On May 26th, Missouri has been witness to many significant historic events. Here are five interesting facts about May 26th in Missouri history:

1. In 1830, the Indian Removal Act was passed by Congress, leading to the forced migration of tens of thousands of Native Americans to the Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. This had a profound impact on the Native American communities in Missouri.

2. On May 26, 1865, Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith surrendered his troops, officially ending the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi theater. This ended one of the last major Confederate armies in the war.

3. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh made history when he flew the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean from New York to Paris. Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan, but spent much of his early life in Little Falls, Minnesota, and St. Louis, Missouri.

4. On May 26, 1961, President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, launching his Cold War strategy of "peace through strength" and introducing the world to the concept of the "peaceful coexistence" of the United States and the Soviet Union.

5. On May 26, 1994, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis was officially recognized as a National Historic Landmark. The iconic 630-foot stainless steel arch, designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen, was completed in 1965 and symbolizes the city's role as the "Gateway to the West."