1. In 1864, the Second Battle of Newton took place during the American Civil War. Union troops under the command of General James Blunt defeated Confederate forces, resulting in a victory for the Union army.

2. The first-ever edition of the Topeka Daily Capital newspaper was published on July 24, 1879. The newspaper continues to be published to this day and is one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in the state of Kansas.

3. In 1923, the infamous Barker-Karpis gang robbed a bank in Lamar, Missouri, just over the Kansas-Missouri border. The gang, which included infamous criminals like Alvin "Creepy" Karpis and Fred Barker, would go on to carry out a string of high-profile robberies throughout the Midwest.

4. On July 24, 1943, the Wichita Municipal Airport (now Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport) officially opened for business. The airport has since become a major hub for air travel in the state of Kansas.

5. In 1985, the Kansas Legislature designated the sunflower as the official state flower of Kansas. The sunflower is a symbol of the state's agricultural heritage and is one of the most recognizable flowers in the world.