1. On July 19, 1859, the first major land rush in Kansas occurred. Over 20,000 people rushed into what is now Oklahoma to stake their claims on newly opened land.

2. In 1910, the first airplane flight in Kansas took place on July 19. Walter Brookins flew a Wright Model B airplane at a distance of one mile in Wichita, Kansas.

3. On July 19, 1956, Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was born in Denison, Texas but grew up in Abilene, Kansas, was nominated for a second term as President of the United States at the Republican National Convention in San Francisco.

4. The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, located in Hutchinson, Kansas, opened its doors on July 19, 1980. The museum houses a collection of space artifacts and exhibits, including the largest collection of Russian space artifacts outside of Moscow.

5. In 2013, on July 19, adventurer Steve Fossett's plane wreckage was found in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, eight years after his disappearance. Fossett, who had set numerous aviation records, including being the first person to fly solo non-stop around the world, disappeared while on a solo flight in 2007.