1. Kansas became a state on January 29, 1861, but it wasn't until August 16 of that same year that the state's first governor, Charles Robinson, was inaugurated.

2. On August 16, 1894, the town of Caldwell in southern Kansas was the site of a deadly shootout between U.S. Marshals and the Doolin-Dalton gang, a group of notorious outlaws who had been terrorizing the region for years. Four people were killed in the gunfight, including two members of the gang.

3. Kansas-native Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, was born on July 24, 1897. However, it was on August 16, 1929, that she set a world record by becoming the first woman to fly across the United States alone, from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey.

4. August 16, 1950, marked the opening of the first section of the Kansas Turnpike, a toll road that stretches 236 miles across the state from Kansas City to the Oklahoma border. The road was a major engineering feat at the time and helped to usher in a new era of automobile travel in Kansas.

5. On August 16, 1964, the Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson, Kansas, hosted the first Kansas State Fair Parade. The event has since become an annual tradition, attracting thousands of spectators from across the state who come to see marching bands, floats, and other colorful displays.