1. In 1844, the Oregon Territory was created by an act of the U.S. Congress, with Portland serving as the provisional capital until 1851.

2. On December 11, 1855, the Rogue River Indian War officially began in southern Oregon, a conflict that lasted until 1856 and led to the removal of many Native American tribes from the region.

3. In 1865, the University of Oregon was founded in Eugene, becoming the state's first public institution of higher education.

4. On December 11, 1941, just four days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government authorized the internment of Japanese-American citizens in Oregon and other western states.

5. In 2015, Oregon became the first state in the nation to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, with sales of the drug beginning on December 11 of that year.