1. In 1847, the Iowa Territorial Legislature authorized the formation of the Iowa City Municipal Fire Department, making it the first officially recognized fire department in the state.

2. On March 2, 1917, Iowa Governor William L. Harding signed the bill establishing the first state-owned and operated tuberculosis sanatorium in the United States, located in Oakdale.

3. Iowa State University, located in Ames, was chartered on March 2, 1858, by the Iowa General Assembly. It is now a top-ranked public research university.

4. In 1875, the first woman to hold elective statewide office in the United States, Anna Dickinson, was nominated for Iowa State Superintendent of Public Instruction at the Greenback Party Convention on March 2.

5. The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, located in West Branch, Iowa, was dedicated on March 2, 1962. The library houses the papers of former President Hoover, who was born in West Branch in 1874.