier, preserves and showcases the homes and culture of the Ancestral Pueblo people who lived in the region over 800 years ago.

4. On April 11, 1945, American troops liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany during World War II. Among the liberators was a young medic from New Mexico named Tony Acevedo, who later became a prominent civil rights activist in the state.

5. In 1968, NASA launched the Apollo 6 spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft, which was unmanned, was the second-to-last test flight before the Apollo 11 mission landed astronauts on the moon. The flight had important connections to New Mexico, as the state's White Sands Missile Range was used to test the lunar module's engines.