1. In 1913, the United States Navy stationed the USS Kansas battleship in Vera Cruz, Mexico during the Mexican Revolution. The ship provided support to American troops on land, ensuring their safe arrival and departure.

2. In 1935, Amelia Earhart set a new world record for the fastest solo flight between Mexico City and Newark, New Jersey. The Kansan native accomplished this feat in just over thirteen hours.

3. In 1944, a tornado swept through the small town of Yates Center, killing six people and injuring dozens. The disaster demolished over fifty homes and leveled the town's only hospital.

4. In 1966, astronaut James Lovell, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, spent two weeks training at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center. Lovell later went on to become the commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission.

5. In 1986, famed author Truman Capote passed away in Bel Air, California. Capote was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, but spent much of his childhood and early adulthood in Monroeville, Alabama, where he befriended fellow writer Harper Lee. Capote's literary works include Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood.